Founder profile

Nicola McCall
Managing Director

Nicola is a highly-experienced event industry professional, having managed over 250 conferences, confexes and workshops over the past 20 years. She has had responsibility for all aspects of event launch, production, marketing and delivery on an international basis, and has a particular passion for providing the very best customer service and onsite experience.

Having started her events career as a conference producer, Nicola acted as general manager of Terrapinn’s life sciences division for six years, managing operations, marketing, conference production and sponsorship sales.

She launched Phacilitate Ltd in 2001 and the company was acquired by Clarion Events in 2012. Phacilitate produces high-quality annual confexes for up to 600 people in four and five star hotels in Europe, North America and Asia. The focus is on the life sciences sector, and the meetings, designed for senior-level attendees from industry, government, academia and the investment community, combine:-

• three-day multi-streamed conferences, featuring highly-interactive workshops and working parties, roundtables, and up to 160 speakers across nine parallel sessions
• exhibitions comprising up to 60 booths, with up to 20 sponsors
• online pre-event partnering, plus online exhibitor and speaker manuals
• themed cocktail receptions, group and speaker dinners.

Nicola’s personal focus was on:

• delivering agenda-driving programmes featuring multiple stakeholders at the highest level
• providing excellent networking opportunities, both formal and informal
• offering the very highest level of service to all types of attendee.

Functional expertise:

Nicola has had full financial and strategic responsibility for, and has project managed, over 250 events. She has performed and/or managed the following functions:

event planning and management

• event conceptualisation, viability research and go/no-go decision-making
• project management
• setting and managing budgets
• post-event reporting;

programme development and management

• advisory board coordination
• programme research and content development
• speaker acquisition
• speaker management, including online speaker manuals and onsite coordination
• management of panel discussions, roundtables, workshops and working parties to maximise knowledge exchange
• coordination of post-event reports and recommendations;

logistics

• venue specification, research and negotiation
• sponsor and exhibitor management, including the provision of online manuals
• delegate registration
• pre-event logistics, including floorplan design, supplier selection and management, and venue liaison
• researching, contracting, and liaising with venues for dinners
• conceptualising and developing plans for themed cocktail receptions
• preparation of onsite materials, including signage and speaker materials (printed and on memory sticks)
• Onsite management;

sales & marketing

• branding and launch
• data build and management
• Website development and SEO
• email marketing, direct mail design and coordination
• copywriting
• negotiation and management of partnerships with associations and online and offline media
• PR
• campaign analysis
• sponsorship and exhibition sales, and sales campaign management.

Other members of the Key2 team bring experience in corporate incentive days, managing awards dinners and the organisation of internal company meetings.