Opinion
The world of events and exhibitions – turned upside down
As the defeated English army marched away from Yorktown in in October 1781, the band of the American rebels played a then…
Your eighth most valuable asset?
When EN asked me to be a columnist, deciding what to write about was easy. Explaining why you, the reader, should care…
The boring stuff won
Twenty years of investment in the picks and shovels of live events ‘Picks and shovels’ is one of the oldest ideas in…
The Soar Point: How trade shows and the Premier League are brothers
By Phil Soar, co-founder of CloserStill Group and Chairman of Nineteen Group Overwhelming is probably the best adjective to…
How to turn £700,000 into $1.77bn in 14 easy steps
Co-founder of CloserStill Group, Phil Soar, offers a how-to on flipping an exhibition company for over a billion dollars At the…
The Soar Point: Three quotes to change our world
By Phil Soar, co-founder of CloserStill Group and Chairman of Nineteen Group In the space of just 8 weeks this summer…
The Soar Spot: The strange story of the broken light bulbs
By Phil Soar, co-founder of CloserStill Group and Chairman of Nineteen Group I was in Warsaw in 1990 walking round a…
Advertisers say that events are now their fastest growing sector
By Phil Soar, Chairman of CloserStill Group and Nineteen Group Jeremy Rees is very well-informed. Excel (the venue once known as…
Moats, and how Warren Buffett actually understood trade shows
By Phil Soar, Chairman of CloserStill Group and Nineteen Group Warren Buffett retired on 31 December 2025, aged 96. For half…
A letter from 2031 – What happened after 2025
By Phil Soar, Chairman of CloserStill Group and Nineteen Group A Happy New Year to you all as we make our resolutions…
The M&A Brief: 8 crucial steps to selling a small event business
By Stephanie Selesnick Selling your event business can be challenging, but with the right approach, your chances of success…