Operations, Technology & Sustainability

Jay has spent the past 20 years working in a variety of live event venues, from West End theatres to The Roundhouse in Camden, and most recently as Head of Guest Experience for The O2.

During his time working in some of the most iconic venues in London, Jay has held roles covering General Management & Operations, but more recently has been focussed on delivering best-in-class fan experiences and improving accessibility. As a passionate advocate of inclusivity, Jay oversaw the venue becoming the UK’s first arena to achieve Platinum status with Attitude is Everything in 2024.

As a strong advocate for blending technology and human interaction to deliver memorable experiences,  Jay is always looking for new ways to drive innovation in guest experience.

Amy is highly passionate about improving accessibility for disabled people within sport and the wider society and has been at AccessibAll for nine years. She manages relations with disabled fans and Disabled Supporters Associations (DSAs) to highlight the crucial roles disabled people play across football through fan-related projects and research, and is often the first point of contact with disabled fans and works to answer questions and queries regarding accessibility at football stadia. She leads projects such as the access appraisals of stadia for UEFA and clubs, offering advice on how access and inclusion can be improved, and AccessibAll’s fan-related projects ahead of UEFA club competition finals and tournaments, such as the Accessibility Monitor programme. Amy also has vast experience of attending live matches across the UK and Europe as a disabled fan.

Nuno Guerreiro is a top-level executive with over 24 years of experience in the design, development, and management of sports, cultural, and leisure infrastructures. He is currently the CEO of Algarve Stadium, where he has implemented innovative strategies that have established the stadium as one of the most profitable infrastructures in the country.

Throughout his career, he has been directly involved in the planning, financing, and construction of Algarve Stadium for the UEFA Euro 2004. More recently, he led the creation of the High-Performance Training Center at Parque das Cidades, a strategic project that enhances Stadium Algarve’s capabilities, fosters synergies, racks investment, and strengthens the region’s sports and economic dynamics.

Beyond his role at Algarve Stadium, he serves as an executive manager at the Associa on of Municipali es of Loulé/Faro (AMLF) and has extensive experience in strategic consulting, finance, and public procurement. Holding a degree in Financial Management from the University of Algarve, he stands out for his strategic vision, innovation on capacity, and leadership, establishing himself as a benchmark in the efficient and sustainable management of sports and leisure infrastructures.

Jon is a true industry professional with 40 years of venue management experience gained at numerous venues including Wembley Arena, The Dome, The Odyssey Arena Belfast, Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games, and most recently Tottenham Hotspur Football Club where he has held the position of Stadium Director for the past 23 years. Jon is a member of the Club’s Senior Leadership Team, sits on the European Stadium & Safety Managers Association’s Executive Committee, and was recognised as the Stadium Business Awards Executive of the Year in 2024.

A member of Huddersfield Town Football Club’s Senior Leadership Team, Robyn is an industry leader in football in the field of fan engagement, and is the strategic lead in the important area of supporter experience. Robyn’s 19 years with Huddersfield Town has seen her impact all areas of the business, with her work recognised as amongst the best in football, demonstrated by multiple industry awards including the EFL Gold Standard for Family Excellence and a recent EFL Award win for female supporter engagement.

 

Robyn is a key part of the club’s Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion work, which has seen the club recognised with both the Premier League’s Advanced Level in their PLEDIS scheme as well as the EFL’s Code of Practice Gold Standard; one of only two clubs in the 72 to achieve that accolade. She is also a proud Trustee of the Huddersfield Town Foundation and works with multiple local and national good causes to help make a positive difference to the lives of people in her community.

After obtaining a degree in Modern Languages and Literatures from the University of Turin, Francesco Gianello started his professional career in the field of commerce and public relations, with a particular focus on the foreign market, thanks to his excellent knowledge of English, Russian, German, and French.

In December 1998, Gianello joined Juventus as the secretary of the Youth Sector. With the transfer of the corporate headquarters to Corso Galileo Ferraris, the Sports Secretariat Department was established, where he worked until he reached the position of Manager.

Starting from October 2010, Gianello took on the role of Head of Stadium, and in October 2018, he was promoted to Head of Stadium and Facilities, with the aim of ensuring high standards of efficiency and service for all operations related to facilities company venues. This role was completed in 2020 with his current promotion to Facilities Management Director. Starting from 2024 he’s president of ESSMA, joined in 2018 as a member of the Advisory Committee.

Víctor Marín is the director of communication and marketing at C.D. Leganés, a graduate in communication at Rey Juan Carlos University, and a master’s in corporate and institutional communication at Carlos III University. He began his work in media such as Agencia EFE, Europa Press, or Cadena COPE and has been linked to the communication and marketing department of C.D. Leganés for more than 15 years. In 2023 he led the department that won the national marketing award in the innovation and technology category.

After graduating from HEC, I began my career at IMG McCormack in the Major Sporting and Cultural Events Production department. Over nine years, events such as the PGA Golf Tournaments, ATP Tennis Tournaments, the Albertville Winter Olympics, and Luciano Pavarotti’s concert on the Champ de Mars strengthened my passion and expertise in producing large-scale events.

In 1997, I joined the Stade de France as Deputy General Manager and President of Stade de France Production, dedicated to creating and producing large shows. For 14 years, I oversaw the hosting and organization of all the biggest sporting events and concerts, as well as the creation of 55 shows across various genres: classical music, electronic music, rap & R&B, Celtic music, motorsports, and family-friendly productions like Ben Hur and Excalibur. These productions were characterized by their ability to embrace the vast scale of the venues, featuring 360-degree staging across more than 30,000 square meters.

In 2013, I joined France Galop as Deputy General Manager, where I led the reconstruction of the Longchamp racecourse over five years and established a new operational business model for racecourses.

In 2018, I was appointed CEO of the French Tennis Federation, tasked with developing and executing a strategic plan to revitalize tennis’s appeal in France.

In 2019, I founded Live Stadium with a dual mission:

• To create and produce original shows tailored to large-capacity venues.
• To advise cities, stadiums, and arenas on developing their programming.

“The importance of the transformative value of the experience, with larger, more immersive, and more interactive shows, is also increasingly at the center of our concerns.” JC Giletta

Everette Bacon is a globally recognized advocate, executive leader, and accessibility strategist who serves as Chief of Blindness Initiatives at Aira, the global leader in visual interpreting services. A proud blind professional and technology enthusiast, Everette works to ensure that access to visual information is treated as a human right, not a privilege. His work at Aira supports the integration of cutting-edge accessibility tools into daily life, especially in high-impact environments like stadiums and arenas.

Everette brings more than two decades of experience in vision rehabilitation, assistive technology, and disability rights leadership. He earned his Master’s degree in Vision Rehabilitation Therapy from Western Michigan University and has spent much of his career in the public sector, leading outreach and field services for the Utah Division of Services for the Blind. His efforts have empowered countless individuals to live more independently through access to technology and inclusive services.

An elected leader and influential policy voice, Everette was elected President of the National Federation of the Blind of Utah in 2012. Under his leadership, the affiliate championed the passage of Utah’s landmark “mini-508” law, which mandates accessibility compliance for state websites and technology procurement, with financial penalties for non-compliance. This significant legislative win showcases his commitment to transforming advocacy into tangible progress.

His expertise in digital accessibility led to his appointment in 2015 to the Federal Communications Commission’s Disability Advisory Committee, where he continues to serve in his fifth term. He also contributes nationally as a member of the Library of Congress National Library Service for the Blind’s Audio Equipment Advisory Committee (Western Region), the Utah Assistive Technology Council, and as chair of the Utah Library Advisory Board. In 2015, he was unanimously elected to the Board of Directors of the National Federation of the Blind.

Though based in Salt Lake City with his wife Angela and their two dogs, Everette’s heart still belongs to his hometown team—the Dallas Cowboys. As a dedicated sports fan, he deeply understands the value of full inclusion in the game-day experience. Whether navigating a stadium, enjoying the sights, or simply finding your seat, Everette believes every fan deserves an equal experience.

I have enjoyed a long and diverse career in IT, starting in large mainframes in the 70s through international support roles, then various management roles, including software and database design. Later, moving to project management of global software solutions using the Microsoft stack to support education examinations, elections, and litigation disciplines.

I have been fortunate to have worked in areas that I have also enjoyed, and my last 6 years working for the Stadium have been the most rewarding and exciting, building new IT teams and working with a football club, a Hotel, a Radio station, and the Sports Education Trust.

In my spare time, I like to invent, repair, and build, mostly in the areas of Electronics, PIC and Pi Microprocessors, 3D Printing, and Laser cutting.

Arana and other Innovate / DSIT 5G projects have helped push the boundaries of technology, and I have been fortunate to have been involved in these projects.

Michael is a vastly experienced and passionate advocate of wider accessibility for disabled people within sport. He manages the day-to-day activities of the AccessibAll team and leads media and communication strategies within the organisation. His roles also include stakeholder development and partnership building, management of the annual #TotalAccess Week of Action campaign, and overseeing the expansion of audio-descriptive commentary for partially sighted and blind people. He has worked on numerous international tournaments and competition Finals, ensuring the availability of accessible facilities and services for disabled supporters, and provided training across the globe to advise on access improvements and effective communication with disabled people.

Tony joined the Signature Systems team in 2010 and is based in the UK. With a strong focus on Worldwide Stadium Sales, Tony has successfully delivered composite matting and ground protection solutions for more than 15 world games, including the 2012 London Olympics, where he was responsible for the largest trackway contract in Olympic history.

He and his team have also negotiated and delivered ground protection systems for the 2014 Sochi Olympics, the 2015 European Games in Azerbaijan, the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, and the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia.

Tony continues to speak to stadia architects, engineers, operators, and event rental infrastructure companies globally and supplying natural, hybrid and artificial turf protection as well as athletics track protection solutions.  Signature manufactures all their products in-house in Orlando, Florida with Corporate Headquarters in Dallas, Texas.

Iain Wilkie is a seasoned veteran in the lighting industry, boasting an impressive 35-year career. Early on, he honed his skills as a Lighting Designer, investing six years in a UK-based lighting consultancy while pursuing formal education in Lighting and Electric Principles at Technical College. His passion for lighting deepened as he worked on live projects and gleaned wisdom from experienced mentors.

For the past 27 years, Iain has been an integral part of a prominent UK-based lighting manufacturer. During this tenure, he successfully managed the Lighting Design Department and the Quotations Team, solidifying his foundation in both technical and commercial aspects of the industry. This invaluable experience paved the way for a decade-long stint in Product Management, where he demonstrated exceptional leadership.

Today, Iain Wilkie works as a  Global Product Manager at Thorn Lighting and is based in the UK. He is an active member of CIBSE: Society of Light and Lighting and the Institute of Lighting Professionals (ILP). In his current role, Iain plays a pivotal role in enhancing the existing product portfolio and charting the course for future innovations in Sports and Floodlighting applications.

Rhiannon Martin is Head of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. She has a vast experience delivering FIFA tournaments and events since 1997: including the FIFA World Cups 1998 – 2010; FIFA Women’s World Cups 2003, 2019 and 2023; Olympic Football Tournaments 2012; the FIFA Club World Cup 2000, 2015 – 2017; and a wide range of youth tournaments from 2011 – 2018.

Rhiannon is responsible for the strategic and operational planning and delivery of the FIFA Women’s World Cup (FWWC). She heads up the FWWC project team which is made up of experts across all departments within FIFA (from venue management to broadcast to team services to event budget etc….).

Rhiannon has dual British and Swiss nationality, is fluent in English and French, and speaks intermediate Brazilian Portuguese, German and Spanish.

Head of ESG at Silverstone Circuit, Stephane is leading the team to transform the iconic home of British Motorsport and host of the F1 British GP to become a sustainable business and leisure destination. Specialized in change management, sustainable development, event/venue operations and impact driven partnerships, he brings over 20 years of experience mainly acquired in the sports industry (through his collaboration with the ATP World Tour and WTA Tennis circuits, ITF, FIBA 3×3, FIFA Confederations Cup, World Roller Games, Mediterranean Games, F1 and MotoGP).

Since January 2012, Marie Smyth has been an integral part of the historic Croke Park Stadium, currently serving as the Head of Venue Business. With a career spanning over a decade at this iconic Irish venue, Marie has played a key role in shaping and enhancing the stadium’s corporate offerings.

In her capacity as the Head of Venue Business, Marie spearheads sales initiatives and coordinates a myriad of activities for Croke Park Premium, showcasing her strategic acumen in the competitive events and hospitality industry. Her responsibilities extend to overseeing Meeting & Events, where she ensures seamless coordination and execution of diverse gatherings. Croke Park Stadium, with its storied history spanning over a century, holds a special place in Irish sporting heritage. Marie operates in a challenging yet thrilling environment with a capacity of 82,300, 110 event spaces, 94 suites, and over 8,700 premium seats under her purview. Her daily challenges are as diverse as the events hosted at the stadium. Leading a dynamic team, Marie manages a wide array of clients, ranging from internal and external to national and international, including corporate and association clients.

Marie Smyth’s tenure at Croke Park Stadium is characterized by her unwavering commitment to excellence, her strategic vision for business development, and her passion for creating memorable experiences in one of Ireland’s most iconic venues. Leading a dynamic team, Marie manages a wide array of clients, ranging from internal and external to national and international, including corporate and association clients. Marie Smyth’s tenure at Croke Park Stadium is characterized by her unwavering commitment to excellence, her strategic vision for business development, and her passion for creating memorable experiences in one of Ireland’s most iconic venues.

Peter Evans has 25 years of experience leading organizations’ digital transformation and innovation activities for customers in the telecom, cloud, SaaS, and security industries, both cyber and physical. With Xtract One, Peter is bolstering the physical security technology industry while not only maintaining but improving the customer experience – not just Xtract One’s customers, but their customers also. With an understanding of the operational challenges their customers face, Peter is driving the organization towards delivering solutions that replace outdated systems, augment current technology, and enhance existing resources.

With 15 years’ experience across including Live Nation, Cuffe & Taylor, and Escape to Freight Island, Gemma has built an extraordinary career. She has worked alongside music legends such as Faithless, Cliff Richard, Mariah Carey, and Britney Spears, bringing a unique perspective gained from her success as a promoter, marketer, and venue manager.

 

Gemma joined Legends/ASM Global in 2023 as Director of Sales and Marketing during a transformative period for AO Arena. Tasked with navigating the challenges of a £70 million redevelopment and launching The Mezz, the UK’s first celebrity chef-led restaurant and bar within a live music venue, she has led the AO Arena to redefine live entertainment and culinary excellence.

 

Gemma’s dedication to the city extends beyond the arena. As a board member of Brighter Sound and the Manchester Music City network, she actively contributes to strengthening Manchester’s reputation as a global hub for music and the arts.

In his role at Humanforce, Paul manages over 30 enterprise clients with dynamic shift-based workforces across UK and Europe. Paul works closely with operations, finance, IT and HR leaders to ensure Humanforce meets their ever-changing and evolving people management needs.

With a decade of experience in the wireless infrastructure industry, Gavin is a mobile connectivity expert, working closely with standout venues and mobile network operators to deliver high-speed mobile solutions in large-scale environments.

Gavin is responsible for driving Boldyn Networks’ venue strategy in the UK and Ireland, with a particular focus on delivering game changing connectivity for sports and entertainment venues. Empowering venues to deliver unmatched visitor experiences, whilst unlocking new revenue streams and operational efficiency opportunities.

Boldyn Networks work with leading sports & entertainment venues to design connectivity solutions for high-density crowd environments. Proven in over 300+ marquee venues, delivering solutions that deliver consistent coverage and capacity in any environment.

Involved in the LED industry since 1997, Tom brings a wealth of practical and technical expertise to digiLED. Working for LED screen pioneers Invision, Phillips and Lighthouse, on a practical level has played key roles on many high profile events including the 2000 Sydney Olympics and as Head of Video for Robbie Williams. 
Now found regularly working on new patents, Tom’s outstanding engineering skills drive product and industry innovation for the digiLED range of screens and accessories.

Francis Casado is one of the founders of Mobile Media Content, who comercialises the 3D Digital Venue platform and is currently serving as Chief Revenue Officer. Prior to founding MMC- 3D Digital Venue, that revolutionized Interactive Digital Venue Management for Sports and Entertainment Venue Industry, Francis made his career around the beneficial application of 3D Technology and Virtual Reality for various sectors, including Mobile apps, real estate and pharma, amongst others.

Ian Nuttall is the owner and founder of TheStadiumBusiness Summit, presented by his Xperiology events business. His working life began in sports hospitality events management (including Formula 1, horse racing and Wimbledon) before pursuing an award-winning career in B2B magazine publishing. He has co-launched and edited numerous business titles (ranging from energy and industrial processes through to airport design and Intelligent Transportation Systems).

He has also founded many of the sports sector’s most respected publications and news sources – most recently TheStadiumBusiness News, delivering the all the latest Stadium Business news, blogs, videos, and up-to-the-minute media coverage from all the leading voices in the Stadium Business industry, all in one place. In addition to his ongoing commitments as a sports business writer and speaker, Ian provides highly-valued, specialist consultancy to the sports and entertainment venue sector.