At the start of April, Disrupt Talent attended the 2026 Event Supplier and Services Association Leadership Summit, joining industry leaders, agency owners, suppliers and event professionals from across the live events and exhibitions sector for a day packed with insight, conversation and honest discussion around the future of the industry.
Events like this are always valuable, but this year’s summit felt particularly relevant.
The live events industry continues to evolve at pace. Businesses are navigating changing market conditions, growth strategies, shifting client expectations, talent challenges and wider conversations around leadership, culture and long-term sustainability. Bringing industry leaders together to openly discuss those topics is something ESSA consistently does well, and this summit was no exception.
One of the standout themes throughout the day was leadership and values.
A particularly thought-provoking session from Erika Clegg explored the gap between the values businesses say they hold and the behaviours they actually demonstrate day to day. It sparked some incredibly honest conversations around culture, accountability and what values-driven leadership genuinely looks like in practice.
In an industry built so heavily on people, relationships and trust, those conversations matter.
It was a strong reminder that company culture is not built through words on a website or a framed list of values in an office. It is shaped by behaviours, decision-making, communication and consistency, especially during periods of pressure, growth and change.
There were also some brilliant panel discussions throughout the day covering business growth, future planning, mergers and acquisitions, MBOs and the wider commercial landscape of the events industry.
What made these conversations particularly valuable was the openness in the room. The sessions were not surface-level discussions or polished corporate soundbites. They were honest conversations from people actively navigating the realities of scaling businesses, leading teams and preparing for the future in an industry that never stands still.
For Disrupt Talent, attending events like the ESSA Leadership Summit is about far more than networking.
As a business working across executive search, recruitment and event staffing within the live events sector, staying close to the conversations shaping the industry is incredibly important. Understanding the challenges businesses are facing, where growth is happening, how leadership priorities are evolving and where talent gaps exist allows us to better support both clients and candidates across the sector.
The summit also reinforced something we already strongly believe: the events industry is built on community.
One of the best parts of the day was catching up with familiar faces, making new connections and being surrounded by such a supportive network of industry professionals. Despite the fast-paced and highly competitive nature of the sector, there remains a genuine willingness across the industry to share ideas, support one another and collectively push the sector forward.
And of course, no ESSA event would be complete without the conversations happening away from the stage too. Some of the best discussions of the day took place with the team on the infamous “naughty table” at the back of the room alongside industry friends including Ellen Stokes, Alexandra Bailey, Martin Neale, Nick Bracey and Hannah Williams proving once again that some of the most valuable insights often happen between sessions.
A huge thank you to Andrew Harrison and the ESSA team for delivering another fantastic summit and creating a space for such important conversations.
We’re already looking forward to the next one.