Epic Events Podcast with
Oliver Pradelles

How Airbus Manages 300+ Global Events a Year with Data, Technology, and Strategy

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  • Oliver Pradelles

    Oliver Pradelles is the Head of Events & Protocol at Airbus, leading a 35-person team across five European countries, managing 300+ events annually. With 25 years of experience in aerospace, travel, and events, Oliver specializes in driving transformation and operational excellence.

About the Episode

How do you know what’s actually working when you’re running hundreds of events each year? 

For most event teams, the answer is unclear. They pull reports from multiple platforms, track KPIs in spreadsheets, and try to piece together insights that should be readily available. Oliver Pradelles at Airbus experienced this firsthand, managing 300 events annually across five countries with a 35-person team.

In this episode, Muhammad Younas sits down with Oliver to unpack how Airbus consolidated its entire event tech stack with vFairs under one initiative called Event Factory. They discuss the reality of platform consolidation, surviving the transition period, and turning scattered data into intelligence that actually drives decisions.

If you’re piecing together insights from multiple tools and flying blind on what’s working, this one’s for you.

Key Takeaways

  • Operating at scale means consolidating your event tech stack. Airbus moved from scattered platforms to vFairs for end-to-end analytics.
  • Data consistency matters more than intuition when making strategic decisions about where to invest in events.
  • Short cutover periods are stressful but necessary. Airbus couldn’t afford to pay for two platforms simultaneously, so they mobilized fast.
  • Support teams that understand what’s at stake with your events make all the difference. Technical answers alone don’t cut it at enterprise scale.
  • The cost versus capability ratio matters when choosing platforms. A thorough RFP response and strong product roadmap can win enterprise deals.
  • Post-Covid flexibility is valuable even if you don’t use it. Having virtual event capability as a safety net provides peace of mind.
  • Moving from intuition-based decisions to analytics-driven strategy requires onboarding everyone on the same process end-to-end.
  • Trust builds over time. As your vendor learns your processes and adapts to your needs, you can rely more on their teams and less on internal workarounds.