Meet the Judges

Clare is a Company Founder / Director and Consultant Event Operations Manager with over 15 years delivering event experiences across outdoor mass gathering and brand sectors. Clare is a TechIOSH safety manager, contributor to the Purple Guide, and was one of the first UK cohort to undertake an MSc in Crowded Places & Public Safety Management. Working predominately alongside independent and grassroots festivals, Clare has developed her company to be an award-winning organisation driven by values that include collaboration, belonging, clarity and thought leadership.

Clare specialisies in event operational delivery and project management, including health & safety, crowd management, policy development, licencing, budgets, team leadership, and communications.

Sheena graduated from MMU with a degree in Events Management and joined Engine No.4 in 2019.

As their Senior Operations Manager, she leads the operations teams on key projects including Snowbombing, Parklife, Lost Village and Warehouse Project.

Gill began her career at Capital Radio, rising to Head of Entertainment and producing the first-ever 100,000-capacity Party in the Park at Hyde Park. She later founded entertee productions, delivering major events such as the Hop Farm Festival, headlined by Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Prince’s only UK festival appearance. Alongside her son Reece, she also launched the award-winning entertee Hire, supplying fencing and ground protection to many leading UK festivals.

In 2018, driven by her love of Americana, Gill co-founded the multi award-winning Black Deer Festival, which has since expanded into Black Deer Radio, Black Deer Live and the upcoming Black Deer in the City. Recognised with multiple industry honours, she most recently received the Outstanding Contribution to Festivals award in 2024.

Ciara is a Senior Event Operations Manager with a passion for delivering large scale sporting and music events. Most recently, she has headed up the operations at Bournemouth 7s Festival, overseeing everything from contractor planning and logistics, to site safety and on-the-ground team coordination.

Driven by a passion for seamless execution and exceptional attendee experience, Ciara brings both hands-on operational leadership and strategic oversight to every project, ensuring each event component - from the moment an attendee steps foot onsite, to each touchpoint before heading home - comes together smoothly.

Now taking up the role of operational management for the Dubai T100, Ciara is excited to bring her UK-honed experience to the international stage.

With over 25 + years’ experience in managing successful sales & marketing teams, Siân is currently the Sales & Marketing Manager for the Utilita Arena Cardiff, part of Live Nation. The role includes developing a core corporate business for events and premium hospitality sales, plus creating and delivering successful marketing strategies.

Siân is a member of the Access All Areas 100, sits on the Board of Advisors for NOWIE – The Network of Women in Events and has recently co-launched the Hospitality & Events Network Wales – a growing group for event professionals within Wales.

Rupert Bassadone is the founder of Ops People and Event Site Design, two companies focused on raising standards in outdoor event planning, production and operations. With a career spanning festivals, concerts, exhibitions and large scale brand experiences, he specialises in turning complex sites into clear, workable plans that bring teams together and improve how events are delivered.

Born into the events world through his family’s touring circus, Rupert has worked professionally in the industry since 2006. His companies support events across the UK, including long standing partners such as WOMAD Festival, and he also runs AutoCAD for Events, an online training platform for developing site design skills across the sector.

Craig Mathie is Managing Director and Co-Founder of Project 30, an event management company providing a range of professional event production and project management services to a host of new and established festivals, sporting events and corporate clients across the UK.

Launched just 3 years ago, the past 12 months have seen work undertaken across 30+ projects including at Glastonbury Festival, London Marathon, We Out Here Festival and Tramlines Festival and for corporate partners including Fuse International, Vodafone, HSBC and Chase.

Craig also founded the South Coast Events Forum, an informal network dedicated to supporting event professionals across Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire. Prior to his current role, Craig was MD of the multi-award-winning Bournemouth 7s Festival.

Joely Bullen is the Partnerships Manager at LS Events, where she has worked for over three years. She manages the production of brands across large-scale events, from advance planning through to on-site delivery, ensuring everything runs smoothly and to brief. Her work spans events such as All Points East, Lido, BST, and the LIVE Awards, where she collaborate closely with clients and internal teams to bring concepts to life.

Joely focuses on creating seamless experiences for both brands and audiences, balancing logistics, creativity, and attention to detail.

Nancy started in the music industry with promoter, Harvey Goldsmith in 1997. 

In 2013, Nancy and Julie set up Ginger Owl Productions, the pair have successfully provided accreditation, logistics and artist liaison teams for hundreds of large-scale live events in sport, state, fashion, music and festivals across the world.

The female led company remains 100% independent, in 2024 they launched their event management platform, GOAllAreas, which has already been used on over 30 events including the BRITs and BAFTAs with great success.

As well as being Director for GO, Nancy is also the Operations Manager of the National Arenas Association (NAA) which connects the UK arena network for annual meetings and events.

With over two decades of experience in live events, Jackie has built a career at the intersection of operations and creativity. From her long-standing work at Glastonbury Festival and many other independent events, to major international projects such as the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, she's collaborated with exceptional logistical teams and some of the most radical and ambitious creative thinkers, designers, and production companies in the world — helping them to realise their artistic visions in full.

With a solid background in site design and operations, and fluency in AutoCAD, she specialises in turning ambitious concepts into practical and safe events, across music, culture, and sport. Jackie is always open to new collaborations that push boundaries, inspire connection, and create truly unforgettable experiences.

Since joining TEG Live Europe (then MJR Group) in 2018, Connor has rapidly established himself as a key industry talent and is a 2025 30Under30 award recipient.

As Head of Marketing, Connor oversees marketing for the entire European touring business, playing a vital role in delivering thousands of successful event campaigns across the UK and Europe.

Across his time with the business, Connor’s notable achievements include leading the campaign for the incredible Girls Aloud's 2024 UK tour, the successful Snoop Dogg 2023 UK Tour and massive 2025 Busted vs McFly Tour. Having managed campaigns that range from major festivals and arena tours, to developing artists and venue branding, Connor is a vastly experienced marketing leader in the live entertainment industry.

Having worked in the Live Events Industry now for 8 years, I have extensive experience and knowledge from volunteering as a student, to working freelance whilst finding my feet in the industry, to now celebrating my fourth year as a Ticketing Manager at the OVO Hydro, working with high profile clients and delivering events for up to 14k people.

Having been nominated in 2024 and achieving Highly Commended with AAA and then being recognised in their 30 Under 30 Class of 2025, I look forward to being on the Judging panel and working with the AAA again.