LiveBuzz names Gerard Conway director of global operations

LiveBuzz has appointed Gerard Conway as director of global operations, adding an experienced event technology and operations specialist to its senior leadership team. The move signals the company’s intention to strengthen its operational delivery and support for organisers as demand grows for integrated registration and data-led event services.

Conway joins with 15 years of experience across the exhibition and event technology sector, including senior roles at Hyve and Visit by GES. His remit will focus on shaping and overseeing global operations to help organisers manage increasingly complex in-person, hybrid and digital event portfolios.

Background and industry context

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Event organisers are continuing to recalibrate their technology stacks following the disruption of recent years, seeking providers that can deliver reliable onsite services while also integrating registration, data, and audience engagement across channels. As events scale back up and international attendance returns, operational resilience and consistency are becoming central to technology-buying decisions.

Companies offering registration, badging, lead capture and visitor management solutions are under pressure to support more data-rich experiences while maintaining smooth onsite delivery. This has pushed many event tech providers to formalise global operating structures, streamline processes, and bring in leadership with both IT and event operations backgrounds.

Within this environment, LiveBuzz’s decision to expand its senior operational leadership reflects a wider trend: organisers expect their technology partners not just to supply tools, but to collaborate on the end-to-end planning and execution of event operations.

Key developments in the appointment

As director of global operations, Conway will be responsible for overseeing LiveBuzz’s operational teams and processes across its markets. His focus is expected to include planning and delivery for registration services, onsite technology deployment, and operational support for organisers throughout the event lifecycle.

Conway previously held senior positions at Hyve, a major exhibition organiser, and Visit by GES, a provider of registration and event technology services. That blend of organiser-side and supplier-side experience gives him familiarity with both the commercial pressures on event owners and the practical requirements of implementing technology at scale.

By bringing in a leader with a background in both technology and event delivery, LiveBuzz appears to be positioning its operations function to address organiser expectations around reliability, integration, and customer service. While specific operational initiatives have not been disclosed, the role suggests a focus on standardising processes while retaining flexibility for different event formats and regions.

Potential impact on the event technology ecosystem

The appointment underscores the increasing importance of operations leadership in event tech businesses. As organisers consolidate suppliers and look for partners that can support multiple shows and markets, operational consistency is becoming a critical differentiator.

For registration and data services providers, this translates into:

Stronger global coordination: Aligning processes and teams to deliver similar service levels across venues and countries.
Deeper collaboration with organisers: Integrating operational planning with organisers’ timelines, floor plans and audience strategies.
Better risk management: Ensuring contingency planning, testing, and onsite support can scale with event size and complexity.

Conway’s experience at an international organiser such as Hyve suggests a detailed understanding of how large portfolios are planned and executed, including the operational friction points that often arise between organisers and suppliers. Combined with his background with Visit by GES, he brings insight into the demands placed on technology vendors delivering services across multiple large-scale exhibitions.

While the long-term impact of the appointment will depend on execution, the move is consistent with how many event tech firms are responding to organiser expectations for more strategic partnerships rather than purely transactional relationships.

Why this matters for event professionals and technology providers

For event organisers, the strengthening of operational leadership at a technology partner can have several practical implications:

Operational reliability: A dedicated global operations lead can help ensure that registration and onsite systems are deployed consistently, with clearer points of contact and escalation.
Better alignment with organiser workflows: Experience from both organiser and supplier perspectives can result in processes that fit more naturally with show cycles, from sales and marketing through to onsite delivery.
Improved data handling: As registration and visitor management sit at the centre of event data strategies, operational oversight is critical to ensuring that data capture, processing and reporting are executed as planned.

For other technology providers in the sector, the appointment highlights how leadership roles are evolving. Product innovation remains important, but many buyers are now evaluating vendors on their ability to operationalise technology in live environments, support complex builds, and integrate with wider event ecosystems.

Operational leaders with a blend of technology and event delivery experience are likely to become more visible across the sector, especially as hybrid and multi-event programmes place greater demands on planning, staffing and onsite infrastructure.

Conclusion

LiveBuzz’s decision to appoint Gerard Conway as director of global operations reflects ongoing shifts in the event technology market, where operational excellence is becoming as critical as product capability. With 15 years in event tech and organiser-side roles at Hyve and Visit by GES, Conway brings a perspective shaped by both service delivery and event ownership.

As organisers continue to refine their technology partnerships following a period of rapid change, moves such as this indicate a focus on building more resilient, consistent and globally coordinated operations. For B2B event professionals, the development underlines the value of assessing not just what technology platforms can do, but how effectively providers can deliver them in the field.