VSef Appoints Stephen Knowles as CEO

VSef, the global data format for digital event technologies, is announcing today that Stephen Knowles (cover photo) has been appointed CEO. Stephen has over two decades of experience working with some of the most dynamic events businesses, including IQPC, Informa Markets (previously UBM) and CloserStill.

As a champion of the events industry, Knowles has extensive events experience, launching event brands into new markets and sectors. He is a trusted business leader with an eye for transatlantic opportunities. 

Stephen Knowles says “It’s a rare role that has the potential to make such a progressive and rapid impact on the global events industry as whole. I am drawn to problem-solving opportunities that make a real difference, and when the chance came up to lead the VSef initiative I couldn’t say no.” 

“When creating a must-have list for 2022, few leaders in the industry wrote ‘universal data format’ as a key objective. However, when a ready-made solution, created independently and that resolves significant challenges for the industry and its customers drops into leaders’ laps, wide-scale change can happen extremely rapidly.”   

Knowles takes over from Mark Brewster who has led VSef since its inception in early 2021, and who will continue to serve as Chairman of VSef and CEO of Explori, the  event measurement business he founded in 2011.

Mark Brewster commented, “I’m extremely excited to see Stephen take over the day-to-day management of this important industry initiative. For me, it has been an absolute honour to work with the industry so collaboratively to fix the big data problem. Stephen skills in scaling industry projects and events make him the perfect choice for VSef and I’m looking forward to seeing it progress in his hands.”

This appointment comes after the recent announcement of V2.0 of VSef which now includes a new set of API standards enabling organizers to pull their data from multiple platforms into their own system. There are also improvements related to language capabilities, exhibitor and sponsor directories, and customized data fields.