Bringing a wealth of international venue and events management experience with him, James Mark, International Venue and Events Consultant, joins the London Summer Schools' Lead Facilitator team.
The Event School London's Director, Maria O’Dea announced “We could not be happier than to have James on board to share his knowledge and skills with our summer school participants. I am lucky to have worked with James in the past and not only does he offer fantastic events, venue and sports management expertise, he is a delight to work with and our students will love him!”
James Mark, International Venue and Events Consultant
Ms O’Dea went on to say, “James is a positive and motivational role model for both new talent into the world of events, venues or sports, and to professionals wanting to achieve managerial, director and executive roles. The advice and guidance that James can offer his course participants is the best you'll find in the industry."
The bio below captures just some of Jame's experience and expertise:
“James offers over 25 years’ venue and event management experience gained from working with many of London’s flagship venues including the London Olympic Stadium, ExCeL London, Earl’s Court Olympia Group & the Barbican Centre.
James has overseen venue event management teams’ delivery of high-volume, high-profile, international events such as World Travel Market, London Boat Show, London Motor Show, London Triathlon Show, UK Wedding Show, Defence and Security Equipment International, Hotelympia, International Food and Drink Exhibition, Fashion Week, Salon International and Skills London.
He is now applying this extensive knowledge and experience towards advising both private and public organisations in international venue and event development projects.
For example, British Athletics engaged James to lead the venue planning and delivery of the largest global sporting event of 2017, the IAAF World Championships in Athletics which took place at the London Stadium and throughout the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
In a previous role as Executive Director of ExCeL London, James was responsible for developing and delivering the ancillary services strategy for the venue, creating a new and transformational Food Vision and overseeing the £15m redevelopment of the venue’s F&B facilities. James was also ExCeL’s Commercial and Operational lead for their participation in the 2012 London Olympic Games.
Recently, James undertook a Venue Consultancy role with the successful 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
James is currently working with the UK Government, Department of International Trade, as their Independent Technical Advisor on the delivery of the Government to Government agreement with Peru, which sets out to provide expertise and support to the organising committee of the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima.
In addition, James is working with the Therme Group to develop a UK strategy, which would see the launch of a UK division with potential for 3 – 5 Therme facilities and an investment value of c.£750m.
Below is a summary of James’ key professional roles:
Independent Technical Advisor to UK Government, Lima 2019
UK Strategy Advisor to Therme Group
Venue General Manager, IAAF World Athletics Championships, London 2017
Executive Director, ExCeL London
Services & Olympics Director, ExCeL London
Group Head of Event Management, ExCeL London
Senior Event Manager, Earls Court Olympia
Conference Event Coordinator, Barbican Centre
Co-Founder and Assistant Director, Leicester Comedy Festival
"James made the class extremely interactive"
"Loved the specialist speakers"
"Had the time of my life"
"Wonderful venue tours"
"Very extensive detail"
"A fantastic facilitator"
"Had first-hand experience"
Event Management Class Participants, Nov 2017
James with his Events Management class during a tour of ExCeL London
On his recent programme with The Event School London, James took his students on site tours to some of London's most iconic venues.
