Why Hosting a Panel Might Be One of the Most Underrated Marketing Moves You Can Make

Apr 17
2 min read

Facilitating for FSB at Felaw Maltings, Suffolk

Last week I had the absolute pleasure of hosting and facilitating a panel for the Federation of Small Businesses at Felaw Maltings, supporting East Suffolk Council.

And I’ll say it straight; I loved it.

The Panel: Real Conversations, Not Surface-Level Stuff

We pulled together a genuinely strong mix of perspectives across business:

AI with Adam Thacker from Sustained Innovation
Marketing and branding with Kami Robinson from Bold Creatures
Communications with Nick Pandolfi (quick note; one of my new favourite humans)
Business finance with Shane Julian from Brancaster House Financial Planning

And what made it work?

It wasn’t a series of mini-lectures. It was a conversation. The kind where people in the room are actually thinking: “Ah… that applies to me.”

What We Covered (And Why It Matters)

We got into:

How AI is actually being used in real businesses right now (not just hype)
What good marketing really looks like when you strip it back
Why clear communication is often the thing holding businesses back
The financial realities behind growth; not just the shiny front-end

And importantly, how all of these pieces connect.

Because most businesses don’t have a marketing problem...they have a joined-up thinking problem.

My Role: Holding the Room, Not Just Asking Questions

Hosting isn’t just reading out questions or keeping to time. It’s:

Reading the room
Knowing when to dig deeper
Pulling threads together
Making sure every voice lands clearly

And creating an environment where the panel shines, the audience stays engaged and the conversation flows naturally. That’s the difference between a “nice event”… and one people actually remember.

Why This Matters for Your Business

Events like this build:

Visibility
Authority
Connection
Opportunity

And if you’re asked to speak, host, or contribute?

Say yes.

Because being in the room; leading the conversation; positioning yourself alongside other experts…that’s powerful marketing.

A Personal Note

I’ve realised something doing more of these: I really enjoy hosting.

The energy, the conversation, the ability to bring people together and make something click in the room…It’s a different kind of work, and it’s one I want to do more of.