Excitement is building as we count down the weeks to our our sister event, the annual MAD World Festival of workplace culture, employee health and wellbeing. It’s taking place at 133 Houndsditch in Central London on Thursday 17th October.
With 129+ speakers and more than 350 people already registered to attend, from a whole host of employers, you can be sure that you’ll be in excellent company.
The MAD World Festival is the only event that breaks down silos by bringing together the full range of stakeholders from different types and sizes of organisations to share ideas and advance best practice in workplace culture, employee health and wellbeing.
We know you are busy. But your people are your most valuable asset. We all know that.
In case you’re still deciding whether to join us, here are eight compelling reasons why you need to make sure that the date is firmly in your diary…
1. You can make the best use of your time by choosing the content that’s most relevant to your information needs
You could either sit at your desk and spend weeks (if not months) having Teams or Zoom meetings, in search of the right way forward. Or you can set one whole day aside to attend the Festival and find everything that you need.
This year’s Festival will incorporate FOUR separate summit events running in parallel on one day – each catering to different information needs. You choose the content that’s most relevant for you.
- The Make A Difference Leaders’ Summit – Driving excellence in workplace culture, employee health and wellbeing
- The MAD Legal Industry Summit – Strategies to improve mental health and wellbeing across the legal sector
- The MAD Construction Summit – Building better mental health and wellbeing across construction’s workforces
- The MAD DE&I Summit – Creating a culture of belonging to foster equitable, inclusive and thriving workplaces
Some employers are sending groups of three or more colleagues. This ensures that all key stakeholders involved in decisions around workplace culture, employee health and wellbeing benefit from the full range of content.
2. Learn from cross-sector leaders – practical tips you can take back and apply in your own workplace
As well as thought-leaders such as Dame Carol Black, CIPD’s Peter Cheese, SOM’s Nick Pahl and IOSH’s Vanessa Harwood-Whitcher, the Leaders’ Summit agenda features insights from industry peers from a wide range of organisation. These include HSBC, WPP, Jaguar Land Rover, Tesco, Chanel 4, BBC, Cadent, Shell, Sainsburys, Royal Mail, First Bus and many more.
Meanwhile, the DE&I Summit features speakers from Ingka Group Ikea, Centrica, Viasat, News UK, NVIDIA, Selfridges and Northumbrian Water Group. A highlight will be a panel including input from Google and Ebay focused on the ultra-hot topic: “Creating and celebrating neuroinclusion at work”.
The Legal Summit and Construction Summits also feature a host of speakers from across their respective sectors. For the Construction Summit, these include Tideway, The Crowne Estate, Mace Group, Balfour Beatty, Mott MacDonald and more. For the Legal Summit you’ll hear from Citi, Simmons & Simmons, DLA Piper, Osborne Clarke, Pinsent Masons, Capsticks and IBA amongst others.
3. Hear fresh perspectives to ensure your interventions are as effective as possible
Whether you’re just getting started or you’re moving to the next level of implementation, want to future-proof the support you offer and make sure it’s as streamlined and effective as possible, the Leaders’ Summit agenda has been designed to hone in on the key drivers of excellence in workplace culture, employee health and wellbeing.
The DE&I Summit, Construction and Legal Summit agendas have also been carefully curated to give you plenty of opportunity to keep up to speed with best practice and get answers to your questions.
4. Cut through the noise to find the insights you need
Podcasts, webinars, LinkedIn, X. We are bombarded with information daily. But there’s nothing like gathering a range of perspectives, in person, to really cut to the chase and work out the right way forward. Whether the negative news about Employee Assistance Programmes has undermined your confidence in your current EAP, or you’re trying to work out how data can help maintain boardroom buy-in, there are sure to be discussions that will enable you find the answers you need.
5. Keep ahead of changing legislation and the implications for your people, your organisation and your strategies
When they took office in June 2024, the Labour Government pledged to implement a raft of initiatives designed to modernise the world of work. The Festival will provide essential insights into what the Government’s pledges mean for employers and how you will need to adapt.
6. Play your part in shaping new frameworks for best practice
At the Construction Summit you’ll have the opportunity to hear about fresh research to create a new framework for best practice in culture setting for a working environment that has a positive impact on mental health. Also, a representative from British Standards Institution (BSI) will share initial progress on making Standards consistently achievable across sectors to promote healthy and inclusive working environments. Rather than wait for publication, you can join the conversation at the Summit to influence the outcome.
The Legal Summit’s goal is to provide attendees with an opportunity to discuss key issues and decide the best way forward to make the law a healthier profession. This includes a focus on best practice guidelines around managing working cultures for the legal sector.
7. Make valuable contacts with unparalleled opportunities for networking with senior-level peers from across sectors and with a range of job titles
As well as the coffee and lunch breaks and Leaders’ Summit roundtable discussions, one of the new features of the event is the Festival app.
The app will enable you to see who else is attending the event and connect with them to share ideas and experiences. You can also arrange to meet up in person for real-time knowledge exchange in the dedicated “Heads Together Hub”, which will be open throughout the day.
8. Connect with innovative solution providers working to deliver products and services that are creating a tangible impact
The exhibition is a central feature of the MAD World Festival and is open to all Festival delegates. It’s great to see the variety of solutions being showcased this year.
From anaphylactic shock, to beating burnout. Next-generation Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) through to neuroinclusion. Financial wellbeing to supporting night workers. Whatever you’re looking for, it’s worth planning which exhibitors you want to check out. You can find out more in this preview article and also take a look at their profiles on the event website here.
To help you make the best use of your time, if you have specific solution providers that you would like to meet, the organisers are happy to line up 1-2-1 meetings for you at the event.
You can find out more about all the different elements of the MAD World Festival of Workplace Culture, Employee Health and Wellbeing here and register with a 50% discount using code MAD50 here.
Employers who are eligible to join the Make A Difference Leaders’ Club benefit from cost-price attendance of the Summit. You can find out more about the Leaders’ Club and apply to join here.
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