Alastair Reece

I first got into events for the travel and the buzz straight after uni. I loved the pace, variety and completion – seeing crazy software created from an initial mad idea, right through to completion, before quickly moving onto the next one!

My initial background is in web design, software, and animation – I then travelled the world for ten years at events doing software, tech and AV. Gravit8 started life as Pixelhouse; I started the Pixelhouse Content division and grew it until it was big enough to be standalone as Gravit8 software.

“We want users to experience something cool through our software”

There are two elements that drive the business: innovation and information. Whether it is a physical or virtual event, it’s all about creating the wow factor and standing out with a software solution that addresses the client’s needs. It is about knowing what works in the medium and being able to quickly create an app that delivers information. The aim is to get into users’ heads – whether that’s the organiser, brand or delegate.

If I could go back in time a year or two, I’d probably tell myself to work less hours! We’ve put thousands and thousands of man hours into the VEP and like anything I’m passionate about – I, along with many others, threw myself into it big time! I think the pandemic has been a wake-up call in many ways for a lot of people.

“We help brands communicate to the world how good they really are”

Every brand, including Gravit8, wants to let the world know how good their product or service is, and why it’s so great, as they believe in it. We help brands do that in a medium that they don’t know how to construct – through software – and in a way they don’t know how to deliver effectively, which is via short, brief interactions where impact matters.

The next few years are going to be exciting in terms of what we want to achieve. On the physical side, we have all sorts of cool, fun stuff going on for huge global brands, and that’s something I want to see keep growing. This is everything from events in real life or online, to CECs and permanent installs.

“We have a game-changing product for the VR market”

For most companies over the last few years, especially in the events industry, the biggest challenge they have had to face has no doubt been the pandemic and the switch to online events. However, for us, this was a natural blend of what we were doing already. I’d say the biggest challenge for me has been the need for our own marketing, and the difficulty of reaching new customers. All our success and clients have always come via recommendations, word of mouth and in an organic way. Now however, especially with a product which is a game-changer in the virtual market, we need to really up our marketing game and excel at it. We want as many companies as possible to see how genuinely good and comprehensive this system really is!