LIVE MATTERS, the B2B brand-marketing event, is running away to the circus once again with a conference under the Big Top at the AIA Carnival space along Central waterfront in Hong Kong.
The day-long Live Matters 2026 on February 10, presented by Branded and Great Entertainment Group, has some 10 panels and keynotes lined up with 22 brands and organisations represented, ranging from AI, robotics and sustainability to airlines, concert promoters and banks – all blending with a circus backdrop.
“If you’re going to do an event that celebrates all that is good in the live event industry, then you have to have serious fun in delivering it,” Branded CEO Jasper Donat told MIX.
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“So being back in the Big Top circus tent right on one of the most exciting harbours on the planet has to tick all those boxes. Not to mention that the speakers will be seated in pink dinosaur, alien and clown chairs,” Donat said referring to the venue’s cartoonesque seat designs.
“And on the serious side, our [speaker] lineup is second to none… and they will be talking to and meeting with over 300 leaders who will have flown in from all over the world. Personally I can’t wait to be back in Hong Kong because live really matters.”
Among the sessions at is a panel moderated by Darren Chuckry, managing director of HK Initiative, on AI and robotics being applied to the live-events space.
“AI is no longer just changing how content is created – it’s transforming how live events are experienced,” Chuckry wrote in a social media post.
“From sport and entertainment to exhibitions and cultural events, this session explores how AI and robotics are already being deployed live, creating new forms of interaction, immersion, and audience engagement.”
The panelists for Chuckry’s “Re(AI)lity Bites“ session are Edward Eremyan, the founder and CEO of Teleport, which creates immersive, tech-art driven event experiences, and Xi Xeng, the founder of Chance AI, which has worked with ByteDance, OPPO and OnePlus.
Also lined up are speakers from Standard Chartered Bank, Cathay Pacific, Jebsen Group, Xiaohongshu, Klook, MTR Corporation, Live Nation Entertainment, Kai Tak Sports Park, HYROX, Wasserman, Hong Kong China Rugby, Laureus Sport for Good Hong Kong, Invest Hong Kong, Skye Digital, Sustainevents, NODWIN Gaming, Culture Group, Great Entertainment Group and Branded among others.
Paul McNeill, managing partner of Skye Digital, will moderate the “Set Jetting: How Events and Culture Shape Travel” session with panelists Ed Bell, of Cathay Oacific, and James Dick, of Live Nation Entertainment. The panel will evaluate how live events are increasingly influencing travel choices with fans arranging trips around concerts, sports and cultural events.
Branded’s Emma Louise Fung will moderate a panel on “Sustainability in Events: What Actually Works” with Kirsten Bell, founder of Sustainevents, Jessica Chan, the MTR Corp’s head of sustainability, and Joseph Luk, CEO of Senkoo, which designs low-carbon retail and business event structures.
