Steven Scaffardi has been promoted to managing director of Adwanted Events and Publishing.
Since joining the company in 2019, Scaffardi has launched new event brands such as Future of Audio Europe, Future of Gaming and Future of Media, as well as evolving The Future of Brands, to create a media series of events to rival our popular TV events as market leading conferences for the media and advertising space.
Scaffardi devised the rebrand of Mediatel News to The Media Leader alongside the publication’s editor Omar Oakes, and launched The Media Leaders Awards and The Future 100 Club. He also leads the charge on the division’s diversity, equity and inclusion strategy, having created the Future of Diversity series of events in lockdown, and then making sure that promise to have more diverse and inclusive line-ups at our events continues to be delivered.
Scaffardi said: “I am naturally delighted and very excited about this new chapter with the Adwanted Group. What this really represents to me is a sign of how we are continuing to grow as a team and as a business, and whilst it might sound slightly cliché, it really is down to the brilliant people I work with – both past and present.
“It is easier to do great things when you have incredible people around you, and I am lucky to work with a team who are so driven and passionate about what we do, as we strive each and every day to be the Number-One content partner for the media industry.
“I must also thank [Mediatel founder] Derek Jones and [Mediatel Events co-founder] Justin Lebbon for the faith they put in me when they brought me in four years ago, and to [Adwanted UK CEO] Greg Grimmer and [Adwanted Group CEO] Emmanuel Debuyck for that continued faith today.”
Scaffardi has over 19 years’ experience across sales, strategy, management and marketing, working with both international and regional clients in the media and advertising sector. He joined Adwanted (then Mediatel Group) in 2019 from CloserStill Media, where he had served as events director for both the ad:tech London and Technology for Marketing conferences.
Prior to this, Scaffardi was at Centaur Media as commercial director for the Festival of Marketing, Marketing Week Live, and The Insight Show. He also held a number of senior positions at C Squared Network’s Festival of Media, including head of client partnerships and head of sponsorship & sales.
Adwanted Events runs a large global events operation, with flagship conferences including the Future of TV Advertising in London, Toronto and Sydney, the Connected TV World Summit, and the Future of Media series of conferences in London.
Greg Grimmer, CEO of Adwanted UK, said: “This is a well deserved promotion as Steve has transformed those divisions of the company since joining the business just under four years ago.
“He led us through the tough Covid times, was instrumental in the growth of the external reputation of our events division and worked closely with Omar Oakes to rebrand and reposition The Media Leader to its exalted place in the marketplace today. In that time he has recruited a brilliant team to work with him and achieved record revenues for the business in 2022.”
