The Leeds Marketing Meetup is an informal, friendly place for the marketers of Leeds to meet, learn, and share knowledge with one another. Come in 'listen' not 'sell' mode 🙂
We’re back in the lovely Glean offices for this special edition TMM IRL event, which will run in partnership with Leeds Digital Festival. We just want to get together, say hello, have a chat, and have a nice time.
Think of this as a community event, where the focus is very much on you meeting other people in a chilled out friendly space. We’ll chat over food and drink, listen to an inspirational speaker or two, chat some more, and go home buzzing with new contacts and new ideas.
Let’s have a lovely night in the company of some amazin’ people.
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Speakers: a panel discussion including Sam Risker, Founder and CEO of Disruptor Media; Michelle Anderson, AI-First Fractional Chief Marketing Officer; Jim Ker, Head of Marketing at Onfigr; Jacob Goodwin, Content Manager at Glean; and Malcolm Clifford, Technology and Strategy Leader in Jaywing’s Accelerator Lab
Topic: AI in Marketing – the kill or the cure
There’s lots of healthy debate about the ‘new age’ of marketing, particularly in relation to the evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools. It has the immense power to aid scalability, enhance creativity and empower marketers with greater reporting and analysis at speed, but there are undeniably risks and reservations surrounding its practical use.
Join us during Leeds Digital Festival 2025 for an exciting panel debate, discussing the role of AI in Marketing and how you can utilise the tools and master techniques to supercharge your marketing efficiency, effectiveness and overall impact.
Key talking points include:
Kill vs cure for the future of the marketing career path, what does the future of marketing look like in an AI enabled world
The role of AI in digital marketing and the best tools you can utilise to cut through the noise
Practical, real-life examples of AI being activated to drive business growth, personal and team efficiencies and deliver meaningful, personalised campaigns
The risks, reservations and rewards of the shift of ‘doing’ to ‘reviewing’ with AI tools
Managing the human ‘connection’ - ethical and environmental considerations marketers need to be taking with AI and understanding acceptable contexts for use
Next steps for curious, creative marketers looking to educate, explore and enable AI initiatives in their personal and professional world
This session will provide you with the knowledge for AI application, the best tools for specific use-cases and an inspiring debate, to spark further conversation into AI best practice.
We have a number of brilliant speakers joining our panel discussion, including:
Sam Risker, Founder and CEO of Disruptor Media
Sam Risker is the Founder and CEO of Disruptor Media, a multi-award-winning marketing agency based in York. With over 20 years of experience in strategic and digital marketing, Sam has worked with global brands like Procter & Gamble and Melitta Coffee, as well as SMEs, delivering successful campaigns across diverse industries. A passionate advocate for integrating AI into marketing strategies, Sam combines her expertise with a practical, results-driven approach. She champions the idea that AI is most effective when paired with human insight and creativity, helping businesses and marketers improve efficiency, enhance innovation, and achieve measurable outcomes.
Michelle Anderson, AI-First Fractional Chief Marketing Officer
Michelle is a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer specialising in AI-driven strategic marketing, helping businesses transform their marketing operations to stay competitive, efficient, and future-focused. With 20+ years of leadership experience, she has led high-impact marketing strategies for brands including Powerleague, The Jockey Club, QHotels, and Leeds Rhinos across leisure, sport, and hospitality.
She bridges the gap between strategy and execution, ensuring businesses integrate AI into their marketing and wider operations in a practical, transparent, and results-driven way. Currently leading the AI-first marketing strategy at Soul Padel, Michelle is helping to expand the brand’s UK footprint. Passionate about demystifying AI in marketing, she helps businesses move beyond the hype to achieve real, measurable impact.
Jim Ker, Head of Marketing at Onfigr
Jim is an award winning Chartered Marketer with extensive experience spanning multiple sectors, from financial services and technology, to international manufacturing.
Currently serving as Head of Marketing for Onfigr Ltd, a tech startup using AI tools to help brands provide more immersive visual experiences for customers, Jim is excited to explore how AI can improve and enhance marketing operations. As a commercial marketing leader, Jim is passionate about marketers shifting position to be more commercially-minded, playing a more strategic role as a growth and revenue-focused department. As new technology, such as AI, emerges and provides an immense array of tools, Jim sees rudimentary digital marketing roles begin to become less essential within the digital ecosystem, and is keen to empower today’s marketers to lead the change and embrace this new marketing future.
Jacob Goodwin, Content Manager at Glean
Jacob Goodwin is the Content Manager at Glean, where each and every day he explores the intersection and opportunities of AI in Content Marketing. He's intrigued about how companies can leverage Artificial Intelligence to craft more engaging and personalized experiences without compromising the insight and expertise of the individual creative.
Malcolm Clifford, Technology and Strategy Leader in Jaywing’s Accelerator Lab
As Jaywing’s Accelerator Lab Leader, Malcolm oversees the strategic direction and daily operations, guiding the team’s efforts to deliver cutting-edge data science solutions. Malcolm’s experience in predictive analytics, statistical modelling, and data-driven strategy has made him a key figure in the evolution of Jaywing’s data capabilities. As ‘Employee No4’ when Jaywing started 25 years ago, Malcolm was blazing a trail in this field when most agencies still thought data was Jean-Luc Picard’s android friend from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
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The format of the night:
6:00 pm - Doors Open - Drinks, Networking, and smiles
6:30 pm - Introduction and Talks Begin
7:15 pm - Talks Finish, Networking, Listening, Saying Hello, and Positively Lovely People
7:45 pm - End of the night - you leave with new contacts and fresh ideas
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Partnered with:
Glean. Glean unlocks human potential through technology that empowers individuals to learn confidently and effectively from the world’s information. Their award- winning web and mobile app is used worldwide by students to improve learning in the classroom. Glean are made up of a growing team of people who see potential and then make it happen so together they can have the biggest impact on learners' potential. They’re an ambitious scale up, with sights set to catapult growth and support one million students with their learning. Curious? We like that here.
Supported by The Keynote Club, a public speaking club for marketers. TKC is a safe and friendly space for marketing folk to come together, connect and exercise our public speaking muscles. Get involved at thekeynoteclub.com/
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And finally...
This is a donation ticketed event. The ticket price is yours to choose, from £3 to £30 (the average attendees choose to pay £8.79 🙂
We of course understand that these are tough times, so if you are experiencing financial hardship and cannot afford the minimum donation amount, please reach out to el@themarketingmeetup.com and we’ll find a ticket for you (provided capacity hasn't already been reached!) 🙂
Please let your marketing friends and colleagues know about this group too, I hope to build it into a great resource for the community over the coming months and years. Attendance will be taken at this event. If you sign up but don’t show up, this has a knock on effect on event arrangements. If it happens 3 times, you’re outta here! This is simply a measure to allow appropriate respect to the organisers, speakers, sponsors, and your fellow community members 🙂
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See you there!