Nationality: Italian/British
Green Week 2019
Nice to meet you
I am Aminda Leigh, a British-Italian journalist and broadcaster with 30 years’ experience, beginning in newsrooms at various BBC radio and TV channels in the UK. I am now based in Rome, where I run a media services agency – AMROS Media Solutions. www.amros.eu.
I have worked as a professional moderator at physical events for almost two decades and have now expanded my expertise into moderating for virtual and hybrid events too. I offer clients moderation in either English or Italian.
My moderation experience spans small-scale workshops and events for 50 people to flagship gatherings for more than 500 participants organised by international institutions.
Examples include EU Green Week (for more than a decade), the EU Agriculture Outlook Conference, the Translating Europe Forum, the European Business Summit and the European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction organised by the UNIDSR. I have also chaired sessions at major global gatherings like the World EXPO in Milan and the COP23 climate talks in Bonn.
Times Up for Food Waste 2019
Over the years I have specialised in environmental issues including climate change, the circular economy, sustainable agriculture, chemicals management, green/blue growth and innovation. I also have experience in topics related to disaster risk reduction, sustainable development and statistics.
Green Week 2018
EU Agriculture Outlook Conference 2019
My Approach
My moderation is driven by three main aspects: interaction, preparation and evolution.
- Interaction is fundamental to keep audiences interested and engaged, especially if they are participating remotely. I always try to build-in interaction from the word go, with polls, word clouds and surveys, or more classic question and answer sessions.
- Preparation is vital for a smooth-running session or event. I work closely with organisers, liaise with speakers, draft scripts and plan for foreseeable problems. Detailed preparation is even more important for a virtual/hybrid event, from learning the event platform to putting speakers at ease with the technology and attending training and rehearsals.
- Evolution is a must for a moderator. Events evolve both during the preparation and as they are happening, particularly those online with their high potential for problems. So, my moderation has evolved too. I have become adept at handling disappearing speakers or technical glitches of all kinds, while keeping energy and interest high throughout and ensuring timings are respected.
Green Week 2019
High Level Conference on EU Chemicals policy 2019
Expertise in Digital Events
In June 2020, I was the Digital Event Director for the first fully virtual version of EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) for the European Commission’s EASME agency, where 4,600 active participants from 120 countries followed and interacted with more than 200 speakers. Thanks to this, and subsequent experiences, I now offer consultancy services for virtual events and how to make them lively and unforgettable, in areas such as programme format and design, interaction and elements that surprise.
I would be delighted to discuss your event needs and am happy to provide references if required. Feel free to email me: mindy@easynet.co.uk
Testimonials
“Thanks again for your flexibility and professionalism under extreme conditions.”
Janice McHugh, DG Environment European Commission (for virtual edition of Green Week, October 2020)
“Thank you so much for your outstanding moderation of TEF 2020! Apart from your thorough preparation it was especially great to see how you were able to handle our technical hick-ups with humor!”
Margit Perko, Translating Europe project manager, European Commission Directorate General for Translation (for virtual conference, November 2020).
“Thank you again for the wonderful moderation of the conference.”
Yael Panzer, Slow Food Europe (for virtual event, November 2020).
“You deserve a lot of the honor for this conference to be such a constructive event” …“You were a superb moderator with just the right, light touch – making everyone feel at ease and keeping the story telling going! Congratulations, it is a real and rare talent”.
Speakers, High Level Conference on EU Chemicals Policy 2030 (June 2019)
“You were a great moderator and kept the discussion going very well with a great balance of slides and audience participation.” “Part of the success of Outlook2019 was thanks to your good work. Particularly I think you gave a masterly lesson on how to energize these days, fruit of your intelligence and good humour.”
Speakers, EU Agriculture Outlook (December 2019).
Recent Moderating Highlights
2020
- Conference on “The Common Agricultural Policy: keeping the ambition high in Europe”, for Slow Food Europe, November 2020 (online)
- 16th European Clubhouse Conference, for Clubhouse Europe and Progetto Itaca Foundation, November 2020 (hybrid, from Rome)
- Translating Europe Forum 2020 (2nd year in a row), for European Commission’s Directorate-General of Translation, November 2020 (online)
- EU Green Week (14th year in a row), for European Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment, October 2020 (online)
- ‘The Rise in Demand for EU Organic & Sustainable Products in the GCC” Webinar, for European Commission’s Executive Agency for Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food (CHAFEA), September 2020 (online)
2019
- “Time’s up for food waste” conference, for European Commission’s Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety – DG SANTE, December 2019 (Brussels)
- EU Agriculture Outlook conference (2nd year in a row), for European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development – DG AGRI, December 2019 (Brussels)
- DIGICOM Final Event, for Eurostat, November 2019 (Brussels)
- “Ready, Set, Substitute It Now!” conference, for Chemsec, November 2019 (Brussels)
- High Level Conference on EU Chemicals policy 2030 for the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment – DG ENV, June 2019 (Brussels)
- Environment Forum: Building Resilient Cities: from Challenges to Opportunities, for EUROCITIES, April 2019 (Italy)
- 15th International Aluminium Recycling Congress (2nd year), for European Aluminium, February 2019 (France)
For more information, contact: mindy@easynet.co.uk