AV Events

Ben Barnard is Regional Director UK & Ireland at AVIXA and aspires to support the AV community through education, certification, training and providing the industry with access to the resources that are most beneficial to their businesses and professional development. Ben has been working closely with various industry groups over his time at AVIXA and is always keen to learn more about what's relevant and important to the various segments of our community.

Annika leads on the audiovisual programmes and projects at the University of the Arts London (UAL), where she serves as Senior Delivery Manager across all colleges. She leads on everything from AV procurement and project delivery to supplier negotiations, customer experience, and stakeholder engagement—ensuring seamless, high-impact solutions at every stage.

With more than a decade of experience in London’s higher education sector, Annika has played a key role in shaping large-scale capital projects and pioneering innovative AV services and standards. Her work sits at the intersection of technology, creativity, and strategy, helping to transform how learning environments are designed and experienced.

Jon has been involved in creating a number of well-known industry businesses including Maverick Distribution, PSCo and Vision Audio Visual. He is now co-owner of Blue Touch Paper a company designed to ignite potential and innovation in business. He has been driven by being challenging and disruptive not being afraid to continually change go to market and channel strategies.

Jon is also a strong supporter of the industry having been involved with AVIXA for over a decade serving as a Board Director and as Chairman, He is now a Director of InfoComm Asia.

Lauren Simmen is a product marketing leader specializing in video collaboration, unified communications, and workplace technology. As Head of Video Product Marketing at Jabra, she leads global go-to-market marketing strategy for enterprise video solutions that power hybrid work and modern meeting experiences.
With a strong background in the professional AV industry, Lauren has 20 years of experience and has held key roles at AMETEK, Crestron and Huddly, where she drove product positioning, partner engagement, and growth across collaboration ecosystems.
She also serves as President of the NSCA Education Foundation, championing workforce development, education, and leadership programs to support the next generation of industry talent.
Lauren is passionate about the intersection of technology and human connection—helping organizations create more inclusive, effective, and engaging collaboration experiences.

Mehryn Corrigan is a Senior Program Manager at Microsoft, where she leads partner enablement and community programs supporting the AI-powered workplace across Microsoft Teams and collaboration solutions.
She works closely with global partners and customers to drive adoption, readiness, and real-world impact for intelligent meeting and workplace technologies. With deep experience in partner programs, go-to-market execution, and large-scale industry events, Mehryn focuses on translating strategy into scalable, human-centered workplace experiences.