I got into the events industry because I wanted to do something that was fun, hard work, energetic and rewarding.
I have worked here since the age of 16 and now run my own multi media agency covering PR, events, and TV production with journalist and PR Cheryl Gibbs. We’ve landed some pretty impressive projects, the most recent being helping to organise the annual ball for the Ndoro Children’s Charity.
I was attracted to this particular role because unlike a lot of jobs, working in events is extremely diverse, fun and at times enormously challenging. Each day is completely different to the last and you never know how an event will turn out until the actual night.
Not many people know that organising an event from start to finish is really hard and very demanding. Clients are putting their trust completely in our hands and on a lot of occasions the events are put in place to launch a product or new business – the success of the event can literally mean make or break for a product/client so there is a huge responsibility in taking it on.
My worst experience at an event was when we were asked to assist on the celebrity booking side of things. The event started off really well until the client got up on stage and did a speech about her product. She got very carried away and the speech went on for nearly an hour, everyone was really bored and no-longer in the party mood.
If there’s one thing I’ve learnt it is always overbook an event when it comes to celebrity and journalists attendance, never take their word for it. The saying ‘less is more’ doesn’t apply to events. If the venue holds 200 then you should have 250 on the guest list, there’s nothing worse than an event with only a few guests. Also book cars for celebrities where possible, that way you can usually guarantee they’ll come.
The best event I’ve been involved in was when I worked on the Top Of The Pops Awards, everyone had a really great time, the attendance was incredible. I also assisted on the celebrity booking for The V Festival which was a great experience, fun, fun, fun but extremely tiring.
If I could do it all over again I would have taken my camera with me and perhaps even have written an event blog. I have worked on some brilliant, high profile events over the years and some feel like distant, faded memories now, would be great to be able to look back on pictures and a diary and say ‘I did that’.
The one thing I can’t stand is rude, arrogant people. Unfortunately in this industry you come across a lot of them and I have always lived by the notion that everyone is equal and it shouldn’t matter whether you are working on a small client event or a large multi scale one, everyone deserves respect and I expect it back.
Outside of work I spend my time making plans and preparations for the future of Snap! Crackle Media. But if really want to switch off, I take my dogs out for long walks, come rain or shine you’re guaranteed to come back de-stressed and in a better mood.
If money were no object I would travel a lot more than I currently do and develop the TV production side of our business.
The recession has meant that at times we have struggled, PR and events are not an absolute necessity when a company is struggling. All in all we have been extremely lucky and haven’t been affected too much; we’ve had rough weeks and months, but that’s to be expected when you run your own company.
The next 12 months will be so exciting! We have so much in the pipeline and are just about to launch our sister site – www.thedailycrackle.com. We’re manically busy at the moment, but we’re sure it will be worth all the blood, sweat and tears – 2011 will be our year.
If I could switch places with anyone else in the industry it would be no-one, I love who I am, what I have achieved and the company I run. Obviously there are some extremely successful business people who I admire, but I wouldn’t swap places for the world (just maybe my bank account).
If I ruled the event industry I would make some events less stuffy. I have worked for a few clients who have refused entry to certain celebrities and journalists just because they don’t fit in or are not good enough. Journalist wise, this is really bad as some are starting out, like we have all done, and deserve a chance, as long as they are providing good coverage and there’s enough space to seat them, then I don’t see the issue.