I got into the event industry because while at school and college I worked part time at a beautiful country hotel in West Sussex. One weekend I saw an event company come in and style one of the event spaces for a Bar Mitzvah. I was immediately intrigued and thought to myself this is what I’d like to do. I went on to study event management at university.
I have worked here since I first worked at Merlin in 2008 for one year, as part of a placement for my university course - my role was event administrator. I returned to Merlin in January 2011 after graduating and working as an event and communications assistant at P&MM. I took up the position of event manager and within two years I was promoted, with my role expanded to include sales and marketing.
I was attracted to this particular role because there is never a dull day at Merlin. Our attractions are always changing, evolving and even moving which means our events strategy continually changes. I get the opportunity to work in three completely different event venues which is brilliant.
Not many people know that when I was 19 I worked as an air hostess. It isn’t always as glamorous as you might think, but I did get to see the world. It taught me many valuable lessons in dealing with long hours, disgruntled passengers, first aid cases and unpredictable eventualities. It was good grounding for a career in events.
The best event I’ve been involved was... we created a new event concept when we hosted ‘It’s Your Party’ at Madame Tussauds in 2012. Attendees created the whole party via social media deciding on the theme, food, entertainment and drinks. We worked with Excelerated Apps to install check-in stations at the venue so guests could share information about the party on their social media pages simply by swiping a personalised card; similar technology used by the Oyster card. The event was well received with wonderful feedback and helped propel our social media reach.
If I could do it all over again I would move into experiential marketing from the off, the phenomenon of pop-up events for brands in recent years has been amazing. I love that you can immerse yourself in an experience that is quite literally here today and gone tomorrow, but leaves a lasting impression.
The one thing I can’t stand is a lack of urgency; when things need to be done there is no time to stand idle.
Outside of work I spend my time in a hot yoga studio, running in the park or visiting my family back home in the Sussex countryside.
If money were no object I would love to start a number of businesses, there are so many creative things I would like to do if only I had the capital.
If I could switch places with anyone else in the industry it would be the project manager of the London Marathon. The beauty of this great event is it brings people together who have a common purpose or interest, the London Marathon demonstrates so many emotions of humanity, even as a spectator you come away on a high.
If I ruled the event industry I would create a hands-on event management academy where students could cross train in different sectors such as incentives, experiential marketing, catering and hotel and venue management. Companies could approach the academy for students with specific skills for freelance work, internships and placements. Having studied event management myself I can safely say my placement year was the best year of my degree. I think hands-on experience is vital in our industry.
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