I got into the event industry because like a lot of us, I fell into events by mistake and found I enjoyed it. I love not having a routine – I love navigating the chaos of events to restore calm and I love the feeling when the whole team pull together and things just click.
I have worked here since 1993. I was part time to begin with, juggling a bit of TV and theatre work, but the business and the event industry has evolved so much that I feel I now operate in a completely new environment to when I started.
I wasn’t really attracted to this particular role – it just happened this way. But I can be quite competitive, which helps when having to lead a pitch.
Not many people know that I used to DJ at lots of top society parties when I was a teenager – many of these clients had the most appalling taste in music, which is probably why I got the gigs.
The best event I’ve been involved in was probably The Gig in The Sky. Working with BA and Comic Relief we achieved a world record for the highest live concert at 43,000 feet in the air. It had some massive challenges to get the audio and lighting system on board and operating in the air, but it all worked and the whole event was pure fun – a real party in a plane.
If I could do it all over again I would be more selective with the projects we accept. We are much better at this now and being more selective allows us to dedicate and focus our energy towards what we do best.
The one thing I can't stand is cheapness. I love things being great value, but I have never seen any value in something that is just cheap. If you buy cheap, you pay twice.
Outside of work I spend my time coaching rugby and trying to fit in a family life when I get time off from events.
If money were no object I would keep on doing events, but having even more fun, particularly with some of our charity clients. Although they need the cash, some of these organisations are really up for some mad ideas and that would keep life interesting.
If I could switch places with anyone else in the industry it would be someone in the delivery team for the Rugby World Cup 2015. I’m looking forward to watching and would love to be involved in a global event of that scale.
If I ruled the event industry I would insist that all new venues are designed by architects who truly understand event and production company needs. So many venues end up being twice as difficult to work in, and more expensive to the client because of poor design of basic principles, such as access, rigging, cable management, power, acoustic insulation and so on.
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