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Welcome to the second instalment in my exploring the event industry series, were I am chatting to my fellow eventprofs about what is it they do in our industry. Our industry is so vast with so many different roles, it can be difficult to work out what kind of role you would like when you first enter the world of events or even down the line if you fancy a change. Hopefully this series will help you not only learn about the different roles out there but also connect with many new professionals in this industry as I share their stories.
All about Emily
Job Title: Event Producer
Company: Make Events (3years)
How long have you been in events: I started my career in events 7 years ago starting in hotels and then moving into agency
Dream Event to work on: a Louis Vuitton fashion show. I would just love the craziness and adrenaline onsite plus Louis Vuitton would be one of my dream brands.
How did you get into the event industry?
I first joined the industry on my placement year in 2013 when I worked at a hotel resort in South Carolina. Since then I worked in 2 hotels in the UK, a venue finding agency and now Make Events. I started as an Events Assistant with very limited/no experience and learnt from the expertise around me to build my confidence and knowledge to become firstly the Marketing Events Assistant and then Events Producer. The main thing in the events industry is experience so I grabbed every opportunity and ran with it.
What does a day in the life of an events producer look like?
I won’t lie I am not the first one in the office! I am not one to get up and work out, plan my day and tick half my to do list off before 7am. It just isn’t me! It makes me tired and actually less productive. I wake up around 7am, watch a bit of tele and then get ready for a full day at House of Make. I get to the office just after 9 and then crack on with client events. It's hard to put a number on it but you will always be working on events for several clients at any one time. It’s agency life and actually one of the things I love most about my job as it is so diverse. Luckily, we have an amazing team so I will check in with my event coordinator and we will split the jobs for the day. There is a lot of admin to be done including creative pitches, budgets, running orders etc but that all fits in around what client demands there are. We are often out of the office on site visits, food tastings, client meetings, supplier meetings and also we spend a lot of time travelling as it could be anywhere! After this the work doesn’t stop as I attend a lot of networking events in the city centre which could be late into the evening. It’s fair to say we don’t do 9-5 but we do have fun. It's all about the grind, we just make it look glamourous.
What kind of events do you work on?
At Make Events we do a complete range of events. It is all about creating the ultimate experience whether that be to enhance client or employee engagement. To name a few examples – some projects I have worked on this year alone: employee conference and engagement for Puma; charity work with the Running Bee Foundation creating brand activation at their races; employee recognition awards for Stagecoach and anniversary celebrations for Radius Payment Solutions. Numbers have ranged from 20 – 1000. It just completely depends on the enquiry but nothing is too big or too small.
What do you think are the most important skills you need to do your job?
The most important skill for me is confidence. It is something that I got knocked out of me a few years ago but in the last 18 months it has come back stronger than ever and I have noticed the difference in having it and not. If you are confident in what you are doing and delivering then it helps in so many ways. For example, clients have confidence in you, the team you are working with have confidence in you and also management have confidence in you which will also help your progression. You need to be organised, creative, passionate, a team player, hardworking but if you do all of that with confidence it elevates all those skills even further.
The most difficult & your favourite part of the job?
The hardest part of the job is the hours. It is long days and I am not just talking about being onsite. It is when it is 2am and you still haven’t left the office because you just can’t get the budget to where it needs to be. It is hard but it is just part of the job and you have to get on with it. The best part of working for an agency is the people. There is a camaraderie that I think is truly special. It is very rare that at 2am you are on your own. Someone is with you, pouring you a glass of prosecco and holding your hand to stop you crying. It’s like having really honest family members that will tell you when you are doing amazing but also tell you the truth when you need to hear it. I am not sure how I can put it into words but having a work family like ours is 100% my favourite part of the job.
What advice would you give someone that would like your job?
If you are looking to join the industry for the first time then 100% experience is the most valuable thing you can gain. Our best people at Make Events came on work experience and never left! Commit to an agency and give them everything and they will see the value in you. Also be 100% sure it is what you want. It all looks very glamorous when we are having photos with celebrities or celebrating post event but there are a lot of blood, sweat and tears that go into making our events a success. Expect to do the grind and show that you have an understanding of that to employers.
How has the current coronavirus situation effected you at Make Events?
I joined the business when it was much smaller and no job was too big or too small for anyone and that has come back into play for sure! Everyone is just mucking in and helping wherever they can! Some of our staff have been put on furlough so I am supporting with venue finding, the private arm of the business – HM Events, and also on strategy projects. I am also still really busy with client events as a lot have gone virtual or postponed to later in the year. It’s definitely still the same pace that I am used to at Make Events because even though the world is crazy at the moment, we are being blessed with time. We are using this to get all the planning and projects ticked to help grow Make Events even further when this blows over. And this will all blow over – what a story we will all have to tell at the end of it.
Thanks for sharing Emily
You can follow Emily on the below links
Instagram: evh_events