During my years running events departments, and recruiting employees into my team, I have noticed a common misconception that the events world is a glamorous and exciting place – constantly filled with endless drinks receptions, gala dinners and exotic travel. Of course, in my career experience, these aspects do exist, but they are few and far between and the vast majority of an event professionals time is spent project planning, managing budgets and dealing with delegates who decide to shout at you if the lunch queue is too long, the food is too spicy, or their free pen doesn’t work.
As a young manager, I found myself faced on a number of occasions, with a new member of my team who was not expecting the long hours, monotonous tasks of packing delegate bags and who was expecting the glamourous lifestyle on a much more frequent basis. This was a shock to them and caused them to question if this was the industry for them.
This industry, for those who love it, can be amazing. Filled with the adrenaline before a large event or important booking, and the buzz you get when you know everything went to plan and you helped to create an experience that people will always remember. Yes, it can be tiring and stressful, but I wouldn’t want to do anything else – and I hope I can help many of you budding Hospitality extraordinaires move your careers forward and create some legendary points in time.