Rachel
Job title
Freelance event manager
Location
London
Industry sector
Event management
Background
Graduate in French and Italian at Leeds University
Placement working as an admin assistant for a sponsor of Euro ‘96.
How did you progress after your placement in 1996?
On the next major project I worked on (France 98 World Cup, for the same client), I took on more responsibility. I was given small parts of the overall project to manage, e.g. transportation and security, while retaining office management/administrative roles. I then moved up to the position of account manager on the third major project with the company (World Cup 2002), meaning I had more projects to manage personally under an account director, and specific clients allocated for me to look after. Having started with logistics and operational matters, I had to develop creative and client management skills.
Describe some typical daily tasks.
My daily work is very varied. Here’s a list of some responsibilities:
day-to-day management of clients and projects;
responding to briefs by undertaking detailed research into the client history, specific project and destination in question, producing detailed proposals for face-to-face pitching with the client;
venue and supplier sourcing and liaison;
budget management – creation and tracking of invoices;
staffing management;
on-site support
post-event reconciliation.
What do you like best about your work?
The main attractions of the job are the opportunity to travel to all sorts of interesting destinations and the wide variety of projects undertaken. On-site experiences are always stressful but exciting - the adrenaline flows and there are many stories to be told on completion of an event. On a more shallow note, the perks are great - staying in top hotels, extensive travel, occasionally looking after celebrities!
How have languages made a difference?
Organising an event from start to finish depends on a lot of communication between the organiser and client, organiser and suppliers, and within the organiser's team itself. In the projects I have worked on abroad, for example World Cup 98 in France, the client expressly asked myself and two others to join the team as we all spoke fluent French and had all lived in France for prolonged periods of time, which they had not. We were therefore being able to bring an added service and cultural understanding to the client through our language skills.
So where next?
My next foreign job is the MTV Awards which are to held in Italy this year. So my Italian grammar books are out and ready to be re-read! Even the rustiest language skills can be brushed up, and when in Rome ... it all should come flooding back, and can only improve on the vocabulary skills you have already.
Any tips?
In any situation where you are abroad, if you can show willing to speak even your worst GCSE German, the effort will be appreciated, will break the ice, and as long as what you say still makes sense and shows respect for their work, you will achieve much better results.