The fastest year of my life.....so far!
2009
New Year is fast approaching and with it brings BETT and the Education Show 2010. This will be the second time that I have worked on these shows, having made my debut at both at the start of this year, and I am once again looking forward to them. The BETT Show is the world’s largest educational technology event and takes place in the Olympia London. The Education Show is based in the NEC Birmingham and in March 2010 will celebrate its 20th show!
Our part in both of these shows is to pull together, with Emap, a diverse seminar programme, to fill each day of the show, from numerous seminar proposals and liaise with the speakers before, during and after the event on anything from expenses to AV requirements. We’re required to be at both shows, have just booked our London flights and accommodation and will soon be sourcing our Birmingham options. But those of you who think we’ll be visiting cocktail bars, trawling Camden market or catching a performance at the Hippodrome while we’re there, will be pleased to know it really isn’t as glamorous as it sounds! Usually the most important part of a girl’s outfit is her shoes but when you’re on your feet for four days, trying to be in 5 rooms at the same time and covering a huge exhibition space on foot you soon tire of heels, however pretty, and I’ll be looking out my trusty flats in time.
This year has also seen the second time that Think Different Events has handled the logistics of the Scottish Enterprise Encouraging Dynamic Global Entrepreneurs Programme (EDGE) 2009 having won the tender both this year and last. I had a more involved role with the programme this year being lead contact and working with Jill and Ailie neither of whom had worked on the programme before! As it was my second stab at it, I was familiar with a lot of the processes involved and had a rough idea of what to expect but there were a few changes in the programme this year which kept me on my toes and very busy during the summer.
It’s a full programme but a fun one too and I was glad that we got the chance to work with Scottish Enterprise again this year. The programme’s Launch Ceremony was held in St Andrew’s in the Square this year, the first time we had used that particular venue, and as well as being beautiful it also proved to be an ideal space for the launch of this programme. Being an International programme we had students from Hong Kong, Canada, USA and Poland, as well as some of their faculty staff, and old buildings such as St Andrews in the Square really shows them what Glasgow is all about. We hung flags from every participating country along the outside of the building, a colourful welcome to all of our visitors, but unfortunately just before our visitors arrived, the Scotland flag went ‘missing’ another way of showing them what Glasgow is all about!
But this year has also been a series of firsts for us.
It’s the first time we have organised a treasure hunt and, after a few false starts, we now have a tried and tested model that can be used for future events if required. The event took place in Gartmore House and the site visit took place on a cold and wet day in March. Needless to say I was the one who fell on my behind into some sloppy cold muck – it was to be the first, but definitely not the last, time I was to humiliate myself in front of my colleagues.
This year is also the first that we have taken on a Modern Apprentice. Sam started as the Think Different Events Office Administrator in November and I have been helping her get started on her Modern Apprenticeship. It certainly takes me back to being a shy 17 year old when I started out on my own Modern Apprenticeship with the University of Glasgow. There are definitely a few changes between now and then – after all we’re talking almost 9 years! – but the basis is the same and I hope Sam enjoys it as much as I did when I first took it on. In the events industry in particular it’s often not what theory you know but if you can actually do the hands on job, and although she has a long way to go before she’s fully fledged events wise, I’m sure the experience she gains now will be invaluable to her when she starts out in her events life.
I’ve also been taking part in some Business Gateway courses; Selling with Confidence and Marketing, Advertising and Promotion. These courses are 3 hour taster sessions and most importantly free and I would fully recommend them. Although both courses are pretty similar I really enjoyed learning more about what the differences between selling and marketing are and figuring out how to make these relevant to our company. Delegates in attendance were really diverse, ranging from myself in events, to a garden designer, to a counsellor, to cd producers. It was a really great way of networking and an incredibly useful tool.
So it’s been a full and busy year for us here at Think Different Events; we’ve had conferences and meetings, treasure hunts and exhibitions, launches and awards ceremonies, the arrival of my NBF Jill and the new office angel Sam and of course not forgetting becoming a private limited company! Phew!
If next year is as exciting as this one – then roll on 2010!
Merry Christmas Everyone and Best Wishes for the New Year.
Comments
Write a comment
- Required fields are marked with *.
