I’m Louiza, a musician, aspiring music festival organiser and now a full time event manager since graduating in December 2021 with a Diploma in Event Management.
I graduated from University of Manchester in 2020 where I studied music. Not a great time to want to kick start a career in events.
Before joining EA, I was working at UCL in Human Resources, and had just been promoted to the HR Administrator role for the Employment Policy team.
Two months ago I started my first full time event position as Event Coordinator – Speaker Operations at Informa Connect.
How did you discover The Event Academy and end up enrolling?
I had deferred from a masters in event management due to the pandemic and a few weeks before I was due to start in September 2021, I spoke to some people about the masters who said they didn’t think it was worth doing. I was recommended the Event Academy and was in quite a pickle for a few weeks! After a lot of deliberating and pros and cons lists, I decided to decline my masters offer and try out the Diploma.
What made you decide to study Event Management?
From a young age, I have always been the one organising social occasions, trips and holidays for my friends and family. I love to plan fun things! I was also used to being on stage in the spotlight as a musician. However, at university, I got involved with organising events for the Students Union in my first year which made me realise that I would rather be behind the scenes organising everything and telling everyone what to do! This led to numerous event roles at university and the realisation of the industry I wanted to get into after I graduated.
Describe your day to day role and what you love best about it?
I am the Speaker Ops Lead for the SuperReturn portfolio in the Global Finance Team, which include the biggest events in this vertical. The events I am working on are corporate conferences of varying sizes on topics such as private equity. I am the main point of contact for speakers, collating contact details, information and event specific requirements before our events.
At times I may have to deal with up to 500 speakers for an event! I also work with the event producer to update the event agenda on the websites, digital platforms and apps. Onsite, I manage the speaker registration, onsite briefings and the event conference rooms, making sure that speakers are in the right place at the right time. I am very excited to be jetting off all over the world to work on these events, meeting lots of people, exploring new places and developing my network.
Upcoming events I am working on include SuperReturn Private Credit Europe in London, SuperTech North America (Virtual), SuperReturn International in Berlin and SuperReturn US North America & Energy & PC US in New York, with some more very exciting places to be confirmed soon for the rest of the year! I work on multiple events at the same time, so it is quite a juggling act, especially as SuperReturn International in Berlin is the flagship event within Informa Connect! But so far I am loving it, and love that I have a corporate credit card with my name on it!
How did you feel before your course started?
I was excited but also concerned whether I had made the right decision (glad to say it was defo the right decision!). I was also quite nervous about the classes being virtual, however it fit in really well with my full-time work and other commitments.
If I hadn’t done this course I would be in the middle of my masters, having to write a dissertation (gross!) and wouldn’t be in the position I am in now! The Diploma was short enough so I could complete it whilst working full time but long enough to gain a good depth of knowledge from industry professionals.
