Making the leap

We caught up with Emma Chapman, who is taking our online diploma course to set herself up to run her own business as an Event Planner. If you’re interested in finding out what it’s like to study online and why she chose our online course, read on …

What do you love about event management?

When I finished college, gaining a Diploma in Sports Science, I really didn’t know what I wanted to pursue as a career. Then a job came up at in the Meetings and Events department at the local conference centre where I was a silver service waitress. As soon as I started the role, I knew it was for me, I enjoy being organised and structured.  It excited me to see a finished event taking place and thinking back over all the hard work that had gone into it.  I enjoy thinking of the customer’s journey, from start to finish, and then pinpointing everything that needs to be organised for them to have an amazing and memorable time. My Manager at the conference centre moved to an Events Manager role at Sainsbury’s Head Office in London, and luckily for me, decided she wanted to take me with her as an Events Planner.  This was a fantastic opportunity for me and allowed me to develop my skills.  I helped organise new product launches, media events, stakeholder presentations, book launches and Comic Relief, where I even got to attend the event at the BBC and mingle with all the celebs back stage. It was hard leaving a role I loved, but another kind of love brought me to Cumbria, where I had met my husband.  I landed myself a role in Marketing for a Pencil manufacturer and I was responsible for managing their extensive annual events programme which included an International Trade Show in Frankfurt, art festivals and exhibitions, product launches, in store demonstrations and a new factory opening ceremony attended by Her Majesty The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.

Why did you choose to study online with Event Academy?

I took a break in my career to have my children and after being off work for a number of years, I needed to get my brain working again.  Not only this, but I was struggling to find a part time role in Events as the majority of them require full time work.  I decided I wanted to take the plunge and start my own business.  I have many years of work experience in Events and Marketing and a CIM Certificate in Marketing, but no formal qualification in Events. During my research into qualifications, I came across the Event Academy course which sounded perfect.  I knew it would give me insight the areas that I hadn’t had experience of in my previous roles, such as fundraising and sporting events.  I needed something flexible that I could fit around my children and my husband’s shifts and t course was also accredited by the CIM so I knew it would be a well-recognised qualification.

What advice would you give to someone looking to study Events online?

You need to be organised and passionate about it and you need to be self-motivated as well. Putting in the time and effort to do the lessons and project is essential.  My husband and I have a shared calendar in our smart phones and I schedule in time each week for me to go off to the library or hide in our attic room to concentrate on the course. The project aspect is very clever because it makes you go back over everything you have done in the lessons, so also acts as part of your revision as well as giving you practical experience of going through the details of planning your own event. If you need a career and confidence boost, consider studying online. This course has given me back my confidence and fired up my passion for events! I am in the process of getting my website up and running and putting my business plan together and I feel more ready than ever now to go out there alone and organise memorable events for people.