What Do I Enjoy Most About My Role In Corporate Event Planning?
Hi! I’m Melissa, an award-winning event producer who travels the globe whipping teams into shape, and transforming struggling events into extraordinary must-attend experiences. Sounds pretty cool, right? It does to me.
You could say that I’m living my dream, but before you go and get all “Single White Female” on me, let me be clear: I’m not sitting front row at New York Fashion Week. I'm the girl behind the scenes, with the messy bun, getting shit done.
How did I get here?
A self-made entrepreneur, I have built a global event business through word-of-mouth referrals, attendee recognition, repeat clientele and an ROI track record that will make your head spin.
I began my professional career in Australia working at Reed Exhibitions producing high profile, business and consumer events like The PGA Golf Show and General Practitioners Conference & Exhibition. I then joined Out There Productions, and after producing some of Australia's largest special events like The World Masters Games Gala Ball and Closing Celebration, I launched my first event management company in 2008 at the age of 26.
I continued working as an event producer for six years delivering events like HSBC Bank’s Chinese New Year Gala Dinner Tour, Asia-Pacific’s Incentives & Meetings Exhibition and more than 20 outdoor festivals before I decided to take a leap and make a splash in the United States in 2014, where I have now made a name for myself in the technology space for my seamlessly executed large-scale conferences, strategic sponsorships, and innovative brand activations.
I am regularly asked about my career, entrepreneurship, personal and professional development and all aspects of event management so I thought I'd create a blog to answer a few of the most common questions that have slid into my inbox.
Today's question:
What do I enjoy most about my role in corporate event planning?
I love the combination of exercising the acute attention to detail required for operations and logistics while having the opportunity to be incredibly creative at the same time. It’s always such a thrill to be able to take someone else’s vision and bring it to life in a next-level way they weren’t expecting.
My absolute favorite style of event to produce is a large-scale multi-day conference. While historically these events can be beige and boring, I love the challenge of transforming them into an educational experience that trends on social media and has attendees raving about it.
And my favorite type of client? One who trusts me, thankfully all of them do, and gives me the freedom to infuse my “Mel-Factor” into their events to help them not only achieve their event goals, but also create a truly memorable experience for their attendees.
What do you enjoy most about your role in event planning?
Mel.
P.S. If you've got a question, don't be shy! Pop it in the comments section below and I'll be sure to answer it in an upcoming post.
