This month’s Blog is a little different. Normally we dutifully publish blogs once a month to help our clients by discussing important elements of the events industry and providing hints, tips and advice on all things events. This month we thought we’d do something different and our Director, Steve Catling, is writing about why he loves the events industry so much. Over to you Steve…
Long-hours, high stress and little sleep. Most people would run a mile if that was part of their job description, but I personally love it. In fact, I thrive off it, and the reason is because I absolutely love what I do. I’m lucky, I found a career in organising events that feels more like a hobby than a job. Every day I get to do what I genuinely love and am passionate about.
Events come in all shapes and sizes. No two events are the same and each bring with them their own uniqueness and challenges. Every client is different, every company we work with is in a different industry and has their own unique culture. This variety is something that I really enjoy. Sure, I may be at my desk organising the events 4 out of 5 days a week, but the variety of what I work on daily is enormous, and this keeps it fresh day after day.
Events is a people-person industry. It’s all about relationships. Building and establishing new connections and maintaining existing ones is something I thoroughly enjoy. I’m fascinated by people; I love to know their story. Given that we work with so many different clients, suppliers, venues etc. I’m always coming across new people, contacts, partners, clients and so on. It’s exciting! There’s nothing quite like having a good chinwag and getting to know someone – after all human connection is the basis of humanity. This is particularly important in developing trusted and long-standing relationships with our suppliers.
And we work with some wonderful ones. People I have often known for over a decade, whom I trust implicitly and know they share the same values in going above and beyond as I endeavour to do. When I started Hippo the motto “The answer’s ‘yes’, what’s the question?” seemed entirely appropriate. Not only is this something I live by when working with clients, but it is what all our suppliers and partners work to as well. Creating mutually beneficial partnerships, finding new suppliers, building the black book of contacts is so incredibly enjoyable. There’s nothing quite like picking up the phone to a long-standing supplier to catch up and discuss an enquiry.
Moreover, the venue finding side of events I am extremely passionate about. The excitement of placing a client in a venue that perfectly matches what they’re looking for gives me a real buzz. I genuinely believe a venue is the backbone of an event; it is a reflection on your event and your company. The whole process of taking a brief, contacting venues, negotiating with them and having those conversations, then pulling together a proposal that the client loves is such an enjoyable process. When you get that confirmation through the feeling of satisfaction is so high.
I often get out the office for ‘site visit days’ as part of Hippo’s ‘Continuous Education Program’ so keeping at the forefront of the industry, what’s new, what’s exciting, what’s been refurbished and so on is thrilling. It’s an industry that never stands still. I love updating clients with new ideas, fresh concepts and ‘wowing’ them with some new technology or supplier that blows them away. The internal feeling of reward is intrinsic to why I love events. It’s such a fast paced industry.
And then you have the end-to-end event management. The journey from initially discussing an event over the phone to then seeing it take place in front of your eyes is the most rewarding process in the world. To know that you have pulled everything together to make this ship sail gives the most almighty feeling of happiness and joy. Every event I run I ensure I take that minute at the back of the room to absorb it all and realise what we’ve created – this is fundamentally the best feeling in the world.
Hospitality, to me, is art. I remember working in my local pub when I was young and setting myself the challenge of giving the perfect service to every table. I loved that challenge and thrived off it and my mentality remains the same for running events. How can I go the extra mile to give the client the perfect experience? What can I do better next time? How can I up my game? I see it all as a challenge to better myself, and better Hippo.
In all honesty I could keep writing for days, but I hope that gives you a small insight into why I love events. Relationships, variety, the challenges, the people, the fast-paced nature, the rewarding feeling of the end result. I can’t wait to keep doing this for many years to come!
Hippo offer Event Project Management and Global Venue Finding services. Contact us today on 01372 460 100 or events@hippoevents.co.uk to see how we can assist.