Looking towards 2016!

2015 has been a great year for me. Work wise I have again focused on sporting events with my roles at the Rugby World Cup and my return to Race Of Champions, both of which I am very lucky and privileged to have worked on and have led to some of the best moments of the year. I have also had the chance to go to many great music and theatre events, have a few fun holidays and meet some amazing people.   

Looking forward to 2016 I hope to have more time to blog and to attend/work on different types of events. I still want to focus on Sport but am also keen to write about other events I am interested in including film, theatre and music… plus there is the small matter of finding a new job in the event world! 

I hope to travel more, with a trip to NYC already booked for February (ahh!!!), my Glastonbury tickets purchased (help me) and with a few other exciting events also in the pipeline next year is already looking to be a good one.

Another activity to add to the pile is learning Spanish, which I have started to take more seriously in the last few weeks. As I have mentioned before, a second language in the events industry can often be the decider between candidates and opens up many more opportunities. At the moment I am learning through online courses and the iPhone app DuoLingo (www.duolingo.com) which I am finding very helpful and have heard great things about. If anyone knows of any good online courses or apps etc for learning a second language please let me know. This also means I should definitely plan a trip to Spain next year to practice, right!?

There are plenty of other goals I have for 2016 which I won’t bore you with but for now I am going to enjoy the holidays and get excited about Christmas! Let me know what your goals are for 2016, I would love to hear them!

Race Of Champions 2015

One of my favourite events I have been a part of is The Race Of Champions Motorsport event. My first time working on ROC was last year in Barbados and I returned again this year to the Olympic Stadium in London.

For those of you who don’t know, Race Of Champions is an event held at the end of the motorsport season (or almost at the end as was the case was this year!) where the world’s best drivers in various disciplines race against each other in identical cars to find out who is the champion of champions. (www.raceofchampions.com) It’s been held in famous stadiums all over the World from Thailand to Germany to France and this year made a return to London.

Not being a huge fan of motorsport myself even I knew most of the drivers this year, with the line up including Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and last years winner David Coulthard.

The reason I like Race Of Champions as an event is because there is something for everyone, from the die hard motorsport fan to your average Jo like myself who is easily entertained by the FMX stunt bikes or comical celebrity rounds. It’s not just about one car or one driver but about celebrating Motorsport as a whole…whilst basically having a big party!

A highlight for me this year was the final ever race by Susie Wolff before her retirement. Even though I was not overly familiar with her career it was great to see a female driver hold her own in a typically male dominated industry who will hopefully inspire a new generation of female racers. I also got the chance to be driven round the ROC track by none other than Daniel Ricciardo which was pretty damn cool to say the least... but something I would be happy not to repeat again!

Being a part of Race Of Champions for me however is not just about fast cars and exciting stunts. It’s about bringing together a group of dedicated and experienced event professionals from all over the world to put on an amazing show. Through ROC I have made friends from all over the World who’s normal day jobs range from motorsport, to PR to other jobs which aren’t even remotely linked to the sporting industry. It will always be a favourite event of mine and I can’t wait to see where it will be held next year.

Six Day Cycling - London

Last night I was lucky enough to be invited to attend day 4 of the Six Day Cycling Event held at the Lee Valley Velodrome within London’s Olympic Park.

The Six Day event is, as it sounds, 6 days of competitive track cycling featuring some of the World’s top riders. Having absolutely no knowledge of cycling it was very interesting to see the different types of races which included the Madison, Elimination, Derny, Team Trial and Super Sprint. More information about each type of race can be found here on the event’s website, as I don’t think I could explain them if I tried! My personal favourite was the Derny, mostly because of the comical mopeds which each rider followed around the track.

The event however was not just about cycling. The Ministry of Sound DJ and dramatic club-style lighting created a party like atmosphere throughout the event, providing entertainment and drama for non-cycling experts like myself. I have to say the music was fantastic, though I did feel at some points I was in a club in Ibiza (or watching a very intense spin class!) not at a cycling event – but hey I loved it!  There was crowd interaction and screens linking to social media so everyone could get involved and there was also plenty of food and drink on sale as the event was on for a good few hours!

Overall it was a great evening out and it was good to get away from the Rugby World Cup madness for a night. The crowd had a great time and although not at full capacity everyone had a lot of fun -  I imagine the final days of the event will draw the bigger crowds. There weren’t a lot of young kids or families at the event, which may be because it was on a school night and having done some research the tickets are quite pricey. Having said that it’s a fun and different day out which appeals to sports and non-sport lovers alike, there is something for everyone at the Six Day event and I would love to return in the future. 

The riders in action 

Lee Valley Velodrome 

23 days to go!!

With only 23 days to go (well 24 when I took my countdown picture!) until the 2015 Rugby World Cup I have to admit my blog has started to slip a little...

As I have said before the lead up to an event is by far the busiest time and this job is no exception. The PR campaign has ramped up and the media coverage is starting to build. Squads have been announced and the first teams have even arrived in the country, so as you can imagine it's all go in our office.

Whilst my blog posts will be fewer in the coming weeks rest assured I am working all hours of the day to put on this event and will hopefully have many fun stories and learnings to write about afterwards!

See you on the the flip side!!

Did someone say Britney!?

Rugby - England v France

This weekend I was working at the QBE England v France International at Twickenham Stadium as part of the onsite England 2015 team.

The match was used as a test event for the operations for the 2015 World Cup and it allowed the venue team the opportunity  to practise the tournament time processes which aren’t normally in place at Twickenham.

For this particular match I was working with Transport team at their shuttle bus load zones – an area I have never in worked before so it was good to get a taste of a new department and learn their operations. I have to admit that even after only 1 event day I have huge respect for the people who work in Transport, it's by no means an easy task!!

Overall it was a great day –and not just because England won! The team left with lots of learning’s for the 2015 World Cup which is shaping up to be an amazing event!

The calm before the storm!

Your bus team for the day!

Dealing with the Post-Event Blues!

One of the major down sides of working in events is the dreaded post event blues. You’ve worked tirelessly for months on end, made friends for life and have experienced almost every emotion possible and then just like that it’s all over. Everything you have worked so hard for is suddenly irrelevant and people have moved on.

It’s a horrible feeling and one that unfortunately comes with most big events! You actually miss waking up in the middle of the night worrying about barriers, miss the sound of your radio being constantly in your ear and you miss seeing your friends and colleagues every day. It’s especially difficult if you’ve had a longer contract and spent the last few years of your life dedicated to making it happen, only for it to end and you have no idea what to do with yourself or your new found time.

Now if you’re extremely lucky you may have a few days of rest then have another job lined up but for a lot of event professionals, one job can finish and you have no idea what you are going to do next. It’s a horrible feeling and one which unfortunately never gets any easier!

London 2012 closing ceremony

I wish I had some magic advice to help beat the post event blues but for me it happens every time I finish a contract, even on particularly difficult events. The only recommendation I have is to try and plan ahead - make sure you can support yourself financially and try where you can to start looking for a new job before your current contract has finished, even if it just means sending an expression of interest to future events. Keep an eye out for job postings and talk to your colleagues about their future plans, it might inspire you. 

Every time you finish a great event you find yourself wondering if you’ll ever have a job as fun again, or a team as supportive again but you just have to pick yourself up and start looking for new challenges. What I would say is to make the most of your time, look for new opportunities, perhaps ones you have never even thought of before. Get up early and use your time wisely, don’t sulk all day watching daytime TV and feeling sorry for yourself! Try a new sport or hobby, catch up with friends or go travelling, keep yourself busy and productive instead of staying inside all day.

Some people on the other hand may be delighted their event is over and never want to see any of their work colleagues again, however most of the time you secretly miss the crazy event life…which is why so many people stay in the industry and do it again and again! Event life as we all know is addictive and a little case of the post event blues isn’t enough to make us give it all up.

If anyone out there has any advice to beat the post-event blues be sure to let us know, I could definitely use a few tips!

Glasgow 2014 closing fireworks