Venue and Event Management

I ran the Octagon Centre at Sheffield University for six years.  This multi-purpose venue was used for conferences (1,100 seat capacity), dinners (700 seat capacity), concerts (1,500 standing capacity) as well as degree ceremonies, exams, exhibitions and Student Union events.  I planned all the events taking place within the building, working with clients to cost the events and coordinate all the services required to deliver the event - staffing, staging, sound / light / AV support, catering, accommodation, transport - whatever was required to deliver sometimes complex events.  The highest profile event was probably the 1986 SDP conference which involved over 2 days of live TV and radio coverage.  Other events included recording of two editions of BBC TV Mastermind.

From the Octagon I moved to Sheffield Arena where I worked during the latter stages of the development, coordinating arrangements for the Royal Opening and initial concerts.

I then worked with the team organising the Closing Ceremony of the World Student Games held at Don Valley Stadium.

I became freelance, trading as Effective Events for six years.  I organised conferences, dinners, exhibitions and promotional events for a range of clients including Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs), Sheffield City Centre Manager, South Yorkshire Supertram, NHS Executive Trent and the Emergency Planning Society.  I also wrote articles for newspapers and magazines for several of my clients.

I became the Events Manager at Magna Science Adventure Centre, working there for a year before the opening during the final phase of construction.  During this phase I worked as a member of the marketing team on promotional events, exhibitions and presentations to business and community groups (over 150 presentations in two years).  I arranged the Press Launches and Opening Event, and gave a two hour live guided tour for local radio.  Post opening, I focussed on developing the Corporate Hospitality and Events side of the business, hosting 115 events in the first year.