Senior events manager — Georgia Stanley

Georgia completed a degree apprenticeship in press and communications and has worked her way up the ranks to her senior position in the events team at Jisc

How did you get your job working as a senior events manager for Jisc?

I started working at Jisc over five years ago now as a press and communications apprentice. As part of my apprenticeship, I had two Jisc mentors - one in the social media team and one in the events team. As part of my apprenticeship modules, I got to work very closely with the events team and with that, found I was pretty good at it and it was interesting and fun.

Towards the latter part of my 18-month apprenticeship, a job came up within the events team for an event coordinator. The events team encouraged me to apply, and offered me the full-time event coordinator role, with the possibility to have one study day each week to complete my apprenticeship, as I still had a few months left to go.

After two years as an event coordinator, I then applied for the event manager position and worked in that role for just under a year, at which point an opening came up to be a senior events manager. I jumped at the chance, and here I am in the role today.

Why did you decide to work in the events sector?

While supporting the events team during my apprenticeship, I discovered a passion for event management and realised it was a career path I wanted to pursue. I originally presumed you had to have a degree and experience, as that's what most applications required a few years ago.

After gaining a few months of experience and attending some internal and external events, I knew I enjoyed the scene and wanted to take up a career in the sector.

What are your main duties?

I am currently planning Networkshop, the upcoming Jisc priority event in June. This involves:

• planning the in-person logistics and online elements
• crafting the event programme (both online and in-person)
• working with internal and external stakeholders to make the event happen.

I am also working on a new webinar series we have recently created. This involved working closely with our marketing team to map out what our targets were, the event strategy and wider company goals. I am now setting up the event logistics, working with speakers on content and sharing post-event resources.

As a part of the wider goal for this new series, we are aiming to host an in-person event in January next year. So, planning has already started, which includes:

• finding a venue
• creating the programme
• mapping out marketing requirements.

I also support the rest of the team with tasks when they are needed and manage two of our core events platforms.

What's a typical day like?

Each day is different in this role, but my main responsibilities on a day-to-day basis are:

• regular operations and marketing meetings
• managing the events budgets
• supporting the wider team on tasks
• managing multiple inboxes.

We also have other tasks we do alongside events management. For example, I lead systems management, which essentially means I oversee and support anyone who needs to use one of our key events platforms.

What do you enjoy about your job?

I'm incredibly fortunate to work with such a supportive and collaborative team. While we have established processes to ensure consistency, there's also ample opportunity for creativity and innovation, allowing us to personalise each event and leave our unique mark.

This, combined with the diverse range of stakeholders we engage with across the UK, keeps our work fun and allows us to evolve and refine our offerings year after year.

What are the challenges?

When we get to the final two months running up to an event, workloads can get heavy, so it can be hard to find that work-life balance, but my team are an amazing support network during these times.

It's also very hard to please everyone. There are so many stakeholders involved in planning and running events, and everyone has so many ideas. It's my job to manage those and incorporate them where possible, but also manage expectations strategically against the budget requirements.

In what ways are your qualifications relevant to your job?

I have A-levels in media, English language and psychology, and through my apprenticeship, I have a degree and diploma in press and communications. I have to say, I've been able to learn and grow more through my colleagues' guidance and hands-on experience than my education.

What advice can you give to others looking to enter the UK events industry?

The events industry is an energetic and challenging environment where creativity, problem-solving, and teamwork are essential. While the workload can be demanding with various tasks, the variety of companies to work for and the number of roles means there are always learning opportunities. Exploring placements can help you discover the perfect fit within this diverse and exciting field.

Find out more

• Consider event management courses.
• Visit Jisc Events.