“I honestly didn’t think I’d still have a job right now.”

Clemy Crowther is the events coordinator at Mid-Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, as well as doing other freelance presenting and event work. She is one of the winners of The Meetings Show’s Tomorrow’s Talent 2021.

My route into the industry was volunteering, volunteering, volunteering. I did a degree in event management at Huddersfield University and throughout that did so much volunteering, that’s the reason I got the role I’m in now.

I went for it in my placement year, I signed up for as many things as I could. I used my contacts and did three months here and there, all over the world. I decided I was going to get variety instead of just sticking to one experience.

I honestly didn’t think I’d still have a job right now. I started three weeks before Covid and I worked throughout. We’re a business support organisation, so it was non-stop. I was helping out in other departments, anything from offering financial support to uploading all the news from the council.

We started doing virtual events and we had no idea what we were doing. I learned a lot while I was doing it. My role got bigger, now I’m the events co-ordinator, I manage all the events strategy and all the events marketing.

Our events are mostly networking for other businesses in the region. We also do panels and informative events, so we have speakers come in for 60 minutes and there’s a Q&A, educational webinars, plus we’re planning for big conferences that we have annually.

Networking events can be tough online. However, recently we’ve been using breakout rooms a lot more, even if it’s just one on one, so we can get more out of it. I do find it quite awkward when there’s that silence.

I’ve been super grateful that this year I’ve become part of so many communities. I’ve met so many more eventprofs on Instagram and LinkedIn, I’ve got a mentor and a coach, I’ve grown my network by about three times what it was. There are different event managers there I can go to for advice in different Chambers of Commerce, but mainly it’s been good to go to the contacts I’ve made over the last year.

People make me happy. I’m always buzzing around good people. That’s what made me want to go into events, I love the people aspect of it. I’ve been helping out at local charity events, I love people coming together and that community feeling.

I started a podcast in lockdown as a way to make people smile. I interview people about their career, experiences, working abroad, volunteering. I want to help people keep positive.

I think we’re slowly going to get back into live events. We’ll start off small, then next year will be the one for bigger events and conferences.

I’m not sure we’ll be doing hybrid events. It’s the cost more than anything. I’m the only one, so it’s the skills required and the cost. We’d rather either do an event in person or digitally.

I just want to learn as much as possible. I’ve got a coach and she’s giving me all these goals, I’ve taken on as much responsibility as I can. I want to be in a role where I’m challenged, where I’ve got a good team around me.

I want my podcast to grow, I want to make the most of networking. I want to meet all the people I’ve met online and collaborate more with them in person. I’m challenging myself to put on bigger events, and maybe even a few global events as well.

Listen to Clemy’s podcast, Feel Good with Clem