Four event professionals have set up a platform to link industry newcomers with job placements and work experience.
Priya Narain, Naomi Hollas, Gemma Gilbert and Sasha Green have set up Future
Event Leaders, a marketplace for placement and work experience opportunities
for industry newcomers across all event sectors. It is driven by two community initiatives that aim to empower
the next generation of event industry talent:
Event Grads ‐ a community and support network
for event management students and graduates, Founded by Naomi Hollas in response to the
pandemic, Event Grads provides community, content, and events for the next
generation of event professionals to bridge the gap between academia and
industry.
Event First Steps ‐ a not‐for‐profit company
encouraging event industry newcomers to forge their own career path by hosting
educational and social events to allow newcomers of all ages and abilities to
build their networks and learn from industry heavyweights.
Future Event Leaders was
formed in response to the lack of event industry‐specific placement and
job opportunities that allow industry newcomers to gain work experience. The co-founders event industry experience ranges from event students, graduates, industry newcomers and experienced event professionals.
Co-founder Naomi Hollas
said: “The industry calls for practical and first‐hand experience, which is why
we believe it is vital to preset high quality, high‐value work experience and
learning opportunities in a more accessible way to better prepare industry
newcomers for entering the industry.”
The idea for
Future Event Leaders stemmed from personal experiences and research
highlighting
Co-founders Priya Narain, Naomi Hollas, Emma Gilbert & Sasha Green.that industry newcomers were feeling disadvantaged, unmotivated,
and uninspired about their future careers due to the detrimental impact that
COVID‐19 had on the event industry. This paired with the demand from
organisations looking for engaged and proactive new talent, led to building the
FEL platform.
The values of Future Event Leaders are:
Better
Access ‐ Industry
newcomers have a dedicated marketplace for event‐specific work opportunities
and placements.
Better
Quality ‐ High‐quality
event‐specific work experience opportunities that allow industry newcomers to
demonstrate their skills and expertise while learning and developing to better
prepare them to enter the industry.
Better Value
‐ Through an effective vetting process, only viable work and
placement opportunities will be posted through the marketplace.
Co-founder Sasha Green, said: “Our mission is to change the narrative around entry‐level and
placement roles, and challenge the industries' reliance on unpaid work. To do
this, we will only advertise roles that align with our values.
How does it
work?
The
marketplace encourages event organisations to advertise high quality, valuable,
event specific job and placement opportunities with us. The opportunities are
then shared with the engaged audience of industry newcomers who are actively
seeking new prospects in the industry.
Co-founder Gemma
Gilbert, said: “We have high hopes that it will be successful in supporting
events management students, graduates and industry newcomers with
opportunities, enabling them to gain industry‐specific experiences and help to
propel their careers into the events industry.
Co-founder Priya
Narain, added:“This will be achieved through the creation of relationships with
event companies to address the importance and benefits of offering placement
and work opportunities to new rising
talent. As
well as stressing the importance of believing in the new generation of future
event professionals which will positively impact the development of the
industry in the future.”
Find more here.
A desire to travel led Holly Patrick to the business meetings and events world and she’s never looked back. Holly takes a particular interest in event sustainability and creating a diverse and inclusive industry. When she’s not working, she can be found rolling skating along Brighton seafront listening to an eclectic playlist, featuring the likes of Patti Smith, Sean Paul, and Arooj Aftab.
