I started at David Grant Special Events (DGSE) in July 2005. How time flies! It’s been a busy 18 months involving work on fantastic events and a lot of travel overseas where I’ve been lucky enough to work on events and see how other event people work in Italy, the USA and China.
I met David Grant through MEA. I liked the sort of events he did, and knew of some of his legendary events like the Cointreau Ball. As an industry leader I sought his advice about how to establish myself in the events industry - but really was just hoping my enthusiasm would get my foot in the door at DGSE for an interview. Which it did, and I started as an event co-ordinator.
In 2003 I had graduated with a combined Bachelor of Arts/Commerce degree from the University of Sydney. While studying I worked at Funktionality Events and got a taste for events – which I loved. The creative input, the constant energy and buzz, making things happen, and best of all watching it all come together were extremely appealing!
And then, finally, after five years of study that included a student exchange to Sweden, I graduated and got a job with the Nick’s restaurant group while I worked out what I wanted to do career-wise. I was involved in restaurant openings and did the marketing and events for five restaurants, all of which gave me an invaluable solid grounding in how an event works operationally.
But that wasn’t quite enough for me – I was missing the creativity that comes from working on more “special” events... and so the opportunity to work at DGSE was exactly what I needed.
Since starting at DGSE I have been promoted to event manager. I love the dynamic nature of the events industry - nothing is ever the same – it’s constantly growing with new ideas, resources and great people.
At DGSE we’re lucky enough to have imaginative clients who like our unique, creative approach and who have the budget to see it brought to life properly. Like us, they like a one-off event that’s never the same as the one before – which keeps my job interesting and constantly challenging too.
My time at work involves brainstorming ideas, sourcing weird and wonderful inclusions for events, briefing and confirming suppliers, managing the budget and then finally, when the event is on, managing it from the moment the first supplier gets on-site until the last one loads out. Working on events overseas is particularly great – the challenges of creating an event in another part of the world where you don’t know anyone and have to start with new suppliers from scratch is really rewarding.
Over the past year I have worked on projects in Torino, Italy for the International Olympic Committee and US Broadcaster NBC, then again for NBC for their major season launch in New York. Currently I’ve been travelling regularly to Beijing where I’m working on several clients for the Summer Olympic Games of 2008. My current aim is to continue to take on more challenging projects, work overseas and eventually become an event producer here at DGSE.
SUPERVISOR’S COMMENT:
“Katerina is a real star. She has all the qualities you look for in an event manager, but rarely find – attention to detail, creativity, passionate opinions, willingness to try and work out new ways of doing things, great personal style, an understanding of what’s hip and happening in popular culture all around the world, and she’s great with people at all levels. She truly “gets” events and instinctively understands their organic and evolving nature from a very open-minded point of view which makes her an invaluable asset to both us and the client. With experience she will genuinely become one of the best event producers in Australia.”
– David Grant, managing director
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