Wherever there is a British Embassy or High Commission there will be a hard working Residence nearby regularly hosting a full range of events including receptions, dinners, corporate promotions and not-for-profit, weddings, royal visits to name but a few! An international group of 15 Residence & Events Managers met in York to participate in a residential course focusing on the organisation of income generating corporate events. We invited Chris Powell, The Events Expert, to join us and deliver a full-day masterclass on the subject.
I had never met or spoken to Chris but, as an avid reader of his blog, I knew he would be our trainer of choice. Chris was focused and enthusiastic from the first email. He was eager to find out as much as possible about our group so he could tailor his course to our specialised needs. He worked within our tight budget and we quickly formed a good working relationship. The masterclass was excellent – it made us think outside of our usual events ‘template’ and put each of us on a steep learning curve of ‘how to do it even better’. We covered the entire spectrum of planning, theming, branding, programming, promotion and delivery – always with an eye on keeping some of the traditional Embassy style of entertaining while injecting sufficient of the new. Chris is energetic, witty and knows how to deliver. He engaged us all – we listened, we debated and we were certainly challenged – and we gained something from every minute.
From accidental event manager to professional event manager
Chris has the power to get under your skin and touch nerves, he recognises all the pitfalls, he vocalises all the fears. There are no ‘dress rehearsals’ for major events – you can only learn from your mistakes and hope to do better next time. You have to plan for the insane and unexpected. Chris understands all this, writes about it in his blog and endlessly speaks about it in his courses. He provides the security and knowledge that ‘you can do it’ – after just one short course, he convinced me that I really am an events manager and not an imposter!
Would I recommend him? Absolutely! He really knows his events stuff and can and inspires you to believe in yourself – to become a confident and skilled event manager. I definitely know now that….’I’m am an events manager’ … but he has also made it so so hard to just be a guest at somebody else’s event!!
Thank you Chris!
Jackie Milliner, Residence Manager, British Embassy, Tel Aviv, Israel