JUNE | ME, MYSELF & I
Will
Glendinning
The former creative lead at global
brand event agency Imagination gives
us tips and insights following his talk at
Blitz Connection
Events are realtime manipulation of
people’s emotions.
Practically, my most ambitous event
I’ve been part of was the Tour de
France in 2007, which started in
London and Kent. We closed down lots
of London and south east England for
the race and at the time there wasn’t
a blueprint in place for this scale of
an event, as it was pre-Olympics.
The event was later recognised in
Parliament as a model for the 2012
planning. We had more than 20,000
people working on the event too!
Creatively, my most ambitous event was the London 2012 Festival
which formed the cultural side of the Olympics. We had a team of
people working on creating ideas for the free outdoor arts festival.
We probably spent a good year working on it and making sure we
had to make sure we a wide variety of creative events for the seven-
week period over the summer.
50
with the ideas that might not have
the events experience, alongside the
people who produce the events, and
have the experience.
Budgets and ideas/creativity seem to
be the challenge. I see so much money
wasted though through ineffective
or inappropriate procurement that
creates the illusion of value rather
than actual value - so I would address
this issue. And quite often people
keep looking in the same places for
new ideas, creativity and innovation,
which is why so many events look so
similar and why people seem to see
creativity as a challenge. Learn or explore how to nurture creativity
rather than just curate or iterate versions of what has gone before.
A lot of people say they want to work in events – so I suggest
spending the time looking at what it is you want to do in the field of
events, as ‘working in events’ could mean anything.
If the client who tasked me with the event gets what they want from
an event, then they can deem it a success. I can have an opinion on
how I think it went but it’s really dependent on what the event sets
out to do. Many people gravitate to wanting to organise or produce events, but
there’s an abundance of such people out there. That’s not to say there
isn’t room for more, but the real value and opportunity is in creativity
and ideas.
Creativity doesn’t cost big money as such. Companies need to find
the creative talent and nurture it. Go to any degree show and you’ll
great design and ideas being done on tiny budgets. Creativity is not
a function of money, but a function to talent and having the right
environment for that talent to thrive in. You get out what you put in
and if you’re doing what everyone else does, you’ll look like everyone
else. If you have a balance of people then it works; have the people Understand the industry you choose to go into. A chef couldn’t
come up with an amazing menu if they don’t first master the craft
of cooking, so it would be unreasonable to be able to expect to
do amazing things with events until you’ve first understood or
mastered the craft or discipline of the trade and business you’re
entering.