BUMP
IN THE
FREEWAY
Martin Fullard
talks to Sophie
Sweetman, an event
freelancer caught
out by the Covid-19
menace
THE IMPACT OF
Covid-19 on the events
industry has so far been
very much defined by
headlines. The notion
that 30,000 jobs could
be gone in August is
frightening in itself.
Behind every statistic,
however, is a person’s
life and livelihood. To a
point, the headlines of
doom and despair
almost dehumanise the
reality faced by the tens
of thousands of event
professionals across
the country.
It doesn’t even feel
right to describe any
one corner of the events
world as having it
harder than another:
much like the virus
itself, its economic
impact is indiscriminate.
In July, I received a
message from an old
colleague who told me
she had decided to
embrace freelance work
back in November.
Sophie Sweetman and I
used to work at a place
called Daytona
Sandown Park, a kart
circuit in Surrey, and her
message reminded me
of my events
background.
Sophie has more than
10 years’ experience in
the industry, working for
agencies such as Pure
and Imagination, and
taking the plunge into
the freelance world was
supposed to be the
dawn of a new and
exciting era. Talk about
bad timing.
We decided to catch
up over Zoom, not to
reminisce about old
times, but because her
story resonates with
thousands of other.
“The last 10 years
21
Freelancers
have
been
an amazing journey,”
she tells me. “I started
at a venue, working at
Kensington Roof
Gardens, before moving
into agency life, which
has been fantastic,
working at Principle
Global Events, Pure
Events (now the Pure
Communications Group)
and for Imagination.
“Over the years I have
worked on a variety of
events with many
different clients, like
conferences, incentives,
parties and festivals. It
has been amazing.”
The positive
adjectives Sophie keeps
using does makes plain
her love for the industry.
November seems a
life time away, so I ask
her why she decided to
make the jump to
freelance.
“I met a few
freelancers along the
way and they always
seemed to have a good
time,” she says. “They
told me I would have the
variety and the freedom
of being able to choose
projects and when I
worked. It sounded
appealing. It started off
well and I felt like I was
living the dream.
“I was working at CWT
Meetings and Events on
a great project with
such a great team. The
beginning of this year
saw me in Orlando,
Bangkok, and Dublin;
and it was great.
“Then this [Covid-19]
happened.”
I ask Sophie if she
thinks the events
industry will change for
good after all this,
www.conference-news.co.uk