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Smart Decisions
Jonas Event Technology ( JET ) MD Oliver Smart tells EN how he deployed his military mindset and training to lead an event software company , owned by the acquisition-hungry vertical software conglomerate Vesta Software Group ( VSG ). The company plays a key role in managing millions of attendee and organiser datasets
Few people in the events industry have had a career trajectory like JET managing director Oliver Smart , who only turned 26 years of age in July and was recently elected as a board director at ESSA .
Smart spent his years prior to JET , surrounded by the military , leading cadet squadrons of 30 + people from all backgrounds , in all types of training environments . He graduated from the Royal Air Force and is currently a reserve in the British Army alongside his role heading up an international event registration software company and a team with over 200 years of combined experience .
While studying in Buckinghamshire , Smart began his working life at leading UK law firm Clyde and Co , covering maternity leave in a midlevel facilities management role . Smart says this is where he refined his “ professional swagger ” and adapted his cadet military learnings into a leadership role within the professional services world .
Deployment in events After graduating from the RAF , Smart stepped back into assignment-based contracts , working for companies such as RM Plc , as a project manager , before then being recruited by JET accounts director Krissy Millican to help with the industry ’ s well-known busy autumn period .
Oliver Smart
“ Being a supplier in the events industry is a continuous series of deployments . Like in the military you continuously prepare to improve from your last round , then you deploy in full force ,” he says .
Smart recalls joining his first briefing at JET . It was August , a month described to him as ‘ the calm before the storm ’ although his enthusiasm and military training to prepare before “ deployment ” made him a popular resource .
His role was to manage the technical logistics of their hardware and software solutions , so juggling resources and contingency planning was his forte . “ Learning the intrinsic detail went hand-in-hand ,” he says .
Over his subsequent six years at
JET , Smart has carved out time for industry occasions and networking , particularly with the Event Supplier and Services Association ( ESSA ).
In 2018 , he was recognised by ESSA with the Young Person Award , after being nominated by his most recent predecessor Rob Mortimer , for the success and endless endeavour to improve everything even in the most unattractive areas of the business – including its warehouse layout or migration project management .
Since , Smart has developed his role to provide industry thought leadership , whether that is from chairing the ESSA Future Focus Board , contributing to the EIA All- Secured-Standard , or since July being nominated by fellow ESSA members as a board director .
He says , “ Driving thought leadership from the supplier side of the EIA is incredibly important . By implementing small , sustainable changes , we can make our ambitious industry goals achievable .”
Post-pandemic recovery Smart says that pre-pandemic , JET ’ s best year was 2019 , seeing tremendous growth in all metrics , and the business was on track to maintain results into 2020 . He said its shareholders were delighted to see their investment ethos paid off from the acquisition in 2015 – however , the pandemic resulted in a loss of hundreds of thousands of pounds over the course of 2020 alone .
Fortunately , aside from the financial support from its parent company , it was able to place its talent who did not want furlough on secondments around the group , “ keeping them sharp and available for our return ,” he
44 — Autumn