Exhibition News July 2021 | Page 47

Feature

Can you tell me a little about your background and what led you to launch We Are Event Masters ?
Syreeta Tranfield and I have each spent over two decades in events . We met at Reed Exhibitions in the early 2000s ; Syreeta was in marketing , and I was in ops . We both went on to hold senior management roles and then to run our own successful event businesses , both launching our own events and managing clients . Covid-19 actually brought us back together . We ’ d kept in touch over the years , but in the face of such rapid change , and as small business owners , we really valued the benefit of each other ’ s experiences , of having a sounding board , someone who really understands the challenges you ’ re facing . We realised we weren ’ t alone in the questions we were asking each other and the challenges we were facing and that , while there are more generalised marketing groups in existence , there was nothing that specifically served event marketers . So , one Friday morning in April we set up the group to create a peer network for people like us . We Are Event Masters was born .

The Social Network

Simon Parker talks to Heidi Williams about We Are Event Masters , an online community by event marketers , for event marketers
What are you trying to achieve ?
We are Event Masters is a group for eventprofs with marketing responsibility . The event marketing role – never more so than now – is changing so rapidly and it ’ s incredibly hard to keep up to date with new tech , new platforms and innovations . It ’ s also increasingly noisy and so difficult to predict what will have impact , and to determine when and how to take some risks with your marketing spend , to see greater gains . The group is a safe place to
“ I think we ’ ve come together and supported each other in ways that might not have happened pre-covid , there ’ s a sense of strength in numbers and the importance of creating shared knowledge and resilience as an industry .”
ask questions , share ideas , learn and network . We ’ ll invite industry experts , suppliers , marketing experts and members from the group to share case studies , provide ask-the-expert and show and tell sessions and eventually offer more in-depth training and masterclasses . We ’ ll act as a filter , curating best practices and sharing successful stories both to inspire marketeers to try new things but also to save time by hearing from others what ’ s worked and what hasn ’ t , to help focus on impactful strategies . Building resilience , collaboration and support is also key for us – I think it ’ s fair to say we were pretty unprepared for Covid-19 as an industry , the learning curve has been massive and I think we ’ ve come together and supported each other in ways that might not have happened pre-covid , there ’ s a sense of strength in numbers and the
importance of creating shared knowledge and resilience as an industry . Ultimately the more we can learn from each other , the more successful our respective events will be so it ’ s a win-win . With the increasing focus on the importance of community building , and year-round engagement , we ’ re also practicing what we preach by inviting event marketers to be a part of a community themselves .
What is the value of being a member ; how does it work ; is it free , or how do you finance it ?
The value is being part of a peer network which understands your job insideout . A network which is experiencing and overcoming similar challenges . Being able to learn from what others have achieved or failed at . People can follow the Facebook page or LinkedIn group . Our social media groups are free to be
Heidi Williams
June — 47