Episode 6: Events are Evolving! - Lucy Nicholls’ Guide to Curation, Creativity & Career Growth

Hosted by: Daniel Skermer, Founder PA Forum, the Midlands PA Awards Linked in Profile; Daniel Skermer:   / danielskermer   Featuring: Lucy Nicholls:   / lucy-nicholls-84967314a   A brief can suddenly land on your desk and there is a sense of urgency from the Senior Leadership Team to bring colleagues together for an all-important, all company event and this project now sits with you! Perhaps it’s the first event you have ever been tasked with OR perhaps it’s an annual event you have been organising for many, many years and you’re struggling to think of new ideas to engage attendees? Many PAs have developed an incredible passion for project management, quite often this passion can start with organising an event. Today’s assistants aren’t simply booking venues and managing diaries. They’re shaping experiences, setting the agenda, influencing strategy and becoming the most trusted go-to person within the organisation with the ability to turn what can be a very vague idea into powerful moments and experiences. In this episode of Stories Beyond the Desk, Lucy Nicholls, Founder & Creative Director of The PS Events Group, shares her extraordinary journey from West End performer to the creative force behind one of the UK’s innovative event production companies. Perhaps you are looking to expand your skillset and ready to take on more responsibility and have always wondered how to move into the “world of events”. You may already organise lots of events as part of your role. In this episode Lucy shares practical advice, creative approaches and honest insights and personal experiences that can help you to broaden your knowledge of event management and how stepping out of your comfort zone and taking on more responsibilities and experiences can contribute to your transferable skillset for the future! Lucy’s story showcases that her curiosity gave her the courage and the passion to continue to step outside her comfort zone, that learning is an enormous part of the journey and with vision, dedication and hard work she achieved her dream of launching her own Event Management Company. Lucy talks openly about building a business organically by becoming the person people call when they need the seemingly impossible done as well as sharing very openly the challenges of creating a business whilst navigating motherhood and how difficult it is to balance passion, pressure and personal life. This episode is also with practical lessons shared for PAs and EAs who want to elevate their role and dive into events, influence decision-makers, improve negotiation skills which all contribute a journey to becoming more strategic within your role. By listening to this episode, you will discover how to: That being curious, asking questions and understanding the “why” at the very start of the event journey will help you to create an experience that delivers Ensure that you prioritise time with your Executive to dive deeper into understanding more about their vision for the event and their expectations and what types of fact finding questions you can ask to support you on your journey Take control and have those difficult conversations about budget which will empower you to really take ownership of the event and give you an opportunity to put your negotiation skills to the test! Break an event down into smaller, more manageable stages which can form the stepping stones and processes to support you with other projects that may come up in the future, Use immersive, creative, sensory experiences and storytelling to really engage your guests to make your event even more memorable Build valuable external relationships and become the go-to person within your department or organisation Move from supporting an initiative to leading the initiative, making time to be curious, ask questions and building trust with colleagues and leaders Trust your creative instincts and have confidence in your new ideas and suggestions and bring them to the table This podcast is a powerful reminder that there is so much more that goes into creating an event. That each event is about creating experiences that bring people together, forming a connection to communicate with impact and quite often you can influence that experience from start to finish #PA #EA #PAForum #Events #StrategicSupport #CareerGrowth #ExecutiveAssistant #PersonalAssistant