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Love organising parties for family and friends? Event management could be the perfect job for you! We talk to Mirella, an nzgirl with an exciting career as an event producer...
Name: Mirella Maclennan-Jones Age: 24 Salary Range: Industry average would be around $55,000 PA Dress code: Smart casual dress.
Can you give us a brief job description? My role as an Event Producer at Creative Functions is to meet with clients, either corporates or couples getting married, to plan their event. I liaise between the clients and our production team to generate fantastic events. We have three venues where we do most of our functions - The Floating Pavilion, Carrington’s (at Unitec) and River Mill and then we do a lot of functions at other venues around town, which we source for clients. Careful organisation, communication and documenting of all the important information is a key aspect of my role.
Why did you choose this field? I wanted to work with people, and this role has a particular interpersonal focus as I work closely with the clients and within our office team. I’ve always loved organising parties with my family and friends, and this role means I can do it professionally.
What do you love most about the work you do? I really enjoy the creative work we get to do, like coming up with themes and formats for corporate events such as a “Heaven and Hell” or “James Bond”. I love working closely with couples to plan their wedding - when their big day is fantastic it’s a really good feeling to know you helped them achieve it.
What have been your biggest achievements so far in your job? Working with our talented team on big projects like G’Day NZ, a week in April where we run large events for Tourism Australia such as The Longest Lunch on Te Wero Island in the Viaduct. G’Day NZ is a really big week long project that requires a lot of time, planning and organisation.
How did you get into the job? I studied a Bachelor of International Communication (now the Bachelor of Communication) at Unitec and completed an Industry Internship as part of the degree - working at TVNZ in the Public Affairs department. The degree worked really well for me and helped to prepare me for working with clients from all walks of life. Communicating, understanding and then delivering what our clients require is an essential part of my job and my background from this degree has definitely helped.
What are your future career plans? I’ll stay with Creative Functions and grow with them to produce the large events and projects.
What advice do you have for other nzgirls considering a career in event management? Think about it carefully, as it’s more of a lifestyle than just a job. Often people think event producing is a very glamorous job, but there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes that’s not so glamorous. It's a lot of hard work, but also a lot of fun.
Gemma
Want to find out about studying for a career in Event Management? Click here
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management could be the perfect job for you! We talk to Mirella, an nzgirl with an exciting career as an event producer...
My role as an Event Producer at Creative Functions is to meet with clients, either corporates or couples getting married, to plan their event. I liaise between the clients and our production team to generate fantastic events. We have three venues where we do most of our functions - The Floating Pavilion, Carrington’s (at Unitec) and River Mill and then we do a lot of functions at other venues around town, which we source for clients. Careful organisation, communication and documenting of all the important information is a key aspect of my role. 
I studied a Bachelor of International Communication