Posts in category: News

So, I can’t lie, the past 18 months have been incredibly challenging for me and Lucy Claire Events. It has been a case of digging deep and surviving but now with things (everything crossed) getting back to normal, I can finally take a breath and look back with a sense of pride, as I not only got through it, but I surpassed our abilities, added new skillsets and showed some dogged resilience to boot. 

I finally took some time to reflect recently and I have to say, I’m pretty chuffed with myself. And trust me, I don’t normally say that! It has been tough no doubt but in a weird way – I am further along in my business than I ever would have been if it were ‘business as usual’. I have managed to rebrand and get a new website that truly reflects me, and Lucy Claire Events and I have become consistent on social media. This is something that I knew was so imperative to my success, as many of my potential clients check my social before my website and I get a lot of comments and people finding me this way.  

Alongside this, I have organised alternative events, to those that were supposed to happen, with very short lead times and transitioned live events to online with a hugely fast turnaround due to the government guidelines changing and the goalposts moving. This includes a client’s conference and exhibition that was moved four times and pulling together a brand-new event in only a week – that was, thankfully, a great success.  

A big achievement for me was to look at alternate routes to market. Last autumn I collaborated with two local businesses, Woodchester Valley Vineyard and The Cotswold Cheese Company, to produce a beautiful hamper for both private and corporate clients, together with an optional online Cotswold wine and cheese tasting. This was a huge learning for me in light of logistics and packing and shipping perishable goods – I will never forget just being surrounded by boxes, cheese and wine at home and taking great pleasure putting the boxes together! I will also never forget the barriers when trying to ship a few boxes over to Europe, and the odd occasional courier problem around the UK – one time I spent a Sunday dropping off 11 hampers around the south of England!  

Over the past 18 months the events I have organised and hosted have not been huge, as many of my clients have preferred to wait for the return of live events. However, I have loved those that have hosted these smaller events, as they have put their teams and staff at the heart of what they do. We have worked together on their team socials and looked at different ways to entertain their clients to ensure they know they are supporting them. It’s been a challenge coming up with innovative ideas to engage, support and entertain, but we succeeded, and have some very happy clients and guests.   

During this time, I have worked with some fantastic new clients and had the opportunity to network far more than I had before. It’s been wonderful making so many new connections, meeting new industry friends and new clients, especially locally – something we just wouldn’t have been able to do if things were normal.  

It’s been tough, no doubt, but there are some really amazing things to have come out of this time and I have to say a huge, massive thank you to my clients, suppliers and connections for your continued support and belief in me and my business and, even when things were tough, you stuck with me. 

Being a great leader has evolved and changed considerably as the physical space has been removed. This has seen good leaders adapting their style, fully understanding their audiences and embracing the new way of working. 

This is not easy, and unfortunately a number of leaders have fallen by the wayside as they have kept on leading like they always have, failing to connect with their workforce and identifying what their needs and expectations are. These leaders’ shift has been virtual only and their demands, methods, output and expectations have not changed, meaning that they have lost sight of their employees and, in turn, have suffered because of that. 

But I am very happy to say, there are a lot of leaders out there who are not like the aforementioned and have altered their leadership styles for the world we are now living in and a big part of this is looking after those in their charge. 

As you know, we have been running a number of virtual events over lockdown. These are great fun, fantastic ways to let off some steam and get people together – but they are also so much more than that. 

These events are a sign of great leadership. The managers, leaders, CEOs that have come to me asking to work with us on delivering an event for their staff have one vital thing in common – they understand and are aware of their employees’ welfare. To me, this depicts innovative leadership as even though, on the surface, they are just organising a fun get-together, what they are really doing is showing their teams they are grateful, they care and that they are appreciated. 

This is a hugely powerful subliminal message to give, as allowing a platform for camaraderie, teamwork and togetherness where the ‘leader’ is not in their traditional leadership role and is at times vulnerable and on par to their team members shows someone who is confident in their role and who understands their team and its needs.  Humility and vulnerability are definitely powerful traits in leaders, especially at the moment.  

I say this a lot, but the power of events is huge and even though in-person events cannot happen at the moment, there is still so much you can do virtually. So, if you are a leader or a manager and have a team working for you, do have a think about events and how you can reward your team in this way.  

As event professionals, we ensure that your event is personal to your team and that the added touches make it hugely memorable. The corporate events we have already done, I am thrilled to say, have received some fantastic testimonials and many repeat bookings so if you are looking for a way to show your leadership and to thank your team, we’d love to hear from you. 

Our precious events industry has taken severe knocks in the past year and events as we knew and loved them are no more with many professionals waiting in the wings to start working in the industry they love again.

I can’t lie, it’s been an emotional rollercoaster the past year working in events with a lot of anger, frustration and sadness seeing friends, colleagues, venues and organisations suffer and fall. There is a deep feeling that this could have been avoided with better guidance and leadership, which make the emotions even more raw, but sadly we are where we are and we have to try and regain some semblance of our industry from the ashes.

What comforts me is the power and magic of events. There is no feeling like it – being with your group of people, sharing an experience in that exact moment and celebrating the emotions that go with that. I talk a lot about making memories and events do just that. When you think back to your happiest of times, I bet events feature highly. It’s that sense of occasion, celebration, togetherness and euphoria that is so powerful and so hugely memorable.

I have no doubt in my mind that the events industry will be back stronger than ever as soon as allowed, but there will always be a sadness about those that didn’t make it. I hope more than anything they reincarnate into something bigger and better. We are all seeing an almost chomping-at-the-bit desire to connect and be together from both private and corporate worlds and gone is the need for physical things and their once grave importance, replaced with the desire to be with those we cherish.

Even though the ever-present pandemic has been uncategorically rough on most of us, the glimmer of positivity for me has been people’s realisation of their need for others and their need to experience, laugh, sing, dance and just be together. We were in fear of the perceived need for things replacing what really matters – connection, and I cannot wait to organise amazing events for people to be together. It’s going to be emotional!

Any events planner remembers their first event like it was yesterday – the nerves, the over-planning and the incredible relief when it goes well! As I celebrate 4 years in business, it’s so good to reflect and celebrate how far we have come. 

It was April 2017 and we hosted our first LCE event – a conference to promote Bangladesh as an investment destination held at the stunning Langham, London for a leading European hedge fund manager client. 

Being one of the top five-star hotels in London, the Langham was an amazing venue and put on a great show with excellent levels of service and top-quality food throughout the day. For the 130 guests attending, it was a business-packed day filled with presentations from a variety of people including leading politicians and successful Bangladeshi business directors, alongside market strategists who offered their insight and expertise about the social and political context of the country, its economic potential, its growing local market and the thriving pharmaceutical sector, among other hot topics. 

After a packed day, the guests enjoyed a glass of bubbles while listening to a wonderful jazz trio before taking their seats for a gorgeous dinner.  

I am very pleased to say that the day and night went without a hitch and myself and the team worked so hard to make sure it was a seamless, high quality experience for all the guests. 

Looking back at this now, especially in the current climate, it seems a million years ago as with the restrictions in place, an event for 130 people seems like a very distant memory. But I do remember everything about it and the organisation that went into it and the valuable lessons that have been the ethos of the success of Lucy Claire Events. 

The number one takeout was the fact that preparation is king. As this was our first event, I definitely over-prepared but because we did absolutely everything went to plan, and I still over-prepare to this day! I would much rather spend more time organising, planning and triple checking everything to ensure a seamless event than not and I definitely sleep a lot better having checked and checked some more! 

Alongside this, the event really hit home to me the importance of partners and by that, I mean team, suppliers and venues. Successful events never happen because of one person, they are a huge team effort and by choosing the best people to work with as well as nurturing those relationships and getting to know those people and how both they and you work is everything.  

I have people in my little black book of contacts that I go back to time and time again as I know they share the same work ethic and attention to detail as me and I trust them to work at the same high level I do. Building this network, I feel, is imperative to a successful business and great events.  

In recent times, a big thing for us has been adaption and reacting to the ever-changing events landscape and trying to remain positive and look at what opportunities there are to deliver great events. Even though it is challenging at times, we draw on our years of experience and amazing connections to create memorable and magical events.  

The Bangladesh event really taught me the power of emotion in events and that how you make the attendees and participants feel is really important and this is always at the forefront of my mind when planning. 

When I look back over the past four years, I have seen the wealth of events, large and small, that we have successfully delivered and how we have grown as a company in both reputation, confidence and delivery but I always am hugely grateful for the lessons I learnt along the way.  

Last year was a wake-up call for me – as I approached burnout, I knew something had to change and fast and change it has. Now I put my health and well-being top and business has grown because of it.  

Working in the events industry is a brilliant career and I wouldn’t change it for the world, but there is no doubt about it, it’s bloody stressful. In fact, being an event manager was recently named as the 5th most stressful job there is: the hours, the preparation, the last-minute changes, the client vision verses deliverable reality all have to be managed, thought about and executed to a very high standard. Now, don’t get me wrong, I thrive off the energy of a live event and work well under pressure but what I learnt last year is that doing that continuously over a long period of time is definitely not good for me, or anyone for that matter. 

The word burnout was a little alien to me. I associated it with high flying suits who were jetting all around the world fueled by caffeine and late-night meetings, not someone like me who ran my own wonderful business and was happy most of the time doing so. 

But with a few personal issues thrown in, the pressure of my day-to-day got too much and the dreaded burnout was approaching. Luckily, I managed to slam on the breaks before it got too bad, but it was a scary place to be.  

After getting some rest, giving myself some time off and – vitally – some thinking time, I am back better than ever but with a big old learning under my belt: to look after myself and treat myself as one of my clients with the care and respect I deserve.  

I know so many business owners who put themselves and their self-care at the bottom of the list, yet their clients are flying. This, I now know, helps no one as if you’re not in a good place, you are not delivering good work, end of.  

My work/life balance is in a lot healthier state these days, with the word balance being critical here. I have also introduced retreats and health and wellbeing events into my offer and I am hugely enjoying organising and delivering them.   

One of the ways I switch off is going grouse counting with my dogs – I love it! Yes, that’s right – counting grouse! I get to spend days walking the grouse moors of northern England and Scotland working my English setter, with a few like-minded friends, counting grouse. I’ll be going up next week to Lancashire for the summer brood counts and can’t wait. When I’m up on the moor with the stunning views and my dogs I am in my element; it’s all I have – and can – think about and it’s perfect. Finding something to do that makes me focus on just one thing and switch my brain off for a bit is hugely helpful for me. 

With the stresses of the current times in the events world it is imperative that us event managers look after out mental health. Emotions and stresses have been high due to the uncertainties and this is why support and community is so important in this industry. In terms of my offering, health and wellbeing is a big factor here too. I recently organised a retreat in Tuscany for a corporate client and I am busy planning a number of health and wellbeing events for both private and corporate clients. With the new measures in place, these events are more personal than ever, and I am really enjoying adding that bespoke touch.  

In the events industry, connections, collaborations and our little black book of contacts is everything – and now, more than ever. 

With the latest news of some of the hospitality sector re-opening on 6th July, all be it with restrictions in place, the event industry can start slowly emerging again and special occasions can be planned which is, of course, music to my ears.   

However, I am definitely feeling, like so many other event professionals, a sense of caution, nervousness and trepidation of not wanting to go all-out straight away but instead re-join slowly and surely. During my career, I have always valued connections over and above anything else as having friends, confidents and allies in my sector has undoubtedly grown my business, my confidence and my abilities. Throughout lockdown, I have cherished these friendships and professional relationships more than ever. 

As we are now experiencing the pandemic aftermath (hopefully) and life may get back to some semblance of normality, the importance of connections is definitely not lost on me. The groups that I am part of that kick-start my week, that help me with dilemmas, enrich me with knowledge and broaden my horizons are a permanent fixture in my diary, lockdown or no lockdown, and my cherished little black book of freelance event managers has never been more precious.  

Throughout my career, I have been lucky to meet some phenomenal event professionals and I have a list of go-to people that I know are 100% reliable and brilliant. The Norwegian event I was charged with would not have been the success it was without bringing in a fantastic team that over-and-above delivered on brief. And knowing fellow event organisers that I can collaborate with, who share my values and work ethic is priceless (yes, Hannah Hall from Sunflower Corporation – I’m looking at you!). 

So, for me – contacts and relationships are everything and for us business owners, taking the time to create and nurture these can pay off in dividends when you really need it. Events are fundamentally about people – making people feel a certain way through experience and magic and the more of us working together to deliver that can be no bad thing.   

If you’re a business owner, I urge you to dedicate some allotted time per week to growing your network. We all think we don’t have time to go for that coffee or have that Zoom chat, but for things of value, like relationships, we need to make time. It’s a cliché but we really are better together and all of us can learn, grow and offer value.  

For me, I am always looking to learn, grow and improve and I am constantly impressed, wowed and inspired by the people in my network, and that’s not necessarily just events people, but connections from all walks of life and experience. From a time when I used to dread ‘networking’ and the awkwardness that came with it, I now cherish it.  

The event world is slowly re-emerging after lockdown with a desire for smaller, more intimate gatherings to re-connect and spend quality time with those special people. But are intimate events here to stay? I think so.   

I hosted my first ‘live’ event in a while last week – a fishing day for 4 people, and I’ll let you into a little secret, I was a bit nervous! This was my first event after lockdown and my first event with these new measures. I wrote lists about lists and triple checked everything! 

I surprised myself at feeling nervous. I’ve hosted events for hundreds of people in hugely pressurised environments for many years but somehow, the more intimate ones in these new circumstances felt different.  

There was a lot to learn, think about and prepare for, and my team and I ensured we were fully prepared, so our clients had the most fantastic day. 

I am hugely pleased to say that the event went brilliantly. All the social distancing measures were checked (and double checked!) and implemented fully. We put together individual PPE packs, individual drinks boxes with beautiful gin and tonics from a local gin distiller, a delicious individually packed picnic lunch for each guest delivered by a local caterer and the views on the River Nadder in Wiltshire were just stunning (as was the fishing!). My client and their guests had a wonderful day I’m happy to say, so much so that they are wanting to rebook for next year. 

This great event has got me thinking about the rise of the intimate events in light of us not being able to host large gatherings currently. I watched this small group of guys really bond, share their thoughts and have a fantastic experience together all aided by some wonderful personal touches, even if I do say so myself! In large events, even though there is magic, there is nothing as special as a smaller, shared experience.  

I am already having some great conversations with private and corporate clients about downscaling events and how we can make them bespoke, intimate and magical. Summer is here and there are some utterly beautiful locations that we are already planning to enjoy in the sunshine.  

With the socially distancing rules predicted to go down from 2 metres to 1 metre soon, this allows for some wonderful possibilities and to re-enter the real world for a lot of us in a more intimate environment. It’s been an extremely challenging time so spending time with just a few of your nearest and dearest, or those special clients can be a lot more appealing. 

For us, we’re fully embracing and loving the more intimate events and thoroughly enjoy planning the intricate details to make them personal and bespoke to our clients – could we help you?  

The COVID-19 pandemic has driven things to a halt and none more so than in the events industry which ground to a standstill overnight. It’s been tough, there’s no doubt, and I’m sure it will continue to be, but I firmly believe that in order to not only survive, but thrive, we have to tackle the challenges, adapt and ensure we offer the best events possible.

One thing is for sure, when all this is over and life gets back to some semblance of normality, one thing that people will want is to be together, to re-connect with their tribe and to have experiences. I have been watching closely social media, messaging and reporting on peoples’ mood and what I have noticed is that the physical and tangible ‘stuff’ that people used to cherish is not so prevalent now and has been replaced by experience, emotion and memories.

Of course, this desire is heightened due to the situation we’re in, but I do think there will be a sea change in what people class as important. This is where my role comes in. As a seasoned events planner, my job has always been to create memorable and bespoke events with that added sprinkle of fairy dust and that is never more important than now. I am spending this time that I’m not working planning, creating, thinking and putting together ideas that will bring people back together in the most special way with emotion, love and companionship as soon as we can.

I feel there will be a huge demand for gatherings, shared experiences and collective joy and the feeling of togetherness. It is my job is to provide the perfect setting to do just that. Being lucky enough to run events both in London and the Cotswolds, I am spoilt for choice and I am working with and supporting these venues that are struggling by ensuring they are first on my radar to book with as soon as possible.

So, I guess my message is to look forward. I encourage you to think of the time when you have a glass of the good stuff in hand surrounded by your friends in a beautiful location, or when you can take your team out for a memorable day to thank them for all their hard work getting through this, or how you can finally celebrate your birthday that was spent online. There’s no harm to dream and plan now so when it happens it will be perfect, and I would love to help you do that.

Do please get in touch to have a chat and we will do our best to put your dream into reality. Events bring people together and it has never been more important than now.