my life as a millennial #eventprofs
It feels like yesterday that I have started my life as a meeting planner. Because being an events planner means that you take a lifetime decision. Even if you are a millennial in an era of constant changes and precariousness.
First of all, I need to be honest, I received a big help in our industry since my family runs Ega Worldwide, an events management company with over 50 years of expertise. In fact, I always say that I have grown up eating ‘bread and events’. I represent the third generation in my company.
My first experience at EXPO 2015 in Milan was a hard “baptism of fire”. It is not easy to describe how expo was, it is probably impossible; only if you have lived it you can understand it. Global, Glocal, a forge of events, cultures and people: Expo was all of this, and much more; 6 months of events, 6 months of relations, friendships and work.
After that came the event that gave me awareness of my role in the industry and in my company: The G7 Summit in Taormina. This was one of the biggest governmental events ever in Italy, in which i had, for the first time, a role of responsibility: managing the budget of the event. It was an amazing experience, i met presidents, politicians, delegates, institutions and i worked closely with the Italian delegation to ensure the event success, 24/7 for months.
But what does it means to be an event planner? Being an events professional means that your life becames your work, it is stressing, it is a continuous evolution, it is amazing and it is a challenge. My beloved late aunt, Cristina Aru, that was the Co-Founder of Ega, always said “you need to always sleep with a bloc-notes on your night table, because an idea can come in every moment, carpe diem” and “the best is the enemy of good” because in this work you need to do a good job, but the most important thing is that you need to do it IN TIME. Deadlines are crucial in our work.
What i can say, after 4 years in the industry (and 27 years spent hearing and talking about it 🙂 ), is that being an events planner could be really exhausting, but, at the same time, incredible. The starting day of an event (I also call it the “d-day”) gives you one of the best feelings in life: all the sacrifices and hard work you have done come to life.
When you are an events professional you became something of a globetrotter, attending conferences all over the world. My first one was an ICCA (International Congresses and Conferences Association) Congress in Prague followed by an INCON (International Conference Partnership) board meeting in St. Petersburg: 5 days, 3 countries. And my life since then has continued to be like this: an endless discovery of new countries, traditions and cultures.
I would never change my job, i love to be an #eventprofs.
Gaetano Maria Dieni
