Seoul, SHINee and Soft Tofu Stew

I would have never imagined that I would be travelling to the other side of the globe, but this seemed like the best option for a graduation gift from me to myself, so I thought ‘Why not?’.

And this is how I ended up in Seoul, South Korea, one of the biggest centers of technology in the world. 

Although I will be here for three weeks, I have already seen a lot and learned more about the culture. The district where I am staying, Hongdae, is one of the busiest areas in Seoul, offering lots of amenities including shops and restaurants, as well as bars and even karaoke rooms! Every last Wednesday of the month there is a Culture Day in Korea, which means entry tickets to museums, theatres, cinemas, exhibitions and other cultural events are discounted or even - at some places - free.

I was lucky enough to even attend a K-pop concert of a boy group called SHINee, who have just celebrated their 15th anniversary.

In the next few weeks I am planning to attend a short business course with Korean language, visit a port city Busan and explore Seoul as much as possible. Oh, and obviously - have lots of Korean food!

M x

Thoughts on Studying Events Management at University

When choosing a course at university, I had to think about what I wished to have achieved by the end of my course. The answer was securing a graduate job, which would bring me the feeling of satisfaction and make me financially stable. Organising events and seeing them come to life is what gives me the most satisfaction, so it was easy to chose this course among so many others.

When studying Event Management, I learned a lot about policies, documentation needed and the processes of professional organisation of events. It became obvious, that managing events is not an easy job and requires a lot of resilience against stress under all circumstances. Although it is a stressful environment, the feeling of accomplishment that comes with watching your event come to life is one of the most rewarding aspects of this industry.

Studying Event Management also increases employability. Before starting my course, I thought maybe I could land a job in this industry without studying for three years. But the more I looked at entry-level job advertisements, the clearer it became that a degree would be essential if I wanted to pursue a career in professional events.

So, this course can be the most satisfying thing in the world and help you to secure a well-paid job, but it can also be very stressful! Great stress management is therefore a useful skill to have before starting this course. And remember - do not be afraid to ask for help :)

Meg

The highs and lows of event planning…

An honest review by our wonderful intern Meg

As the final year project at university, I have been tasked with organising a THEM Conference alongside other students. This event gave me the opportunity to gain more experience in event planning, but also taught me more about the highs and lows of this industry.

The theme of this year’s THEM Conference was employability. To deliver the best possible experience to the students, we had to think of activities and workshops they could participate in during the day. As much as I enjoyed watching this event come to life and delivering all the activities on the day without delays or any major problems, not everything went smoothly in the process of planning it.

Finding the venue, confirming the attendance of the guests, securing sponsorship and refreshments, it all takes time and can be stressful when waiting for a response. The first idea that everything would get booked quickly got completely crushed when just booking the rooms for the conference took more than a month. This is also a constantly changing industry, so last minute adjustments had to be made in order to deliver the event. Even on the day, two speakers had to be switched as one did not get to the venue on time.

So, event planning can be rewarding and bring a lot of opportunities to learn and grow as a person, but it is also stressful and can take a very long time to confirm anything, and it should not be taken for granted :)