THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF - How I got here.
The world of events includes lots of roles you may expect and lots of roles that you may be more intrigued by. The industry also calls different jobs by different names, so it can be quite tricky to navigate.
Our next team member to feature in our ‘How I got Here’ series focuses on a very different role to our last post, featuring our fab Production Director - Matt Price.
Matt’s role is very varied and involves taking responsibility for all production elements for our events and activations. From building pop-up shops, through to specifiying audio visual elements, to overseeing our internal warehouse. He is ultimately responsible for taking our creative directors visuals and bringing them to life.
We asked Matt to talk us through his career to date and to offer any advice (and hopefully some inspiration) to the next gen or peers along the way:
Let’s start with education which is always one of the questions we regularly get asked, i.e. do you need to do an events management degree etc:
My journey into the industry was I imagine a lot different to most. I left school at 16 and did a mechanics apprenticeship at Toyota. This taught me a lot of transferable practical skills such as how to follow a process, and specifically around attention to detail – all of which are very relevant to my role in the industry and as Production Director.
Tell us a bit more about that first events job and what you learnt and or changed ahead of your next industry role:
I started out as an Event Operator (this job involved, loading and unloading vehicles and set up & packdown of activations at venues/onsite). In this role, I learnt to plan, solve issues as they arose, and the importance of being flexible & solutions driven.
And from there - what was your next move?
My next role was office based as a Production Exec (so a bit of a change from the previous role that was primarily location based). Having been in a mainly site based role for 3 years prior it allowed me to understand the challenges and importance of planning production elements properly and being adaptable.
What was the best event/activation you have worked on and why?
Bringing Britain Closer event for British Airways (pictured). This was an immersive dining experience I worked on in NYC in 2015 and San Francisco in 2016. It involved flying Tom Kerridge and his core team to the US and through projection mapping and food pairing, showcased the UK to an American audience in a unique and memorable way. In my opinion, it was a great team, great concept, great client, great talent, great location and to top it all off it happened to win a Global Experiential Activation award in 2015!
Who would you say is the best client/brand you have worked with and why?
Porsche as the clients are so nice to work with, but also adidas as it is one of my favourite brands.
Why do you choose to work in the industry and what gets you out of bed in the morning?
Every day is different – in 20 years I have never done the same day twice. I get my kicks from making things and people saying ‘WOW! You did that in 3 days!?!’ the look on people’s faces when they see their dream/vision come to life is what motivates me. The best is when the design team are happy because if it looks identical (not ‘like’ but identical ) to the visual, then I have done my job. I’ve been lucky and worked all over the world and on some amazing projects from World Cup ball launches in Moscow for Adidas, to a super-boat launch in Monaco, to sampling in ASDA car parks. The variety is key for me.
What was the best piece of advice you were given in your career?
There are two pieces of advice I was given that I stand by: One: ‘Failure is not an option’ I take it so seriously I got it tattooed on me! Two: ‘You don’t need to know how to build something, fix something or make something…you just need to know someone who does’
What advice would you give to someone looking to get started in the industry?
It doesn’t matter what you do or don’t know, it is all about attitude. People can teach you to build things, write budgets, assess health and safety etc. but you cannot be taught a good work ethic and a ‘can do’ attitude. Take every opportunity no matter how daunting and push for as much exposure and experience as possible. Step out of your comfort zone and ALWAYS do things that people say can’t be done.
One thing you wouldn’t do again
Get married! (joke). Assume others are doing what you expect, it will bite you in the backside if you constantly rely on others, because potentially at some point you will get let down. Check in regularly on what people are doing and that you are getting what you expect from people, so you can stop things going too far down the wrong path if they are not what you expect.
Tell us who would be your dream client?
A few: Adidas (specifically Adidas Spezial) / Belstaff / Ducati - all brands I admire.
