Guest Speaker Impresses ICMS Event Students

As part of the ICMS career-focused approach guest speaker invitations are regularly extended to successful professionals working in industry.

Brittany Lamerton, a freelance events manager and artist liaison spoke to ICMS Bachelor of Event Management EVT201A and EVT202A students as a guest speaker and gave a behind-the-scenes look at events industry.

Ms Lamerton had been working with UK company Far & Beyond Events in Saudi Arabia and worked with star performing artists such as: Ariana Grande, the Spice Girls, Travis Scott, Katy Perry and Steven Tyler. Since live events and the music industry were restricted due to COVID 19, Ms Lamerton has made the move into reality TV and is currently working on shows such as The Voice and Australian Ninja Warrior. Used to working with big names, she’s also worked on large-scale entertainment events like the MTV EMA’s.

ICMS guest speakers not only share their real world experiences of the industry with students, they also provide inspiration and career motivation.  The ICMS event management students who attended the guest lecture described Ms Lamerton as being “very approachable” and “one of the best guests we have ever had”. They said they related to her and also found her love of the events industry infectious. Who wouldn’t want to have the chance to work with big names as Ms Lamerton has done!

“ICMS continues to focus on what industry experts can offer our students in terms of experience, and to show industry what our students can offer as graduates. It’s a win-win scenario and we are thankful to have leaders in their fields take the time out to share their knowledge and expertise.” said CEO Rowan Courtney O’Connor.

Of course, COVID-19 has put an immense amount of pressure onto the events industry within the last year, with businesses needing to continuously grow and adapt to all the changes within the community. Throughout this time, ICMS has encouraged students to stay committed to their studies and the event management industry by offering guest lectures over Zoom.

Other event management guest speakers have included:

• Billie Cox (Business Development Manager at Australian Marketing Institute)
• Lucy Keeler (Curator, Vivid Light, Vivid Sydney DNSW)
• James Humperson (Humanitix)
• Mary Franklin (Head of Events at Crunchyroll)
• Bree Wailes (We Surge: Event & Wedding Sales Trainer, Hospitality Sales Consultant)
• Colin Laidlaw (Joi – Empowering teams to deliver better events)
• Paula Nolan, (Executive Manager Partnerships and Community CBA)
• Al Weekes (Creative Director at Kat & Co)
• Christopher Watney (Dior Director UK)

Despite the challenges caused by COVID-19 ICMS event management lecturer Doug Garske suggests that, “what we are focusing on now is the future of events – and that can be summed up in three words – Virtual, Hybrid, and Intimate.  This will be the ‘new normal’ for events.”

This ‘new normal’ was evident at the 2020 virtual event held by our Bachelor of Event Management students here at ICMS. The students organised and hosted the Corporate Partner Thankyou Event to thank their industry partners and sponsors for the amazing contributions, which was successfully run over Zoom. The event received outstanding feedback.

Mr Garske said, ‘ICMS has been so supportive of my students and me – building on their belief in giving access to industry experts is important in providing a well-rounded education in the event industries’.

The EVT201A and EVT202A students were proud and grateful to have be given these inspiring guest speaker opportunities.

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About the Bachelor of Events Management

Event management is a growing global industry with a broad range of employment opportunities across different industries. This is the ideal career for you if you are organised, sociable and enjoy the satisfaction of seeing a project through to competition.

The Bachelor of Event Management will equip you with the skills to rise to the top of this diverse and dynamic sector. Designed to position students for success in the exciting events industry, this is a qualification which could take you anywhere in the world.

Subjects focus on core business skills with the addition of specialised event management subjects. Business subjects include sales and marketing; agile leadership, collaboration and managing people; strategic planning and innovative problem solving; and financial literacy. In your specialisation subjects you will be exposed to creative events that stand out from the rest and will have an opportunity to explore various event ideas and translate them into your own creative event concepts and designs.

Event management and business subjects are supplemented by elective subjects from a range of business areas. Your choices include electives in marketing, international tourism, entrepreneurship, hospitality management and sports management. This allows you to enhance your event management degree with subjects that reflect your interests and ambitions.

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