Event management: all the world is a stage

That event management is truly booming is obvious in my story – the sector has come a long way from its inception, but it still has a long way to go and there is still much money to be made, writes Riddhi Shah.

When we are asked to pick our preferred topic for the Hot New Careers series, I eagerly asked for event management. Not because I thought it had immense potential as a sector, nor because I had a unique insight that no one else was privy to. Instead, I picked it only because I had friends in the business, and I thought it would be easy to zero in on a young star.

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How wrong I was. As I began my research, I realised that there was more to the sector than I could ever hope to cover. As for that oh-so-easy-to-find young star? There were hundreds to pick from – a young girl who has built her own little empire through wedding management; a 26-year-old who was already a senior manager at a leading company despite having been in the business for all of two years; or a celebrity manager who had risen astronomically through his company.

Eventually, I settled on Daryl Sheldon. He’d entered the business when it was still fledgling, and his career path had been incredibly interesting – going from accidental freelance event manager to the director of a multi-crore company.

But, if there were one thing I would caution against, it would be the mistake of thinking that event management is a glamorous and easy career. It is not. Long hours, constant travel, and lack of sleep go hand in hand with the life of an event manager. But if you’re willing to give it your all, only the sky is the limit in this career.