Charlotte Disbury

Events Management BA (Hons) *

• Year of graduation: 2019
• Current job title: Managing Director
• Current employer: CJS Events

Events Management was not something I’d considered until I started thinking about university, but it just came to me one day and felt like a very natural career for me to pursue. I’ve always been creative and sociable, and have enjoyed organising things from a young age, so it seemed like the perfect career for me to go into. I also love the aspect of it being such a varied career, every day and every event is different.

Just four years after graduating with First Class Honours in Events Management, my career had progressed from a placement role to the Managing Director of CJS Events. A stand-out moment was the first conference I organised myself from start to finish during my placement year – seeing everything come together and having 200 people in a room was quite outstanding! One of my favourite parts of my job is the relationships I’ve built with our clients over the last six years of working with CJS, as well as receiving positive feedback – that never gets old!

Aside from the friends and experiences I made at university, completing my final year event, the Fringe Festival was one of my course highlights – I’d never ran an event like it, and it felt like a huge achievement.

My advice is to make the most of every opportunity that comes your way in the form of experience and networking, as you really can’t get enough of this when going into a career in events. Also, don’t underestimate how important doing a placement year can be – if you get in with the right company, it really sets you up perfectly for working life post-university.

*UON no longer offers Events Management BA (Hons), but you can study events management as part of the Hospitality Management BA (Hons) course.