Point of View: Daisy Louise Lyons

Daisy Louise Lyons
Graduate at Event Grads
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/daisylouiselyons

As part of our commitment to championing the industry, we are talking to people about their careers and what IEM means to them.

Daisy Louise Lyons is an aspiring events coordinator with a background in theatre and film, having performed and created amateur productions for over 16 years.  Daisy has lots of experience: volunteering at a student film festival in London, organising fundraising events for Oxfam and currently she is organising events for a mental well being festival for a local mental health charity called Freedom of Mind CIC.  She also worked at the London 2012 Olympic Games in the broadcasting centre.  Daisy has a BA (Hons) in Drama and Film Studies and an MSc in Events Management. During her master’s degree, Daisy’s placement was working with a local events company called Park Street Events in Bristol and her dissertation researched how Glastonbury Festival could use initiatives within their campsite to improve sustainability amongst those who attend.

Q What does IEM mean to you?
A When studying my master’s degree, I unexpectedly became pregnant. As a result of this I put my career ambitions on hold to have my family with the intentions to the return and focus on my career without any other additional gaps to add to my family. This, together with current Covid-19 complications, has resulted in this gap being longer than initially anticipated. I am passionate about the industry and have worked towards creating events to a high standard for the companies I have volunteered with and worked with professionally. IEM for me is away to help bridge that gap in professional development between graduating and now, help me move from a graduate into the professional working world and aid me in continuing to contribute towards a high standard of individuals working within the industry.

Q Why did you decide it was important for your to get involved?
A I am eager to involve myself within the industry and feel the vision, mission and values meet with my own and felt that there could be a mutual benefit between the services provided by the IEM, as well as my own knowledge and skills being contributed back however possible.

Q Where do you hope to see the IEM in 20 years’ time?
A I am very confident that IEM would be a go to resource for both those studying, graduated, taken a hiatus and working within the industry to continue their professional development. Keeping their knowledge up to date and a great way in aiding a level of communication between different people and professional bodies to create a stronger, more defined industry to work within, thus creating more effective and innovating events and festivals for people to attend and engage with across all sectors of the industry.

Q What is your favourite event related memory?
A Organising and taking part in an event I organised for Freedom of Mind. I approached a venue to create a safe space for people and cats to come together to aid in their mental wellbeing as there is a lot of evidence to suggest there is a mutual benefit for humans and animals to spend time together. I organised for those who attended to take part in learning how to knit, basket weave or complete life drawings of the cats. They could take part in these activities or simply spend time with the cats depending on what they were comfortable with. It was a very popular event and it was lovely seeing the transformation in levels of comfort as time went on by those who attended. The vast majority of those who attended tried a little bit of the different activities but also socialised amongst those who attended that they had not previously known.