After a year running her own business Wilna van Eyseen of EventSmart was recently rewarded for her efforts by being named Empire Who’s Who Executive & Professional of the Year in Event Management. miceNZ.net thought now was as good a time as any to catch up for a chat.

On the up and up

Q: How long have you been involved in event management?

A: I have worked in the events industry for approx five years now – it covers South Africa, Europe, the US and here.

Q: What does your recent award win mean to you?

A: It came as a big surprise and I am extremely pleased that I can be awarded with this since my business has only been active for about a year – it is a great acknowledgement of my work!

Q: Did you do similar work in South Africa?

A: Yes, I worked for about a year at the University of South Africa (UNISA) as a special event organiser for the Vice Chancellor and Principal – I picked up great organising tips and dealing with all sorts of visitors over a variety of countries, including a lot of VIP’s and government officials.

Q: Why did you make the move to New Zealand?

A: I travelled through New Zealand seven years ago and met my partner – it was back and forth for quite a while but I finally decided that it would be easier for me to adapt here than it would be for him to live in South Africa (he’s a Kiwi!).

Q: Did you expect to be doing event management here?

A: Somewhere along the line maybe – I always knew I wanted my own company! It took a while to learn the New Zealand market and trends as I am very familiar with this in South Africa and Europe of course. I also worked in the events industry in Boston, USA, while travelling around, which was a great experience and it taught me to think quite differently about events.

Q: What do event managers and product suppliers do well in New Zealand?

A: I like the fact that there are a lot of event managers here who think outside the square – it’s not something that you get everywhere else and it’s a refreshing change to have ideas that you can implement over here. I also enjoy the regular gettogethers, meetings, expos… it’s great to meet people in the industry this way. In South Africa this is still quite new and you are on your own a lot more.

Q: Is there anything they could improve upon?

A: From my experience I find that the turn-around time is very slow and most of the time I find that suppliers don’t read questions/quotes properly, and they just send out generic versions! This is a great advantage for my company as we are proactive and our turn-around time for quotes to our clients is always ahead of schedule. Even calling suppliers and trying to get pricing is sometimes a big drama.

Q: Are you satisfied with the type and variety of venues in Auckland?

A: I wouldn’t say I am 100 per cent satisfied with the venues in Auckland. The venues that are available are good, and service is generally very good, although there is a huge need for large venue space in Auckland. I have some clients who need to book their corporate year-end functions by February/ March to ensure that they get a venue!

Q: What are the pleasures and pitfalls of your profession?

A: Pleasure for me is the satisfaction of doing a great event and the pleasure it gives other people when they enjoy an event that you organised. The pitfalls are the long hours and definitely little time for myself or my partner – he’s used to it by now though since I’ve always been a bit of a workaholic! I work all hours of the day and night.

Q: How has the internet changed your business?

A: It’s GREAT. I am a real internet person – I prefer using online methods for bookings/ venues/services and I am likely not to use a company that doesn’t have these facilities. It is so much more time consuming if you don’t do it online, and the benefit of course is that there is no wait for people to return your calls, hence no delays.

Q: What, in your opinion, is the “state of play” of the meetings and events business in New Zealand at the present time?

A: I think the year ahead will be an exciting year for the events industry and I am positive that business will pick up everywhere. The year seems to be kicking off to a slow start, but I am staying positive.

Q: Do you think New Zealand is doing enough internationally in trying to attract more business?

A: Definitely. I attended an interesting talk last week that was hosted by CINZ, and to see the government support bringing international business into NZ is definitely a bonus.

Q: If you organise meetings offshore, what’s hot right now?

A: Australia’s hot now and probably most of the time because it’s an easy jump across the Tasman, and the variety of venues and things you can do there is always a big appeal. Vanuatu is also getting hotter and certainly a destination that I think has great potential.

Q: To those looking at entering the meetings and events business what is one piece of advice you wish you had been given before you started?

A: Probably the biggest advice I can give someone is to be prepared to do a lot of work. A lot of people are always keen on working in this industry. I get a lot of job applications weekly. People see this as a “fun” industry but they often forget that there is a lot of hard work involved to get to the fun bit!

Q: In Australia there is often debate on professional conference organisers charging a “fee for service” rather than operating on a commission structure (linked to booking hotel rooms). Is this the way you see the profession going in the future?

A: I hope so! I much rather prefer a commission structure in New Zealand that is feebased. Not a lot of venues here do a commissionable rate and often it takes away business from event managers because people can book it directly for the same price – not much of an incentive then for PCOs to sell a venue. You tend to sell your services instead of a venue/services package.