Name: Zanine Adams Margetson
Graduation year: 1996
Nationality: British
Program name: Diploma in Hotel Management
Current position: Strategic Event Consultant, London UK
If you have been to an event in London in the last 15 years, chances are alumna, Zanine Adams Margetson helped make it happen. Her career in Event Management has taken her from Les Roches to Paris, Boston, New York and back home to the UK capital, working on conferences, luxury incentives and the biggest event in the world – the Olympics. Zanine shares her life after Les Roches.
Luxury weddings and A-list celebrities in NYC
“I graduated from Les Roches in 1996 having had the most incredible time there. After finishing my management stage in Paris at the Hotel InterContinental, I moved to the USA on a full scholarship at Endicott College, Boston, MA where I worked as an Associate Professor in the International Hospitality programme and gained my BSc in International Hospitality.”
“This earned me a one-year visa, and I was soon off to New York where I started my career in Event Management at the fabulous Regent Wall Street Hotel (now Cipriani Wall Street). I worked on a number of very high-profile events from luxury weddings with A-list celebrities to philanthropic and corporate events and caught the event bug. After a sensational year in New York, I moved back home to London in the summer of 2001, joining a small boutique agency called Red Carpet Group.”
‘Budgets and ambitions were high’
“In the early 2000’s budgets and ambitions were high; it was less about ROI and more about the experience… an event organizer’s dream! Working with key corporate accounts from across the tech industry, we organized luxury incentives around the globe – from husky racing in Finland, to product launches in Barbados and Safaris in the Kruger.”
[quote]”The opportunities were endless and the memories, amazing. It was a dream, but as every event organizer knows, it’s hard graft and reward came from the exhilaration of the event’s success and the team spirit and energy.”[/quote]
A golden opportunity
“In the summer of 2005, London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games and an opportunity arose at Visit London (now London & Partners, the official promotional agency for the city) to head up UK Sales for the London Convention Bureau. This was a great opportunity to gain some further commercial acumen, immerse myself within the UK event industry and begin the start of a wonderful chapter promoting the city I have grown to love and call home.”
“I spent 13 incredible years there, heading up the Business Development and Event Solutions team. I also chaired the International Live Events Association in the UK and was lucky enough to be named one of the Most Influential People in Meetings and Events, regularly featured in the top five of the Event 100 club and Conference & Incentive Travel Power 50.”
Taking the leap to freelance
“In the summer of 2018, after two babies and a plethora of major city-wide events behind me, I decided to take the leap and start life as a freelancer. I’m now a consultant specialising in event strategy, business tourism, experiential and major events. Freelancing has given me the flexibility to pick and choose projects I’d like be involved in. So far these have included place-making for a luxury property company and working on a strategic relationship between the Mayor of London and the award-winning Eden Project.”
“For a tremendous work/life balance – I wholeheartedly recommend going freelance. However, you do need to always be thinking about the next project and where it might come from. You need to network as often as you can. Although my experience comes with me, I still try to get involved in as much as possible so people are reminded that I’m still here.”
Thank you to Zanine for sharing her amazing career to date, we wish her all success in her freelance adventure! She also took time out for a fascinating Q&A session with us, giving her expert opinion on the growth of business tourism, the demands of leadership in Event Management and the importance of creative diversity.” A must read for anyone studying Events or interested in the industry.
