Hey, I'm Jodie; Event Manager, business owner, educator and podcast host. I'm an introverted homebody want to be wine master. And I truly believe in the power of events to inspire delight and ignite human potential. Every week, I take you backstage into the wonderful world of business events, and give you the insider scoop on how to take your events to the next level. Before we begin, I'd like to acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional custodians of the lands where we live, learn and listen. Let's get into it.
Hello and welcome to Episode 10 of the Events Insider Podcast. I am very excited to reach 10 episodes and thank you again for tuning in as always. Now, if you receive our emails or you follow Events Academy on socials, then you would know that doors are currently open to our six week program, which is designed specifically for admin professionals to master event planning. Doors close this Thursday, the 29th of June, and then our first module of the program drops next Monday, the 3rd of July.
But if you're listening to this episode at a later date, then head to eventsacademy.com.au and jump on our email list so that we can let you know when we next run the program. We only run it a couple of times a year and we won't be running it again until probably September, October time. And the main reason for that is because I run a whole other business, Jem Events, which is my event management agency. where we work with clients to plan and manage their events for them.
I obviously need to make sure that I'm looking after those clients as well, which is why we just run Events Academy a couple of times a year, when I can really dedicate time to it and be available for the people that come into the program. So I wanted to give you a bit of backstory as to how Events Academy came about. So I had the idea for it back in 2021.
But in between navigating lockdowns with client events and building my agency, I didn't end up bringing it to life until last year in 2022. And it really came about for two reasons. I think firstly, you know, in my agency, when I would chat to prospective clients, there was always that decision around, do they outsource the event to a company like mine or do they manage it internally with their existing team members?
And for me, it was always a question of, well, do you have someone who's equipped and skilled up who can manage the event? And then the second reason is I would meet EAs and office managers at, you know, venue openings and for meal trips, and we'd get chatting about their events. And they were always asking for advice and kind of saying that they didn't really know if they were kind of doing it correctly or if there could be you know, if they could be planning events more efficiently and effectively.
That's really how it came about. And I think initially I was really hesitant because, you know, there's so many courses out there. It feels like every man and his dog has a course these days. And, you know, I didn't want to just be another person with a course, but when I looked into it, I really couldn't find anyone else in Australia offering what I wanted to offer. And I knew I had a lot of knowledge and experience that was really valuable. And really the best way that I could share that with people was through an online program.
Today I want to go through some questions about the Events Academy program so that if you are thinking about joining, then you can get the insider scoop on what it's all about and if it's right for you. So let's get into it.
First question is who is it for and basically why should you care?
So for me, putting the course together, look, I think the person is, you are an executive assistant or an office manager. That's really who I've created it for. So you're the kind of person that gets tasked with, you know, a few company events every year, done some events in the past, you know, you're not a complete newbie to events. But you think you probably could be doing them a bit better, or maybe you feel like, you know, they take a lot of your time and you always come up against the same hurdles time and time again. And you just want to be a bit more confident and sort of have the processes and templates to use to just make it easier for yourself.
So if that resonates with you, then Events Academy is definitely for you. I like to say that Events Academy is the fastest and most effective way to master event planning without wasting time or money. And it's so true. I love that we live in an era where you can upskill in a particular area of your job really easily and really quickly. And, you know, you don't have to go back to uni and do a three-year degree with a 30K HECS debt, right? So that's really who it's for.
Next question is, what is the commitment and what does the program look like?
So it's a six-week program and we deliver one module to you every Monday over the six weeks. for you to go through and complete really at your own pace throughout that week. There's between sort of, I'd say, three and six lessons in each module, and that consists of videos, written PDFs, and then downloadable templates for each lesson. So if you're going through like a busy patch or you want to complete it at a later date then you easily can. Once you sign up you have access to it for 12 months and like I said it's self-paced so you can go through it whenever it suits you or go back through it as many times as you like.
So the next question I'm going to answer is what are you going to learn?
So I want to deep dive into the module so you can get an understanding of what you're going to learn.
So module one is event fundamentals. We look at event planning and I guess more broadly project management as a whole and sort of setting up your project plan, the core pillars of event management and the different styles of business events.
And then module two is brief to concept. And this is such a crucial week because we look at like, where do we start, how to set ourselves up for success, and then diving deep into like concept development and the very important budgeting.
Module three is venue and catering, which is super fun. And again, it's another crucial week because these are often the two biggest elements of your event and the most expensive elements often. So we look at finding your venue, making sure you don't shoot yourself in the foot with your venue contract, all things food and beverages and different catering options, then also like the setup and layout of your event as well.
Then module four is content and production. And this is a big one again, but we've distilled it into sort of five key lessons covering the main aspects of business events which are speakers, entertainment, AV, styling, and your all-important run sheet. So they're super practical lessons, you know, we give you price guides, briefing templates, timelines, you know, everything that you need.
Then module five is marketing and comms, whether your events that you run are sort of invite only, or you need to sort of promote them wider and get bums on seats, then we sort of touch on both elements as well as the best tools for like managing RSVPs and registrations and also sending out communications.
And then module six is execution and evaluation. So really all about how to execute it on the day and then what do we need to do post-event, reflecting on and learning from it. We also look at risk management and contingency planning because they're super important as well.
So that's sort of the six weeks in a nutshell, and there's a lot in there. And, you know, there might be a few things in the program that you already know, but there's definitely going to be things that you can immediately take away and implement to make your job easier and your events more successful.
I hope this very short and sweet episode was helpful to give you an insider look at Events Academy. So we'll actually be taking a two week break of the podcast while we welcome everyone into the program this round. So jump on the link in the show notes if you do want to sign up or feel free to DM me on Instagram or LinkedIn if you have any questions.
But that's it for today and we will be back in two weeks for season two of the Events Insider podcast.
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Events Insider PodCast. If you loved it, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, share with your friends, and I'll chat to you next week. Bye
