Jodie McLean 0:04
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. Well, welcome back to another episode of the events Insider PodCast. Now, if you listen to this podcast regularly, you'll know that we had a few weeks break because recording a podcast is a lot of work. And so we do need a break every so often. But also we've had a lot of big events on recently, September, October, is definitely a busy time for us. So we took a few weeks break to focus on our clients events. And actually, next week's episode of the podcast is going to be breaking down one of those events. So I'm going to take you behind the scenes, what went into that event, what worked, what my learnings were, and all of that good stuff. So I'm excited to share that with you next week. But today, I have a special guest for you. And I feel like my guest today is really the perfect person to have on this podcast because she is a superstar admin professional who runs lots of events, which is what this podcast is all about. It's about equipping you to run events in your role in admin. So I'm excited to introduce you to Adrienne Donnelly, who is a virtual personal assistant running her own business organised by Adrian, which she started about seven years ago now. And she works with various businesses providing all kinds of admin support, including event planning and management. Now, if you are also a VA, or you're thinking about becoming one, then Adrian also runs the Newcastle virtual assistant community, which is a group of over 200 Local virtual assistants. And I've put all the links for you to connect with Adrienne in the show notes below. But today, we chat all about how she navigates running events, what the challenges are her tips for working with multiple stakeholders and large committees, which can be a challenge, what software she uses, and so much more. So please enjoy my chat with Adrian. Well, Adrian, welcome to the events Insider PodCast.
Adrienne Donnelly 2:29
Thank you for having me, Jodie.
Jodie McLean 2:31
It's so good to have you. Can you share a little about your career journey for anyone that doesn't know you?
Adrienne Donnelly 2:37
Yeah, for sure. So I currently run two businesses. My primary primary business is organised by Adrian. So I have a team of virtual assistants and we offer a wide variety of business support and event management services to clients primarily throughout New South Wales, Australia. I've had that business for seven years, in November 23. My second business is i co founded the Newcastle virtual assistants community four years ago with my business partner, James. So we're a member based organisation, we have over 100 215 virtual assistant members throughout the Newcastle region. So we have a co working space, we do regular events for them, both professional and personal development. And we also offer matchmaking service to local businesses who are looking for a virtual assistant in their business, but are not sure where to start. And then we do a little bit of sort of advocacy and speaking work at industry events to sort of help raise the profile of virtual assistants within Oh, yeah.
Jodie McLean 3:44
I love that. And what was your background before you went into business for yourself?
Adrienne Donnelly 3:48
Yeah, so my background was all office management, operations management. So straight out of school, I went straight into the workforce, I had no desire to studying at university or any sort of thing like that. I was like, I just thought those corporate women, I was like, yes, that is me, give me life, like a very, I don't know what it was, but it very much got a side to that life. So work in, you know, worked my way up from sort of the office Jr, the mail girl that used to be called back then reception and then into sort of office management and operations management. So really, so many transferable skills, all those things that I offered who staff within a business, who in my role as sort of office manager or operations manager, we're my customers. Now, the same services that I offer to more business medium sized business owners in terms of that business support, admin support, marketing support event support.
Jodie McLean 4:47
Yeah. And so one of the services you do offer is events. So is that something that you did before and so it was a natural fit? Or is that something you sort of picked up when working for yourself out of I guess what people were asking All? Yeah, so
Adrienne Donnelly 5:01
my roles when I was in internal corporate roles, the sort of reception or the office admin or the office manager always looked after Christmas parties, the staff conferences, the team days, you know, the breakfast in the morning birthday morning tea, then the fundraiser. So it was always just part of it. I also come from a big family. I'm one of five between my four other siblings and of 12 nieces and nephews. So I would like be the unofficial event organiser for the John Lee family, which I love. My mom is great at events as well as my sisters. So it's just something that I think I've always just been around, but it's definitely it's always sort of was just another part of my role in my other previous employment. But it definitely has ramped up now in terms of my business. So Jacqueline, a few weeks, October is my biggest event month, I do two big business events that are between three and 500 people. That's sort of the biggest end of the events that I do in terms of the volume, and they are business events, so business awards or business roundtables. So that definitely got my business. Now in organised by Adrian, but also through the Newcastle VA community, we do event for our members every month and a big Professional Development Conference for them every year. So it's definitely a larger part of my business and my role now.
Jodie McLean 6:26
Yeah, and I think it is such a natural fit, because so many companies, you know, wouldn't necessarily have someone internally and as you say, it does always fall to the admin professional, which is why we exist to help upskill people. But yeah, I guess if you don't have someone internally, and you do have a VA, then that's a natural fit. And so Event Management Services, I think are going to be on the rise for vas, which is why it's so good to have this chat with you today. So you mentioned that you do some larger events for kind of three to 500. What are some of the other types of events is I'm assuming it's all like business events, I'm assuming you don't delve into like personal, private event.
Adrienne Donnelly 7:07
I've done one wedding. So I always wanted to be a wedding planner, when I grew up, you know, if there's ever I won't tell you all the security answers, but if there's ever those, you know, security questions, one of mine is always what did you want to be when you grow up. But I sort of got bought out of it by someone close to me that you're not going to lie. But I think I had that kind of day low X, you know, a joke, like just give me a headset and a clipboard, and I'm ready to go. So I've done one wedding, I've unfortunately had to do a funeral for clients, family member who I do a lot of personal but also life admin for her. So the events really vary. They could be coffee catch up for like Newcastle VA members, they can be a huge business awards with, you know, multiple categories and sponsors and various stakeholders and partners. They could be online workshops for clients who want to do a workshop in a certain sort of their sort of expert area that really varies from really small to quite large scale and a mix of hybrid virtual ones in person.
Jodie McLean 8:15
Yeah, yeah. And I guess you've got such a wide range then of experience, what do you think makes a successful event?
Adrienne Donnelly 8:27
Oh, this is a good question. I think for me, because I work, a lot of the events that I work on are run by organised by a group. So for me, it's really just working out. Now that group, whether there's three or 33 people on that Organising Committee, how that group is going to work, what tools they're going to use, what communication channels, what the different individuals in that group have, where their sweet spot is, and what are the stuff that is just the brain doesn't work that way, like you know what they're good at what they'd prefer not to do, so that everyone's in a sweet spot in their zone of genius. And then we've got really good tools in terms of programmes software to communicate, I think if you can get that established quite quickly, especially the bigger the Organising meeting, the better when I think someone who is a natural leader, because I think sometimes also when you've got whether it's a volunteer or a committee or a volunteer group, you really do need to establish who is the sort of final decision maker and everybody know who that is because you either get too many people thinking they're sort of endpoints or decision making, and then you get some sort of clashes there. Or you've got a lot of people who just want to do their bit but are not naturally a leader. So you kind of don't get anywhere very fast. So I think just establishing some of those foundations. The Start can then really set the event coordinator or manager, whatever that role that I'm playing is up for that because you've got everyone and sort of thinking from this book, if that makes sense?
Jodie McLean 10:03
Yeah, I think dealing with a committee of people planning an event is honestly one of the most challenging things. I mean, I deal with both. Sometimes it's kind of one key person is my client. And sometimes it's a committee, particularly around the nonprofit sector and those sorts of things. And yeah, it can be really challenging, because you've got a lot of different personalities and a lot of different ideas. And I think one of the things when it comes to events is kind of having really clear direction, and focus is going to make a successful event. And so when you're dealing with so many different people who all have their own agenda, it can be really challenging. So if you deal with a lot of committees, then you're obviously for experienced and can probably manage anything that is challenging.
Adrienne Donnelly 10:48
Well, I think that big family helped me with that, because like you said, everyone has different priorities, they want different things out of, you know, business awards, or miss dinner, whatever it is, everyone wants different things out of it, they need different things, they have different availability, different, you know, how they want to feel after the what successful event looks like, for them. For some people, it's a budget, some people a ticket sales, some people, it's the conversation and action that happens afterwards. Some people it's a feedback form. So really just working out what, however, I'd like to communicate what success looks like. And I think with organising committees, to a lot of them are volunteers, you know, sometimes they've been put on an organising committee as part of their normal day job, their normal nine to five job and they somehow now have to fit in being an active member of an event committee into that role. So really being respectful of people's time, not just meeting for the sake of that having very Lea. And this is something I've learned a lot in the last 12 months under the chair have an event that I've worked on about really running very effective event meetings, making sure everyone's heard, but not going off on tangents, encouraging people to cliche, take that offline and talk about that just with that one other committee member that that really important too. But knowing when other people don't need to sit here and talk about that sort of things, and knowing when to sort of steer and lead those committees in the way to get the best outcome for everyone and being mindful of everybody's time.
Jodie McLean 12:21
Oh, you are speaking my language. I love that. I wanted to know, I mean, you've got so much experience running events. Is there anything that I guess you would call like signature Adrian that you have at all of your events or something you do with all of your events? Something that you're like you always go back to it always works? And you think it's like you're Yeah, that's
Adrienne Donnelly 12:43
a great question. I think definitely for Newcastle, VA business, there's always for that there always has to be gift. I love mine and Jane thing, it's like our love language around vendors, we try to keep the cost of the tickets low, so that we can make them is accessible to everybody. But obviously we pay out speakers and venues and all that. So to cover our costs, also to make sure that everyone walks away with a really lovely gift. So that could be the international virtual assistants Day everyone had a plant. This year, we've had candles, we've had photo frames, we've had all variety of things that something that's you know, that they can take away. And really remember with its great branding, we've got that recognition in their office space or their workspace, but it's also just that little personal arch. For business events that I run through organised by Adrian on big Hello, fan. If I can get any Organising Committee on to Trello. That is always my preference, because I just find it works really well, in terms of keeping that it means less meetings, let's have their time, we all know where we're at, everyone's really clear on what they need to do. And I'm also a really big one for feedback and as many events as I possibly do, where we're appropriate and sustainable. I tried to allocate time in the programme for people to fill in some sort of feedback form, whether that's online or paper, if you know if we have to really get that feedback right then and there in the moment. And that in my experience, year on year really helped me shape how the events run in the future because I'm mindful that, you know, I might think, Oh, this is really cool. And this is great and it just bombed but no one gets it. No one sees it or other things that people might want that you know, I'm not the events ideal audience member I might be the organiser but I'm not the person buying the tickets. So by having their insight then really actually interrogating that information and making sure we use that either me as an individual or as an organising committee to shape our events in the future and taking that paper really seriously the good bad and the ugly. There are things that are imperative, especially for those annual type events or quarterly or biannual events that we roll out on a regular sort of schedule.
Jodie McLean 15:11
Yeah, I think one of the benefits of kind of holding the same event multiple times is that you can continue to get better, which is so great. I wanted to pick up on you mentioned Trello. So is that your platform of choice for vents, specifically, or all of your work? Because one of the things that I get asked all the time is about software. And people sort of assume there's some secret, you know, event planning software that everyone uses, which I mean, look, there is some out there, but I think we all just kind of use project management software. So is Trello. Your goal is
Adrienne Donnelly 15:45
my go to and I agree, there's very, obviously very niche and event specific software, but not every Organising Committee, not every organisation not every community, especially you mentioned before in that not for profit space, not everyone has the budgets for beach software like that. So if they're already using the software, my first question would be, what are they already using, or if they are me, and they say just Adrian you pick, I will always say Trello with something about how Trello presents, that my brain just gets it and logically like put me in front of a sauna, and I am a fish out of water. But Hello,
Jodie McLean 16:17
I am the other way. Through Trello but Asana,
Adrienne Donnelly 16:23
it's funny, isn't it, because I've got clients that just if it's not in the sauna, it doesn't happen. And I've really had to learn and, you know, hours YouTubing and in their learning centre learning, I should think about it my head, my brain just doesn't logically go with but it does with Hello. So I would normally for any organisation, work out what they've already got, and see if it can work, or there. So something super customizable, like monday.com, Trello, Asana, clickup, those sorts of things, if you're already paying a subscription, live should keep using that, let's not try to add something else and over engineer their business or use what they've got than my normal go to isn't mix of Trello, Slack, and then regular, maybe mediums, but it's fine having Trello and slack Trello to really manage our tasks. Black for that kind of incidental communications means probably less meetings. Because we have a kind of more regular flow, we're not just waiting for, you know, weekly or fortnightly or a monthly meeting. And then it just means we've kind of got those live minutes and actions in Trello. Over it's very clear on who's doing what. Yeah, Trello in both the event and this sort of general business adventure support, travel, it was my go to.
Jodie McLean 17:39
I love that. And you mentioned slack as well, which is a good one, although sometimes I don't like to let my clients have that kind of access. So yeah,
Adrienne Donnelly 17:47
boundaries. I think if any of those things were there on your phone, they're pinging at all times. Like I'm a real early bird. So for example, today, like I was four in front of a computer by like 430 working, but you know, you can schedule notifications, those sorts of things. But I have other clients who, you know, really their productivity comes alive at night. And so what about me having boundaries in terms of my notification and do not disturb settings, because different has different times that they effective and can really get, you know, smashed through the work? I think it's Yeah, then we've got to be a bit firm with our boundaries, especially around notifications and things like that, to make sure and those those apps are so good. You know, you can schedule your notification within certain hours and customise all of that. So clients can be sort of getting all of that in good information out of their brain and over to us then it just be ready when we turn on notifications are gone at whatever time that might Yeah,
Jodie McLean 18:42
yeah, perfect. So can you tell us about a recent event that you planned that you think was successful? And I guess dive into what you think made it so great.
Adrienne Donnelly 18:52
Sure. So we've just come off the back of our annual conference for the virtual assistant community here and something that you mentioned before God is like that. Doing events, you know, on a regular schedule, those repeat events make it easier in a way but there's also something that we definitely noticed this year. So last year was the first time it was a totally new concept for our region for our company. So there's almost like people don't know what to expect for most things they'd be quite happy with because there's you know, it's not a proven concept looking here however, you know, we we believe last year did quite a good job at delivering a good conference for our you know, 50 Odd virtual assistants that came through then this year. It's almost like there's there's elements of it that are easy because the sponsorship proposal and perspective done run shape done you know, all those comps, all of those things are easy. Trillo board made a copy update. But there's a benchmark now, though, it's like you have to up the ante right everything from the speed Because to the styling who, you know, thinking about price point and that customer experience when they're in the room and what that looks like going okay, well, 50% of these people praying last year, but 50% didn't. So what are things that we can do? Again? What are things that we can't? So I think those are the sorts of things that there's parts of running those events on a regular basis that make it easier because you've got some of those foundations, templates, those sorts of thing, budgets, all of that. But then there is the whole actual customer experience that happens that you want to try to elevate, especially if you've got repeat customers. But yeah, this this event is obviously very important to us to that for our industry. And it's something that we care a lot about is the virtual assistant community in Australia. Jane and I who run the business with totally different chain is very creative. You know, if it was that, for me, the room would be like the notepads and the poems at the venue provided the room looked like this gorgeous, like, there were flowers everywhere. I know these plants with like flowers on them, and it's beautiful, stage that up. But you with that square Jane is, you know, amazing. So utilising her expertise, mine is probably more in the making sponsors and speakers and run sheets and things like that. So by going okay, what what are both our strengths areas? Again, going back to those 40 Odd feedback forms from last year, we must have read them 20 times, you know, what was the feedback? What do people want more of what do people want less. And the feedback was, you know, from the guests that came this year, we thought last year was good, but this year was even better. So that was hard. If someone said to me, I can't remember the exact it's always harder to make the movie when you know, there's gonna be a sequel and I still believing he said the sequel was great. And I was like, yeah, that's, like, you know, you know, that we've been, it's consistent, but it's also elevated again. And same as the business awards, I do the business conferences and festivals every year, I guess, trying to do something that makes it a little bit different, whether it you know, a different level of speaker, more activations, a conference that you know, a different venue, an event that we've got this year, we've got like a circular economy, coffee cup provided coming in. So showing that you know, those 500 people are not going to be having who disposable coffee cups every day, we've got a ceramic coffee cup provider that washes them there on site. So that way, you know that it's really sustainable, things like that. He's just trying to think each year, how we make it a little bit better, or not even better, but just a bit different. So it doesn't feel like oh, yeah, same old, same old, this could have been the 2020 version of this event, if that makes sense.
Jodie McLean 22:45
Yeah, I love that. Honestly, I think we do want to continue to get better, but I don't think we need to get too overwhelmed. Always one upping yourself. You know, like, it's like you said it's just about doing something a little bit different. And honestly, it can be exactly 1% different 1%. So that it's a different experience for anyone who is repeat again, there was a couple of things that you said that I loved one was acknowledging the different skill sets between you and Jane. And absolutely letting the person run with their skill set. Because I think with events, anyone who does events is an absolute wizard, absolute magician, you have to wear all of these different hats. But I think it's okay to acknowledge, hey, this area isn't my skill set. So is there someone that I can outsource that part to, and I'm going to manage all these other parts that sit within my zone of genius, which is awesome. And the other thing that you talked about was really planning from the guests and really thinking about your guests and going What did they enjoy last year? Who's coming back? And what would they want? Who's new? And so what can we do new, you know, really planning from a place of thinking about who's coming in the room and planning the event for them, which is just so crucial. So I love that so well done. Now, for anyone who finds all of this really overwhelming and stressful, which I totally get, I guess what would your advice be to them?
Adrienne Donnelly 24:13
Yeah, definitely. So I think I've had a few V A's that have said to me, Look, I'd like to get more into the event. Right? But exactly like how do I start? So for me, my first option for them is always fine event and volunteering. But a lot of community run events like this big festival that we do in late October of 2023 is this 40 on volunteers come along, they get the tickets to the event, but they are learning how the events work. So those sorts of opportunities or you know if I can in my business give them opportunities to come and shadow for me, obviously as a paid subcontractor, but men shadow me for the day so they can at least see a guess what happens on the day. And then if possible, find opportunities where you can get involved in the planning all the way up until seeing it come to life. So you can start to go, oh, okay, I see why, you know, to your point before about knowing your guests why we ask in the ticket. Okay? Have you been to this event before or without aid? When did you start your business? So we have that data to go. Okay, so these speakers need to talk about these sorts of things, too. This is who our audience is. Or I can say, Do you know the sponsors of this event? 200% return customers or you know, something, you know, those sorts of things. So then someone who's starting to work in events can start to say, Oh, I see why you built that mission into the checkout form. And why you're asking, do they need any accessibility requirements, because that might mean we need to hire a translator, or make sure that the event that we choose, the venue that we choose can log in with a hearing aid system that they can start to see a bigger picture, not just standing at the front desk, scanning QR codes, and giving people a lanyard like, all those tiny little details that go all the way through to making sure that all your stakeholders, your guests, your sponsors, your you know, all the speakers, all those different people get out of it, what they're looking to get out of the event. So that would be my advice, find volunteering opportunity, or I guess, yeah, be willing to come in at that kind of board or event assistant level, in a paid capacity wherever possible, because I believe, you know, that they should be paid for their work, if they are, you know, really working on the day, and start to get a bit of a test without a guess all the responsibility that comes with being the event coordinator, or the Event Manager, they can see all of that without having to be, you know, entering to a board or all the various stakeholders, it's a great way in like, honestly, for me, I tried to go to as many events as I can, not just there because I liked the content, but that want to check out that venue, I want to see how that it works, that you know that venue or I'm keen to see if that speaker would be suitable, or just how different people run events and what works and what doesn't. I think I've learned the most about event management by going to other events and working out what I think works well and what doesn't, and just put out of work. And what I think you know, work.
Jodie McLean 27:22
Yeah, I love that. I think it's important to remember that, you know, the first time we do something, it's probably going to you can't be expected to be amazing, you know, straightaway. So I love what you're saying there about just getting out there and getting experience. And I do think that the overwhelm of event management does lessen the more that you have experienced. Yeah. I don't think it ever really no,
Adrienne Donnelly 27:46
I remember when I first started my business, and I thought, you know, I'd love to do more in the event space. But I need to work out what that really looks like I did some volunteering with the business check at their nine to thrive event in Sydney that they would do. It wasn't paid, but you got to go and experience the whole event. The most incredible people that then turned into clients, because they for me in that event capacity, just met loads of other incredible humans, like if you're willing to give up a bit of your time and sort of roll up your sleeves, there's loads of there's always events that are looking for volunteers, especially ones like that, or community events. And it really is a great way to see everything that goes in a big event like that.
Jodie McLean 28:30
So I guess for any VAs listening, who want to get into event planning, other than I guess, volunteering, where should they stop? Do they just kind of start saying that they offer
Adrienne Donnelly 28:38
it? Yeah. It's a hard one because I think it's, you know, it's events is more of a specialist skill. There are some things that you can kind of learn on the job, but I wouldn't go for example, I really want to start doing social media advertising and just say I would do it I would go and learn do some posters, do some research, do some education, because it is more of like what I personally this is just my opinion would clarify the technical skill. And I think events are as well. You're managing stakeholders, you're managing budget, you're you know, even just things down like WHS and insurance and things like that, if you're doing in person events, there's a lot to think about. So I would go and look at, you know, courses that are available organisations like your own that have great resources that you can sign up to podcast content. There's, you know, local community colleges or TAFE, that run event planning horses, there's loads of different things out there, because you might go Yeah, that's actually not what I want to do, or I want to do more personal events, or I want to do more corporates or get into weddings, or you know, do big like retreats overseas. They're the kind of events that I want to do, but by I guess, educating yourself on what it actually means to work in events. That would definitely be what I would recommend and there's loads of great resources out there download that you can find on, you know, different guides on what you know what good event looks like and those sorts of things, I would definitely recommend doing your research and working out what that actually looks like and know what you're signing up for as a service before you start offering it.
Jodie McLean 30:19
Yeah. 100%. How do you manage the Juggle? I mean, managing events, multiple events is already a lot, but then you add in lots of different clients and lots of different other services that you offer as well. How do you manage the jungle?
Adrienne Donnelly 30:36
Sometimes? Not very well, I won't lie. I got up at four o'clock today. Because yeah, there are certain times in the year for my events calendar where it's busier than others. So like my two big events fall in October, our VA conference happens in Himba, so I just thought of know that they are. But you know, my lazier, sort of the me, but also utilising specialists that you touched on before. So a lot of events that I do, it's everything from venues, to catering to ticket pages, but also email marketing and updating the website and social media marketing for the event. I am not a copywriter, I am a terrible, terrible writer. This is why we guest podcasting and not guest blogging because I'm a it's easy to chat about it, than to write about it. So I now have a really incredible copywriter in my business. So when I say to her, Okay, for this event, that's, you know, tickets close in six weeks, we need to be doing an email campaign every single week, here's access to all of our previous ones have a look at the website, she knows what the focus of each EDM will need to be, this one's going to be that speakers, this one's going to be about, you know, it's about, you know, the sponsors, etc. don't have those specialists in the team. And that's how I think I can now manage and have been able to grow that part of my business, because I can't outsource the stakeholder management. I can't say to, you know, a huge energy national energy provider that might be a or you know, the ATO or can you just talk to someone else? It's like, no, no, that, that wouldn't fly like that the corporate relationship, but I need the within the family things I can do. And those other things like getting in developing miles in Canva, or email marketing campaigns are running events, guests report, they're making, you know, pulling out all the dietary requirements to get to the venue, those sorts of things, I can outsource that. So for me, the Juggle is really about having that thought to be like, you cannot physically do it all yourself, Adrian. And there are some things that are just not your sweet spot. So outputting those, and then, you know, making sure I'm very clear on the bits that shouldn't it's not appropriate for them to be outsourced and keeping those and that normally is around the relationship and stakeholder management.
Jodie McLean 32:58
Yeah, so true. I love that. I think the more and more that we acknowledge we cannot do all of the things, the more that we you know, make sure that we've got the right support around Yes, it's just going to make the event better, it's going to make it less overwhelming and stressful for us and produce. Yeah, and
Adrienne Donnelly 33:14
I think it's also, you know, been growing the event side of my business that has meant I've had to offload some of my general VA retainer clients. That's been really hard because project from a purely commercial point of view events is a project income stream for me, and if anyone ever heard me talk about VA and Yvette life, which lumpy, that's always how I explained there can be lumpy VA retainer clients with solid, it's every month, it's the same amount. It's very regular income. That's what I live off the projects and the events side of it can be really open down this time of the year when the events really busy. I'm like, yes, let's book a great holiday, let's go buy a new car, all of that. Anyway, February, March, there are no events, and it's crickets, and I'm just like, Oh my God, I need to sell my car I need to cancel that will let you know. So it's like, by letting go of some of those retainer clients. That's a bit scary. So to be able to free up my time to be like, Yes, I can be at that location for two days and run the event can't have those other retainer clients like those ones, where I do a really traditional executive assistant or personal assistant because I'm in their inbox every day, I can't do those two things. So it was that decision to grow my team and take on more team members, but also have to afford some of those other clients where they that my arrangement with them would not allow that event of the business to grow. But the great thing about the VA community is those clients never, you know, left high and dry. They've been paired with a incredible other virtual assistant who will be a fantastic resource for them. So it's still a good outcome, but it definitely means having to make some changes, I guess. Yeah, we can't.
Jodie McLean 34:55
We cannot we cannot. If you could sum up all your years of experience into one piece of advice to anyone who plans business events, what would it be?
Adrienne Donnelly 35:04
I think it's really about and we sort of touched on it, there is managing the downs. And if you are going to work in events and have some really big ticket events that are quite, you know, good for you commercially, it's just make sure, you know, they'll spread out throughout the year that you've got a good billing process in play with them, so that you've got consistent income through your business, and it's not all just, you know, all hit, because obviously, the complications and all of that if everything's going around the same time, but I would also try to have some other clients that maybe are adjacent to the events, race or or, you know, connect with them quite closely, all those other organisations, we have, well, she might be able to support them. So you do have that steady income stream just to make it a little bit easier, because this sort of work can be really up and down and really lumpy. And that can be hard to manage in times in terms of sort of cash flow and commercial side of your business. So just keep that in mind and be planning for those times where there aren't as many events. And I guess we all learned that the hard way over the last few years in the COVID News where there weren't a huge amounts of events. So we had to rely on, you know, virtual events or hybrid events or some other ways that we could support those businesses. We, we look after in the events, basically other services that are Yeah, adjacent or could run parallel to the events.
Jodie McLean 36:37
Yeah. Love it. And if anyone wants to reach out to you or get support in the VA community, how can they find you?
Adrienne Donnelly 36:44
Yeah, so they can find me just on my website organised by Adrian dot Comdata. You on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram? Yeah, that's the best way. I'm always happy to chat if anyone is either needing support with events or also looking to get into events and try to navigate what that might look like.
Jodie McLean 37:02
Perfect. Thanks so much for joining me today. Thanks, Jodie.
Adrienne Donnelly 37:04
Thanks for having me.
Jodie McLean 37:08
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
