Each week, we will focus on a StandOut individual who has been extraordinary within the events industry. This week it is Gemma Shamah, director at Ghostwriter Consultancy and Events.

How did you get into the events industry? Where has your career taken you and what roles have you enjoyed?

My career so far has been a series of good timings and luck I think! I applied for a job behind the bar at The Forum in London whilst I was in uni. I had never pulled a pint before but I was given the job as the theory was, if I could study for a degree, I could probably work it out! The more shifts I picked up, including some memorable ones at the Astoria, the more I started doing odd jobs around the venue. I moved up through the ranks in the company as bar supervisor, bar manager, assistant general manager, and then general manager including a stint at The Garage. Whilst there I was lucky enough to work a number of festivals across both bars and artist liaison trying to learn as much as I physically could. I also learnt at Global Gathering one year that after 36 hours of minimal house, that it was one genre of music I really didn’t like! From there, my real baptism of fire was at Ramblin Man Fair – that’s where I started making life long supplier and freelance contacts, learning how outdoor sites breathe and develop, and the importance and art of writing event safety plans; as well as honing my key stakeholder liaison skills. This one was key especially when your main stage is firing ZZ Top and Scorpions at both a high end retirement village and a wedding venue! From there, I’ve been in and out of music venues as well as delivering a variety of outdoor events across the country for a range of customers from TV channels to councils to universities to racecourses and everything in between.

What is it about your job that you love doing? 

I think now I’ve grown up a bit and realised you need to take a step back in the chaos, the bit I love the most is looking around and seeing people enjoying something I’ve had a hand in creating and delivering; however small of a part that may have been. This is especially true at launch nights for our partner venues – the buzz, the vibe, and the positivity floating around is unmatched.

What’s been the stand out moment of your career so far?

I would say the recent launch of one of our latest partner venues – The Prospect Building. Myself and Joe, our head of production, had just finished loading out the last truck of arguably my favourite event of the year, after which we drove to Bristol to meet the rest of the Ghostwriter team and see a set of stellar performances by Little Simz to launch our new partnership. This was the culmination of around nine months of work for our team our clients AMAAD – the venue was better than we could’ve imagined, the sound was huge and the vibe? Impeccable! That was a great fortnight!

What’s been your biggest achievement? Equally, what have you done that you can now look back on and would have done differently?

Outdoor wise – the first show after the COVID shut downs. We had 17,500 people at Newcastle Racecourse for Jess Glynne. Everyone was nervous that day – it’d been a long time since we’d all been together and doing what we do. There were a lot of bumps in the road and hurdles to overcome but it was really special and quite surreal seeing everyone together again!

Indoor wise – converting a huge piece of consultancy into Ghostwriter’s very first arena partnership ranks quite highly up there. In terms of things being done differently, I’m my own worst critic so I’d probably suggest at least ten things for every project and event I’ve ever worked on!

What key pieces of advice would you give to someone starting in events?

Always remember to stop, take a step back, breathe, and look around. Being involved in events is stressful and sometimes taking a second to see other people oblivious to the pressure and stress enjoying themselves is very grounding. Outside of that, get involved and learn as much as you can from as many people as you can. I got told quite recently that no one is ever an “expert” – you always have things to learn especially from other people in the industry.

What career goals do you have and where do you see yourself heading? For example, is there an event that you would love to work on but haven’t?

Right now, I’m totally focused on driving Ghostwriter forward and delivering for our clients to the best of our collective ability. It’s an exciting time right now at the company and I’ve got plenty of projects keeping me on my toes!

Dream events – I’d love to deliver a series of shows at one of the big stadiums and aside from that, something somewhere warm! If I can achieve both at the same time, I’ll be very happy!

Nominate your #EventProf of the week or sponsor an #EventProf and align your brand with the best in the industry by emailing marketing@standoutmagazine.co.uk