Each week, we spotlight a StandOut individual who has made an extraordinary impact within the events industry. This week, we’re featuring Hector Macpherson Brown, project and operations freelancer.

When did you realise that events were “your thing” and the career for you?

The feeling of it being “my thing” didn’t come immediately. I worked through the industry for a few years trying to work out what I wanted to do. I even had an old boss early on who, on my last day with their firm, sat me down and told me sternly that the events world isn’t for me and I should consider another professional career. I’m very glad I ignored their advice.

But it was one summer in my mid-twenties, working as a site manager on the Edinburgh Festivals, that I truly realised it was “my thing”. It was a glorious summer (for Scotland anyway), I was getting to go to work with a load of mates, and it felt like we’d been given the keys to the city. We hadn’t, it was just a handful of public squares and buildings, but the sense of belonging and satisfaction from getting to build and deliver these extraordinary experiences was intoxicating. I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since.

Looking back over your career, what’s been the biggest lesson you have learned? 

Trusting your intuition and not being afraid to get it wrong in doing so. Our industry is inherently challenging whether you’re working in-house or independently. The long hours, weeks, or months away from home, time-critical decision making in complex, pressurised environments, and the constant need to line up the next project. I can think of dozens of times where I’ve doubted the quality of my decision-making. Trusting my intuition has served me well in most instances, especially when I’ve gotten it wrong and had to learn from my mistakes. Although, it can only be learnt through experience.

What are you working on at the moment? 

I’ve just concluded a busy winter season, mainly spent as part of the command team for Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, with an exceptional group of event colleagues. I’m now well into advancing spring and summer projects across a combination of large music festivals and mass-participation events, with planning and multi-agency meetings already underway.

I’m also helping a couple of clients with consultancy projects focused on updating event operational systems and processes. I particularly enjoy this kind of work: supporting clients through complex strategic change, centred on operational structures and systems. Some may say its niche, but I find it exceptionally interesting.

Although I’m always open to hear from new people, about interesting new projects.

What trends in the events world are you most excited by right now?

Without doubt, the continual growth and development across the industry around the theme of resilience. A lot of my work over the last few years has involved roles focussed on building resilience across varying events and organisations, and with most clients I work with there’s now a strategic focus on continually strengthening it in operational planning. Some of this driven by incoming legislation, recent public inquiries, and the wider continual professionalisation of our industry.

It’s an exciting area, to think that by developing greater resilience at events, we stand to gain more robust operational structures, which gives us more resilient teams in better working environments, enabling more effective and efficient event operations overall. It has tremendous potential for further development.

When you’re going on-site, what three things do you not leave home without?

Three different colours of LX tape, because there is always something that needs marking. My Yeti mug; never tea, always black coffee. And my 15-year-old battered Leatherman: two of the blades have snapped off, I shudder to think how much grime is in it, and although I’m rarely in roles where I need it to hand these days, it’s always with me. It’s some sort of familiar comfort.

When you’re on-site and someone wants a favour, what will win you over?

It really doesn’t take much to get me to help someone out on site. But close colleagues know that, in dire circumstances, an ice-cold can of Diet Coke never goes amiss, no matter the season.

Do you have any on-site bugbears? 

Complacency. Too often I’ve come across situations where people assume this event is just like the last one and will be just like the next. Don’t get me wrong: many of us work dozens of events a year, and keeping alive to what’s unique about each project can be challenging. But whether it’s interacting with a customer, laying out a barrier system, inspecting a structure, or briefing a team, doing that with complacency can either diminish the audience experience or introduce risk that simply wouldn’t be there had it not crept in.

Do you have any on-site rules that you live by?

Never shout and only raise your voice by exception. To my mind, a large part of being an event professional is providing a sense of control and calm in what can look, on the face of it, to be uncontrolled and chaotic environments. Keeping a calm and assertive tone only seeks to help that sense of control and calm. Plus, you’ll generally be seen in a better light by your colleagues in my experience.

What do you do on site to keep morale high and your team motivated? 

Four key rules for me:

• Trust my team.
• Foster an environment where every contribution matters.
• The adage, never ask someone to do a job I wouldn’t be comfortable doing myself (everyone should pack a full artic of ped barrier in the cold or similar at least once in their event career).
• Never underestimate the impact my tone or delivery can have on my colleagues, especially when leading a team. Ensure it is positive and encouraging. Tone can and will cascade, and it can hugely influence the wider team, and ultimately the delivery of the event.

What’s the next chapter in your events journey?

If I’m honest, I’m not entirely sure.  I went back to freelancing for what was meant to be a year after coming out of quite a big full-time job, unsure what to do next. That year has turned into three and a half, where I’ve been really lucky to work with a fantastic group of clients on some exceptional projects.

Ultimately though, I think it will be going back into a full-time role, with the opportunity to work strategically within an organisation and contribute to its long-term development. I’ll know that role when I find it, but who would want to go back to full-time when you get to have this much fun at work?

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