ESEM Europe

Part of our Team for 5 years. Rachel’s Story

All | 15/11/16

ESEM’s Rachel Glennon is today celebrating her fifth anniversary at ESEM. We took the opportunity to ask her about her time with us, her personal highlights and how the industry has changed over the years.

Congratulations Rachel, you are celebrating 5 years at ESEM. Does time fly?
Well, they do say that time flies when you are having fun. The past five years have flown by in some ways, but in others, I cannot remember not working for ESEM. As a big football fan, this really is my dream job. If someone had said to me 10 years ago that I would be working in this industry, I would never have believed them. The past 5 years have been entertaining and challenging and I have learnt so much. I look forward to seeing what is next to come for ESEM.

If you had to describe to a stranger what makes your job interesting, what would you tell them?
I would start off by saying no one day is ever the same and always expect the unexpected. Every project we do is different, which makes the job so exciting. It is hard to explain to someone all the things that we do before a project. Yes, we liaise with hotels, restaurants, transport companies, host clubs etc., but there is so much other detail going into what we do. On the job, things can change from one minute to the next and you have to react very quickly. This can be challenging, but it is what makes our job so interesting. We constantly have to be on our toes, one step ahead of the game and try and foresee what happens next.

What do you think are the biggest changes in our industry since you joined ESEM in 2011?
I think this industry is changing all the time, with clients and requirements becoming more and more demanding.  Many of the challenges come from ourselves, as we are constantly looking at ways in which we can improve our services and researching new ideas, venues and activities we can offer. We work in a very competitive industry and are very lucky to have a network of very loyal customers.

What have been your personal highlights in these five years?
I think the highlight, not just of the past 5 years but of my career to date, was the Champions League Final at Wembley in 2013, where we worked with the official travel agencies of both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. It was certainly the most challenging project I have ever been involved in. There were so many different groups that travelled to London with each team, so we had to liaise with many different suppliers, from hotels to restaurants to coach companies and German speaking guides. In the week leading up to the game, there really weren’t enough hours in the day, there were many late nights (with Domino’s Pizza takeaway deliveries to our office), but all of the hard work paid off and overall it was a very successful and memorable project. I felt such pride when we were sat in the stadium before the game and I was listening to the Champions League anthem. It is certainly something I will look back on in many years to come…..and who knows, we could be doing it all over again in Cardiff this season!

Are there any funny or strange stories or incidents you can tell us about?
Looking back, there are a lot of things I can laugh about now, which didn’t seem funny at the time! There are many stories, but most of them I cannot talk about. The little things that happen on projects tend to stick in my mind, such as delivering towels to a team’s dressing room during a game, as they had been left behind at the team hotel to standing on a bridge at the Emirates Stadium surrounded by Borussia Dortmund fans singing on my first ever project, wondering what have I let myself in for. Some of our clients bring their own branded team buses over to the UK to use as the team’s transport during their stay and I remember driving in front of one bus to guide the driver to the official training session, panicking in case I took a wrong turn!

Thank you for your great contribution and loyalty, Rachel. Let’s hope we will be able to celebrate your 10th anniversary at ESEM.

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