Louis Bloomberg was in the midst of completing his university degree when he called The Advice Line to find out more about a career in events.
To celebrate the one year anniversary of The Fair’s career tool, we spoke to Louis – now Production Assistant at The Fair – about how people can benefit from such initiatives, and his advice for others looking to navigate their way in the industry…
So, Louis, can you tell us a bit about where your passion for events came from?
I’ve always loved being involved with events, even in primary and secondary school by helping out with charity events and fetes. Music is also really important to me, I’m always expanding my taste.
As I got older, more of my friends were getting into music and making their own. So, I started going to the studio and coming with them to their gigs. It was when I stood at the side of the stage for the first time that I realised how much I really do love events.
Amazing! So, prior to joining The Fair, what experience did you have?
Well, I decided to go to uni, where I studied Music Management, and this really allowed me to explore different areas I was interested in. I managed an artist and helped put on some local events. By the end, I was putting events on regularly and started my own event. The event series was called Creative Collective, and each event would focus on a new collaboration between two creative industries, the first event included music and fashion, which gave music students a chance to perform and fashion students a chance to highlight their work. It was a great space/platform for creatives to connect with each other and start exciting projects.
In my second year, I started volunteering at festivals – admittedly just to get free tickets – but then I realised how much I liked the job. I was doing things like artist liaison, stagehands and being a runner – I just kept asking to do more work! At this point, I was hooked and just wanted to immerse myself in events, so I started a job crewing and volunteered as a Production Assistant.
How did you come across The Advice Line, and what made you decide to book a chat with us?
I was about to finish uni and was scrolling through LinkedIn looking for opportunities when I came across The Fair and The Advice Line! I was really excited about what the company does and the opportunity to get some advice from Rob or Yas sounded great, as I was a bit unsure how to go from volunteering to finding work in production.
Who did you speak to, and how did it go?
I booked in a call with Yas and she gave some great advice on my situation, including useful skills I can learn to stand out, people to reach out to and general advice about the industry. At the end, she mentioned that The Fair was looking for a Production Assistant.
Millie, The Fair’s Festival Director, reached out to arrange an interview and the rest is history!
How have you found your time at The Fair so far – where have you been on site?
It’s been great. I joined just before the team went to GALA where I was the Site Office Assistant and it was really helpful to gain insight into how everything is run. I then went straight to Summer Social where I become involved in more tasks, and got to appreciate the wide range of events we work on. Since then, it’s been nonstop – from camping festival El Dorado, to the world’s largest Talent Acquisition festival RecFest, London food festival Savour, the first ever Rally festival, and one of the world’s most talked about brands, Boiler Room.
In terms of experience gained, I’ve become much more familiar with the advancing process now, including gathering specs, supplier procurement and accreditation. Onsite I’ve come to master the role of the site office manager – whether that be the radio game or keeping stock of plant keys. Recently, I’ve been taking on more responsibility which I’ve really enjoyed as well as being back out in the field!
Why do you think career tools like this are important?
It’s really useful to have something like The Advice Line, especially in this industry where it can often feel quite free-flowing and hard to navigate at times. From my perspective, as someone who’s just starting out, it was so helpful for someone experienced to spend some time to go through all my questions and help me understand how to navigate the industry from my position.
What do you think the industry can do to improve and encourage people to join the wonderful world of events?
To be fair, I feel like the industry does do quite a good job already and there are always people trying to improve this. One thing I would say is that increasing awareness of all the different roles that are available in the industry could be really useful in encouraging people to join the sector.
I think loads of people would find something that they are passionate about and it would also help them realise just how varied our industry – there are so many roles to consider. Showing people that working in events can be a full-time career is really important, and will definitely help ensure the next generation of the event industry is filled with a range of talent.
The Advice Line is a place where people who are in – or looking to get into – the events industry can get advice from industry professionals at The Fair. Whether you’re a new festival promoter, a student, or simply looking to kickstart your career in the field, our team is ready to answer your questions. Find out more about The Advice Line.
