SquareMeal is proud media partner with the ICE Awards, so we took a moment to speak to two of this year's winners to see how the event has helped their careers
When Katie Parry was presented with the Unsung Hero Award from SquareMeal Sales Director, Hannah Walley, after only a year in the industry, she was beyond delighted. She was happy and humbled, but most of all, proud of herself and how much she has achieved in such a short period of time. And that is what the ICE Awards is all about it.
As the only events industry awards open exclusively to in-house corporate event planners, the ICE Awards is dedicated to celebrating the hard work of event management. Inviting event planners from across 15 different industry sectors, the awards night allowed the people who usually organises everything to be the guest for once and to network with their peers. Held at the Design Museum on 12 July, the awards rounded off the ICE Conference, a whole day of inspirational talks, networking and workshops.
'I have had a fantastic start to my career at BNP Paribas,' Katie said on her win. 'Winning the Unsung Hero Award has been an incredible highlight to mark the end of my first year in the industry.'
The judges' were especially impressed with the significant event management skills that Katie has demonstrated in the short six months in her new role at BNP Paribas. They said her efforts have given tremendous results for her team. 'It is clear that Katie has a fantastic can-do attitude and mindset that has consistently exceeded expectations,' the judges said. She won because her work isn't valuable just to the company, but to the wider team, senior stakeholders and management, too.
'The comments make me feel really proud of how much I have achieved,' Katie says. 'I have learnt so much in the past year that I couldn't have achieved without the support of my team. I am so privileged to be part of such a wonderful team.'
Katie firmly believes winning the award will be a real driving force for her career development and future endeavours. 'It's wonderful to be recognised and it has provided me with a real sense of achievement.' She also hopes it will enable her to be a role model and mentor for other people who are new to the industry.
Another winner, Jodi Egan from IFS, winner of the Best International Event Award, said she was very grateful to be recognised by the events industry in this way. ‘We were already over the moon with the feedback from our conference attendees, but to be acknowledged in this way was very special,’ she said.
Being able to carry the stamp of ‘award-winning’ is a boost on many levels, Jodi explains. ‘It’s a great element to external communication, promotion and sponsorship opportunities, and for the internal team, it’s a real buzz!’
You can already start planning for next year’s event, which takes place on 11 July 2019 at the Design Museum in London. Find out everything about entering
here.