UKCEM Alumni Achieve Industry Awards

This year has seen our UK Centre for Events Management (UKCEM) graduate community continue to achieve great success, including in industry awards.
 
Dana Mills and Sydelle Estibeiro have been included in the CN30underThirty class of 2023, Raj Takhar was added onto the 2023 C&IT Agency A List and Josh Cherrington was included in the AAA30underThirty class of 2024.
 
Dana graduated from the BA (Hons) Events Management in 2020 and is currently a Strategic Events Consultant for Inntel. Sydelle graduated from our MSc International Events Management in 2024 and is currently Event Manager with Chilled Events.  Raj graduated from the BA (Hons) Events Management in 2019 and is currently Account Manager with Chilled Events.  Josh Cherrington graduated from the BA(Hons) Music Production in 2017 and the MSc International Events Management in 2020 and is currently Event Manager for ASM Global at First Direct Arena, Leeds. 

We asked Dana, Sydelle and Raj what advice they would give to current students and future graduates.

Dana said: “Winning the CN award has helped solidify my belief you don’t always have to be the loudest and most outgoing in the room to achieve success. As an introvert in an industry that often values the characteristics associated with extroverts it’s hard not to feel overlooked or undervalued. I’ve seen advice stating you need to be pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone in order to achieve success, I never found this helpful nor attainable and I am proud to be an example of someone who instead has found my own path within my comfort zone.” She continued, “My advice would be to seek out an environment that values and respects your contributions. I’m lucky to work for a company that recognises me as an individual and lets me articulate my ideas in a way that feels comfortable to me and from this I have achieved greater success than I would have otherwise.”

Sydelle said, “Winning the CN 30 under 30 Award is a testament to the power of passion, dedication and hard work. Do not be afraid to ask for, accept and maximize on all the support provided by the amazing faculty and resources available at UKCEM. It's really important to put yourself out there and actively look for opportunities that can not only provide industry experience but also expose you to different situations where you just get to learn something new each time - volunteering, involving with the community and culture, placements, internships, personal development training courses or even simple conversations with professionals.  And finally, always remember that succeeding in the events industry just requires RESILIENCE, every step of the way.”

Raj said, “Experience and relationships are everything! In my time at Leeds Beckett I was encouraged to delve into experience and seek opportunities - which led me into my current role full of perks and opportunity (I’m about to board a plane to Oman as part of a FAM trip as I write this!). The relationships I made at University have become my clients or lifelong friends who I’m able to collaborate alongside on projects and that’s a wonderful feeling. Allow yourself to love what you do with people you truly enjoy being around and every single day will continue to be as exciting as the first!”
 
Dr James Musgrave, Head of UK Centre for Events Management, added, “We are incredibly proud of all our Alumni and all that they achieve.  We observe their careers through our strong relationship with our UKCEM Alumni community and the industries we serve. We continue to develop and innovate our programmes to ensure that our undergraduate and postgraduate students are ready not only for when they enter the industry, but also have the knowledge and skills for each stage in their careers.”