The world of events management is a big one, and needs a person with a strong heart, the best possible communication skills and the ability to stay calm. As consumers of events, we get to enjoy the glitz and glamour of it all when it’s ready for us to see, but what happens behind the scenes is something else. It’s more or less a story of running back and forth, and trying to stay completely calm in the face of inevitably arising problems.
925 spoke with the Managing Partner of The Worx, Mai Salama who tells us the story of herself, her life, her work and more.
At The Worx, they are all about connecting people and constantly building platforms for individuals with different views to speak. Some of the most notable events they’ve had to organize are the Creative Industry Summit, Women Economic Forum, Cannes Lions, NU Digital Awards, and the speaker’s list of the World Youth Forum.
Where & How The Story Started
From very early on, Salama had a passion for advertising, communications and the media. She explained that she’d worked in about 20 years for various advertising agencies; both local and multinationals before moving to events management.
“I like people. I like to connect. I like to talk . I like to find opportunities where people can connect with one another,” said Salama, as she began to speak about her career trajectory from various media-related jobs such as advertising, publications, animation, and eventually events management.
Salama says The Worx began after a phone conversation with her partner, Neamat Khalil.
Mai Salama (left) and Neamat Khalil (right) at The Creative Industry Summit
“Neamat and I had this phone call where I was telling her to open a company. There was a lot of back and forth and I told her that I’d work with you. I said this not expecting that I would actually dive in with her, but then it actually happened. One week after the call, we were doing paperwork. Two weeks after that, I found myself in an office at a new desk, and quitting my other job,” shared Salama.
Khalil is the chairwoman and without her, The Worx would not have come to be in the first place. According to Salama, she is the mastermind behind the logistical and operational work. Meanwhile, Salama’s focus at The Worx is more communications-related. “I find personal satisfaction when we do something of value and it’s even better when someone attends an event, and changes based on what they hear and see,” Salama said.
To Salama, work is her passion, and her dedication towards this career shines through more often than not with every successful event. One might assume that she’d studied her way through this starting from high school and into university; however, quite the opposite.
“I couldn’t fit in at university and I remember being bullied for having curly hair on the first day. I also went into the wrong class and it was very embarrassing,” she says as she laughed.
Salama explained that she didn’t like school or studying at any point in her life. She always preferred to put her effort in work, even during high school. It wasn’t necessarily serious, long hours of work, but she loved earning her own money.
“I continued university, but I gave all my effort to work. I had started working in the media from then and even did a bit of work in publications. Alongside a team, I took part in directing the Arabic dubbing for Winnie The Pooh the New Series, Quack Pack and Duck Tales with Media Concepts” she said.
Salama explained that “this all helped me become who I am today,” including all the lows and highs between education and the work experience she gained from very early on.
Fast Forward To Today: On Making Events Special
As stated earlier, The Worx has planned all kinds of spectacular events; all of which are very different. When it comes to organizing different events, “we look at every event with their objectives to be able to cater to it. It’s never about you, it’s about who you are catering to…We are building experiences to be lived,” explained Salama.
All while producing a theme and set that would fit with its respective event, the content needs to be worth presenting for a target audience that is clear. This has a lot to do with the selection of speakers and what they’d be talking about. At the end of the day, attendees need to benefit from the event.
“We care about the product that will come out. In the WYF [where several of Egypt’s leading companies come together to bring this great event to life], we are talking to the whole world, and the youth who come to attend are hungry for information. They aren’t here for the beach. They are here to attend various sessions and learn,” Salama said.
In general, working on events is majorly challenging, but the experience differs from one to another. One of the most amazing things is seeing people, who have never been to Egypt fall in love with the country, Salama shared. There are many who visit for the occasion of an event and “can’t wait to come back once more”.
The Creative Industry Summit Team!
But other than hearing comments and feedback from people, measuring the success of an event can be tricky. Salama explained that it depends on the objective and on the event itself; whether it’s corporate or informational.
“In The Creative Industry Summit, it depends on the amount who register and show up, for example….Something that indicates success is when we announce an event, and immediately start getting calls and people start registering,” she shared.
Challenges & Advice
From the get go, a huge part of being in events management is understanding and accepting that this is a challenging field. As Salama put it, events are consumed while they are being produced – quoting her partner Neamat. The option to ‘cut’ and ‘restart’ isn’t there. Hence, there should always be multiple backup plans if something goes wrong.
And if something does go wrong, don’t stand there unable to fathom the situation. “If you panic, it’s going to be much worse…You have to expect everything and tell yourself “mistakes happen,” said Salama.
Salama added that when you’re expecting mistakes to happen, you are able to stay calm. It’s about understanding that things can go wrong, and not to beat yourself up about it.
“If you panic, everyone will notice. The only way to control the scenario is knowing to expect mistakes, and be calm enough when putting the back up plan scenario as the event is going on. If you expect the problem, you will never be shocked,” she emphasized.
Another part of the challenge in ‘making it’ in events management is being aware of what’s happening in the media and of what is happening around you. Research is the key to success, Salama said. But at the same time, we are all human and mistakes can, and will, happen. When they do, apologize. Salama explained that sliding a mistake under the rug is not something worth doing, people will remember that you owned up to a mistake, and they will respect that.
“Always be on your toes, always challenge yourself, and always be opening to learning. I work all the time…I appreciate free time and personal space, but if you don’t wake up excited to go to work, then it isn’t the job for you,” she said.
What’s Coming Up?
In terms of actual events, the most recent upcoming event by The Worx, in collaboration with the Gamers Lounge, is the ESports Summit. Throughout September, the ESports Summit event will be held online and will host over 30 tournaments and have various awards with all kinds of games, including League of Legends, PUBG, Fortnite, FIFA20, etc…
This event is digital and so it fits the 2020 trend of online entertainment, and will be able to bring the e-gaming community together under one, online roof. “The games are professional. It is a professional sport internationally…The age group is a wide range too, but it depends on the type of game and who it targets,” said Salama.
Salama revealed that there are more events coming up in Cannes Lions, but more information will be revealed soon. The bigger question is whether events will continue digitally or go back to on-ground soon.
Mai Salama at The Creative Industry Summit
It’s hard to assess and organize online events, and it’s even harder to predict what will happen in the remaining months of 2020.
“We are aiming for events to go back to normal. Online exists as a solution to work during COVID-19, but we need to go back to on ground events because the charm of human interaction is not something that can be replaced,” Salama said.
The positive thing with online events is that it gives The Worx a wider, international audience, and a much bigger selection of speakers. Although online events had a wider audience, it’s hard to assess “if they’re with us.”
“On the ground, when someone enters the event, he or she is already here in the hall; they are present in the scene. With online events, everyone is at home so we need to maintain their attention throughout,” she explained.
