After joining her University’s social committee, Dannika discovered her love of events and never looked back. Her six years of experience in the industry have involved working on a wide range of projects, including music festivals, half marathons, Christmas light trails, and horse racing. Her most recent role was at Newcastle University, where she organised alumni engagement and fundraising events.
Dannika joined the team at BeaconHouse on the back of a stint travelling Asia and is already getting stuck into the world of event agency work, lending her skills to the annual Dynamo dinner, _shift conference, and IPEM (Science, Technology and Engineering Forum) an academic conference in London while planning for a busy 2025 event diary. We grabbed a cup of coffee and chatted about why the events industry is an exciting sector to be part of, what advice she would give someone considering a career in the sector and what her dream project would be…
- Tell me about your new role at BHE – are you all settled in?
As the newest Project Coordinator in the team, my role is to support the event managers and our clients to deliver experiences onsite, as well as supporting with desk research and planning back in the office. I’ve joined the team during a really busy period so it has been great to get the opportunity to get stuck in right away. The past few weeks have been made up of a lot of onsite delivery which has been a good way to understand how BeaconHouse puts events together and what makes our events different.
The Project Coordinator role is a mix of task-based projects as well as opportunities to lead projects in the future which I am really looking forward to. It’s a real variety – both in terms of the content of the events, and the tasks that I get involved with too.
I think I have worked with every member of the team on different projects in my first few weeks too and it has been fascinating to see the mix of amazing skills across the agency.
- Talk me through your career before you joined the team
I have always worked in events and found out early on that I had a real passion for it. My first role after I graduated was for a student travel and events company in Manchester – which was fun getting to organise trips overseas for big groups of student societies or sports teams. Then the pandemic happened and that role wasn’t sustainable, so I made the move up to Newcastle where I joined the team at Newcastle University doing alumni engagement and fundraising events. Alongside this role I also did a lot of freelance work – I worked for Cancer Research during the events season, organising events like ‘Race for Life’ and the night walks as well as working on various music festivals like ‘Boomtown’ and ‘Creamfields’. This sector is so varied, which is one of the things I enjoy most about it, and over my career, I’ve been fortunate to gain insight into a wide range of different events and how they are created. Before I joined the team at BeaconHouse Events I had been travelling for eight months around South East Asia, and spent some time living in Vietnam which was an unforgettable experience – I got back in August and then went straight into a freelance project for the Great North Run which was a bucket list event for me.
BeaconHouse is a big name in the events industry here in the region and so I was aware of them through working in the sector. Sarah (Thackray) is an alumnus of Newcastle University so we had been introduced, later she was kind enough to meet me for a coffee to talk about the future of the sector, best practices, and sustainability in events, so when the role came up at BeaconHouse I jumped at the chance.
- You’re originally from Manchester, does the North East feel like home now?
I studied English and History at Durham University and moved back to Manchester after I graduated before the North East pulled me back again. I would say that it definitely feels like home now – I have a really lovely community of friends up here and I love being so near the coast. The North East is a great place to live and work, Newcastle is a perfect size city and there are so many new foodie options to try, especially on the outskirts like Heaton. I particularly like that it still feels like a well kept secret and not everyone knows how great it is!
- Studying English and History sounds quite different from event planning! What attracted you to a career in the sector?
Durham is a collegiate University so while I was there I got involved with my college’s event committee who ran events like freshers week and summer balls. I realised then that it was an ideal role for me because it utilised my skills so well. It’s always been really important to me that I know that the work I am delivering has meaning and makes an impact, so knowing that the events I am part of creating make a difference to people is really powerful. I like the idea of helping people have a shared experience and make memories together – I’ve always felt quite lucky that I never had the feeling of graduating and not being sure what I wanted to do, it was clear from the outset that my future was in events.
- What advice would you give to someone looking to pursue a career in events?
I left University slightly panicking that I didn’t have an event management degree and that that would impact my chances of getting a job in the industry. What I have learned is that relevant work experience and learning on the job are so much more valuable. Try to volunteer at as many events as you can and understand that it is unlikely that you are going to walk into a job managing Glastonbury right away! It’s all about building your reputation, getting your name out there, and letting your work speak for itself.
Event management is very much a labour of love. It isn’t all jet setting and drinking cocktails with celebrities, it can be very all consuming when you are working on a project and you have to love it if you are going to sustain a career in the sector.
- Was there anything that surprised you about the sector?
One of the biggest surprises was definitely how many people are involved in making an event come to life. It takes a village to get something off the ground and running smoothly, even for smaller events. It has to be a real team effort from the core event team but also with external suppliers like photographers, AV experts, or venue managers – collaboration and communication are key to make sure everyone is pushing in the same direction.
- What did you want to be when you were little?
I am definitely the planner of my family and friendship group so I’ve always been drawn to careers with purpose and planning involved. When I was young I don’t think I knew that a career in events was a ‘thing’ – I wanted to be everything from a teacher, to (briefly) a chef and a film director. Looking at them together, they are all roles that combine creativity, attention to detail, and process, which makes sense! Or maybe just jobs where I can boss people around…
- Outside of the office what can we find you doing?
Travelling is a major passion of mine and I have been really lucky to be able to travel to a lot of amazing places and meet incredible people. Vietnam will always have a soft spot in my heart, the variety of things that you can see in one country is incredible but next on my list is New Zealand, I can’t wait to have the opportunity to visit there in the future.
I’m also a foodie and the North East has so many options to eat out – if I’m not in the office you will usually find me ticking a new restaurant or café off my list. I just went to Paros for some lovely Greek food the other day which was delicious!
- Who would be your dream client?
That’s a tough question, but I would love to work on a project that combined my love of travel and food. Maybe a food festival that allowed people to taste dishes from around the world and learn how to make them at home.
To speak to Dannika, and the rest of the team, about creating a meaningful experience for your team or to simply chat through your event strategy for 2025, email info@beaconhouse-events.co.uk or give us a call on +44 (0)191 691 3456