Head of Event Production at New Scientist (2021-12 – 2025-10)
Led the strategy and delivery of New Scientist magazine's diverse events portfolio, including single-speaker streams, one-day workshops and the flagship New Scientist Live (8000+ daily attendees).
- Acted as the strategic bridge between Events, Editorial and Marketing; led weekly cross-functional planning to align live programming with print output, ensuring speakers were maximised across platforms (e.g. magazine interviews) to drive wider brand engagement.
- Programmed content for the flagship New Scientist Live event, driving engagement for 8,000 daily attendees over a three-day period, alongside managing livestreamed sessions that attracted concurrent audiences of up to 2,000 viewers.
- Owned the end-to-end management of 60+ world-renowned speakers annually. Improved operational efficiency by designing and deploying custom automated workflows ('smart spreadsheets') to streamline the nomination, selection and relationship management process.
- Directed the programming and speaker acquisition for New Scientist's inaugural B2B artificial intelligence event. Co-curated the subsequent 'Emerging Technologies Summit' series, expanding the commercial event portfolio.
- Collaborated closely with the Director of Sales to integrate sponsor messaging into the event programme, successfully balancing commercial revenue objectives with strict editorial control over all speaking slots.
- Managed the annual speaker budget, successfully negotiating contracts and fees directly with agents for high-profile talent while ensuring financial efficiency across all events.
- Utilised logistical and attendance data to restructure the 'Schools Day' programme; condensed scheduling to align with school travel constraints, resulting in higher engagement and session attendance. Established a comprehensive review framework using NPS scores and topic performance to inform future programming.
- Led the procurement and successful rollout of RingCentral as the department's hybrid events platform. Leveraged this to host quarterly subscriber livestreams, reaching thousands of global attendees and expanding the digital footprint of the brand.
- Guided and mentored the event production team, fostering a high-performing environment. Managed direct reports overseeing speaker communications and administration.
Public Programme Manager at The Royal Institution of Great Britain (2011-08 – 2021-12)
Managed the prestigious public events programme at the home of UK science communication, overseeing a budget of c.£300k and driving the digital evolution of the department.
- Devised and executed the annual events strategy, consistently delivering year-on-year revenue growth through targeted programming and audience development initiatives.
- Collaborated on a cost-saving internal streaming solution (utilising OBS and Zoom) to replace expensive external licensing. This innovation significantly reduced fixed technical overheads for the charity while maintaining broadcast quality.
- Forged and managed high-value partnerships with organisations including the Financial Times, the BBC and the Faraday Institution, delivering impactful joint events that expanded the reach of the Royal Institution.
- Collaborated with the digital team to strategically select and package live content for the YouTube channel of the Royal Institution (1M+ subscribers), ensuring events had a "second life" online.
- Hosted bi-weekly livestreams and live events, confidently introducing speakers and facilitating audience Q&A sessions to enhance engagement.
Public Programmes Coordinator at The Royal Institution of Great Britain (2008-07 – 2011-08)
- Coordinated the logistics, ticketing and delivery of the public events programme.
- Authored and distributed the events email newsletter to a subscriber base of 20,000+, driving ticket sales and awareness.
- Managed the online events calendar and website content for the Royal Institution.
Science Events Assistant at British Science Association (2006-05 – 2008-07)
- Managed the Box Office for the BA Festival of Science, overseeing sales of over 6000 tickets.
- Recruited, trained and managed a team of eight Festival Assistants to support onsite delivery.
