Over the course of the EN 30underThirty programme, Exhibition News will be speaking to members of the programme about their professional journey and the causes they’re championing to shape a more inclusive, forward-thinking industry.
This week, we meet Georgina Kantor, senior marketing executive at Easyfairs.
What is the first career highlight that comes to mind?
One of the first highlights that comes to mind is my time as an Events Intern at The Lanesborough while I was completing my undergraduate degree.
Having the opportunity to experience so many different weddings and corporate events at such an early stage in my career gave me a real insight into the industry. I was able to see the amount of work, detail and teamwork that goes into delivering events at that level, and it confirmed that this was an industry I really wanted to be part of.
Looking back, I think that experience gave me a really strong foundation and helped shape how I approach events now.
What have you learned about yourself since entering the events world?
I’ve learned that I enjoy far more parts of the events process than I originally expected. I love the planning and analysis side, but I’ve also discovered how much I enjoy design and websites, particularly thinking about how an event or brand is communicated visually and how that shapes someone’s experience.
I’ve also learned how important teamwork is. There can sometimes be a temptation to try to do everything yourself, particularly when you care a lot about the outcome, but I’ve realised there is real strength in understanding each other’s strengths and weaknesses and working from them.
The best results come when people bring different skills and perspectives to the table rather than everyone trying to do everything alone.
If you could give your younger self one piece of advice when starting out in events, what would it be?
Ask more questions, earlier.
When you’re starting out, it can be easy to worry that asking a question will make you look inexperienced, but I’ve learned that questions are never a bad thing. They help you understand the bigger picture, learn faster and avoid making assumptions.
I’d also tell myself to back myself more. You don’t need to know everything before you contribute an idea or take on a challenge. A lot of confidence comes from doing things before you feel completely ready.
How important are schemes such as EN30under30 and do you believe the industry does enough to support young professionals?
EN30under30 has been really valuable for me because it made me stop and reflect on everything I’ve achieved so far.
When you’re working in a fast-paced industry, you can move from one project to the next without really taking the time to recognise your own progress. Being part of EN30under30 gave me that opportunity and made me feel proud of how far I’ve come.
It has also made me feel like there is a real community of us. There is something really encouraging about being around other young people in the industry who are ambitious, learning and building their careers at the same time.
I think schemes like this are incredibly important, but the industry can always do more. Young professionals benefit from recognition, but also from mentoring, access to senior people, meaningful responsibility and opportunities to learn beyond their immediate role.
How do you see the events industry changing over the next five years, and how do you want to be part of that change?
I think events will become much more connected across the physical and digital experience.
An event doesn’t begin when someone walks into a venue anymore. Their experience starts with the website, registration journey, branding, communications and content they see beforehand, and it continues afterwards as well.
I think technology and AI will make parts of the planning and analysis process much more efficient, but that will make creativity and the human side of events even more important.
I’d like to be part of bringing those areas together. I’m really interested in the point where event planning, design, digital experience and data meet, and I think there is a lot of opportunity to create events that are not only well run, but feel considered at every touchpoint.
What is an issue or topic within the industry that you think is important and want to champion? Can you explain a bit about it?
One topic that is important to me is how we develop young talent within the events industry, particularly making sure people are given the confidence and space to learn.
Events is an industry where you learn so much through experience, but I think younger professionals can sometimes feel pressure to already know the answer rather than feeling comfortable asking questions.
I’d like to see more environments where curiosity is actively encouraged and where people are given the opportunity to understand why decisions are being made, rather than simply being asked to complete a task.
I also think part of development is recognising that people have different strengths. Someone might be brilliant at logistics, another person at design, another at client relationships or analysis. Strong teams come from recognising those differences rather than expecting everyone to work in exactly the same way.
Why is this particular issue or topic important to you?
It’s important to me because I’ve experienced how much you can learn when people are willing to share their knowledge and give you opportunities.
Looking back, I also know that I could have asked more questions earlier in my career. I think a lot of young people probably feel the same pressure to prove themselves.
I want people coming into the industry to feel confident being curious, asking questions and figuring out where their strengths are. Not everyone needs to be brilliant at everything, and I think people progress much faster when they are encouraged to understand what they are good at and learn from the strengths of the people around them.
What do you plan to do to continue to champion the topic?
I want to start with how I work with people around me.
That means being open to questions, sharing what I’ve learned and making sure people feel comfortable admitting when they don’t know something. I also want to encourage people to explore different areas of the industry rather than feeling like they have to follow one very defined path.
My own interests have expanded into areas like design, websites and analysis alongside event planning, so I think it’s important to give people opportunities to discover what parts of the industry they genuinely enjoy.
As I progress in my career, I’d also like to become more involved in mentoring and supporting people who are at the beginning of theirs.
What can the industry itself do to better champion this topic?
I think the industry can create more structured opportunities for young professionals to learn from people outside their immediate roles.
That could be through mentoring, shadowing, cross-team projects or simply giving people more visibility into how different parts of an event or business work.
I also think we need to create a culture where asking questions is seen as a positive thing. You want people to be curious and to understand the reasoning behind what they are doing, because that is how they eventually become confident enough to make those decisions themselves.
Finally, I think we should encourage people to build on their individual strengths. Events relies on such a wide range of skills, and the strongest teams are often the ones where people complement each other rather than everyone trying to be the same type of professional.
