At Castle, we believe that our greatest asset is our amazing team of public relations and event professionals. From global sales conferences and luxury incentive travel programs to social media crisis planning and marketing communication, our team does it all.
Each member of the Castle team has a different back story and unique insights and information on public relations, events, marketing, social media and more. Today, we’re spotlighting Senior Event Director Danielle Dickinson.
Since joining Castle in 2005, Danielle has planned a myriad of unique incentives, powerful meetings and stylish special events all over the world. When not planning events, she enjoys cooking for her family and volunteering with The Food Project, a non-profit organization empowering youth leaders to create personal and social change through sustainable agriculture.
1. How did you get started in the events industry?
I was actually doing an informational interview at Castle to learn more about the PR industry. The PR team, very intuitively, got the sense that I might also be interested in learning more about events. I didn’t even know that event management was a career path! All it took was one meeting with the events team at Castle to pique my interest. An internship and 12 exciting years later, I can’t imagine working in any other industry.
2. In the next 2-5 years, what do you see changing about the events industry?
- Shorter and more events during business hours: As people’s workloads continue to grow, companies seem to be becoming more mindful of employees personal time
- Increased requirements and need for security and more time spent preparing/training in emergency protocol
- (Even) more digital and less traditional content/collateral
- Heightened awareness, better access and lower cost for green solutions
3. What is something about working in events that would surprise people?
It is not always glamorous. No secret to those in the industry but for the general population, a career in events can seem very fun and glamorous (and it certainly is at times!) but there is a lot of skill and hard, sometimes tedious, work that goes into creating a beautiful façade.
4. What is your favorite event venue and why?
Any non-traditional venue. Unique venues that are not necessarily focused on events require a lot of creativity. Whether you have a small or large budget, a blank canvas pushes you to get out of your comfort zone and think outside of the box. Farms, greenhouses, wine cellars, banks, libraries, beaches, lawns, homes, etc.
5. What is your favorite thing about working at Castle?
The people—employees and clients alike. No question. We have an amazing team of smart, creative and passionate professionals and we are extremely fortunate to have many like-minded clients.
To read more of our “Five Questions” blog posts click here.
