University of the West of Scotland

Dollar Academy

Owner at Albaqwirky

The ECC UK Congress is the largest conference and exhibition held in the UK which is dedicated to emergency and critical care, offering two days of CPD to delegates.  The Congress has been running for 21 years and moved to its new home at the Royal Armouries, Leeds in 2019.

Vets Now Ltd

Event Lead

Since 2015 I have worked with Improve International managing their annual Official Vet (OV) Conference. The conference provides a unique forum in which OV's can discuss current topics of interest and recent developments in their work, as well as gaining access to exclusive offers from industry-leading sponsors. It is organised in association with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).
The event brings together OV's from across the UK for two days of lectures, seminars and networking. My role involves working with the OV team at Improve international to ensure the smooth running of the event form securing speakers to venue liaison. Managing delegates and and promoting the event to future attendees.
https://officialvet.com/

Improve International

Project Manager

Albaqwirky provides marketing services to businesses and organisations that either don’t have a marketing department or just don’t have the personnel to cater to all of their marketing needs.  Clients have included:

- Vets Now - Event lead for the annual Emergency and Critical Care Congress
- PPA Scotland - Annual Magfest event and Scottish Magazine Awards
- Cargill - project support for the EWOS Harmony brand
- Improve International - Annual conference for UK Official Vets providing CPD
- Aquaculture UK - International trade show focused on the aquaculture sector
- Aquaculture Awards - Annual awards focused on the international aquaculture industry
- AKVA group Scotland - An international equipment supplier to the aquaculture Industry	
- Benchmark plc - A pioneering innovation company operating in the aquaculture, agriculture and animal health sectors
- Hendrix Genetics - An international primary breeder of pigs, layer chickens, turkeys and salmon
- Anitox - International animal feed additive manufacturer
- Aviagen – Primary breeder supplying breeding stock for over half the world’s broiler chickens
- Aviagen Turkeys – Sister company of Aviagen supplying turkey breeding stock

In addition to working with agricultural companies I have also provided marketing services to a number of Scottish small to medium sized businesses. This has allowed me to improve my marketing skills working within b2b and b2c environments. My client base has included a jewellery designer and manufacturer, a lingerie chain, a national carpet supplier and a white goods manufacturer.

Albaqwirky

Owner

Providing project management for PPA events held in Scotland, working remotely with the core PPA team based in London. Due to covid restrictions plans for live conference had to be postponed however the PPA Scotland Awards did go ahead.
This annual in person event provided an opportunity to recognise, celebrate and elevate the achievements and progress made by teams and individuals across the Scottish publishing and media industry. 
For the awards my role included:
- developing categories with the PPA Scotland committee
- promoting entries and table sales
- gathering sponsors
- recruiting a judges panel and overseeing the judging process
- sourcing a venue, AV and host for the awards presentation dinner
- communication with entrants and attendees
- social media updates
- 'on the day' event management
Despite the restrictions placed upon us the event went well and met expectations of all who attended.

These annual awards recognise the best of the best in the industry and celebrate the achievements of a sector that is vitally important both to the national economy and to numerous economically fragile rural communities. We took over the management of the awards form the Crown Estate in 2016 with a view to growing their presence and using them to strengthen the Aquaculture UK brand.

The 2018, 2019 and 2020 awards include new categories opening the field to species other than Salmon and encouraging more interaction from the rising stars of the industry. Placing more emphasis on the individuals who will lead Aquaculture into the future. So far each year we have received a growing number of entries.

As Event Manager my role included:
- Selecting and briefing a panel of judges
- Marketing the awards to the industry and coordinating all entries
- Chairing a judges day to select a shortlist of finalists
- Liaison with the finalists and preparing a showcase of all finalists

In addition to:
- Preparing an event brief and arrange all planning meetings for the events
- Budget management with full responsibility for event logistics
- Negotiate and finalise venue contracts, source and liaise with suppliers and manage contracts
- Liaise with speakers, judges and sponsors, including collecting biographies, photos and branding materials
- Liaise with and manage all event stakeholders - internal and external
- Brief and delegate to a team of onsite events staff
- Post-event evaluation

Aquaculture Awards (previously Scottish Marine Aquaculture Awards)

Event Manager

Aquaculture UK is the most important aquaculture exhibition and conference held in the British Isles. It is the leading business event for the Aquaculture industry in the UK, hosting over 2400 visitors and 190 exhibitors from all over the world with a wide variety of products, services and advice. The biannual event runs over two days and covers every aspect of aquaculture providing the best commercial and technical advice for fish farmers, farm managers and aquaculture business professionals.

As project manager I:  
- Liaised with the clients to find out their exact event requirements
- Produced detailed proposals for the event
- Researched venues, suppliers and contractors, negotiated prices and hire
- Managed and coordinated suppliers and all event logistics
- Liaised with sales and marketing teams to publicise and promote the event
- Managed all pre-event planning, e.g. organising sponsors, conference speakers and delegate packs
- Coordinate suppliers, handle client queries and troubleshoot at the event to ensure that all runs smoothly and to budget
- Manage event team of staff, giving full briefings
- Organised facilities for car parking, traffic control, security, first aid, hospitality and the media;
- Made sure that insurance, legal, health and safety obligations are followed
- Oversaw the dismantling and removal of the event and clear the venue efficiently
- Produced post-event evaluation to inform future events
- Researched opportunities for new clients and events

Aquaculture UK

Volunteer at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games providing assistance to the Canadian Chef de Mission team with an access all areas role. This was an exciting opportunity to work with a varied group of high-performance individuals, being flexible and having the ability to think independently was essential. The role included; driving athletes to venues, preparing athlete and coach recognition for a record breaking haul of 82 medals, checking athlete’s accommodation, sourcing equipment, corralling athletes for the opening and closing ceremonies and learning the Canadian national anthem – no two days were ever the same. It was a wonderful experience, fantastic people and I am really proud to have been part of the 'Best Games Ever!'

Commonwealth Games Glasgow 2014

Commonwealth Games Association Assistant (CGAA)

Aviagen provides over 50% of the breeding stock for the world’s broiler chickens, headquartered in USA with regional offices around the world.  I had overall responsibility for the Marketing Department within Aviagen Limited and managed the marketing activities for the Ross and L.I.R. poultry brands in Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia.   I also formed part of the Global Marketing Group developing overall Aviagen Group marketing strategy.

Aviagen

International Marketing Manager

Inveresk was one of the largest paper manufacturers in the UK. I was accountable for Business and Designer papers. After starting as a marketing assistant I was swiftly promoted to senior product manager.

Susan Tinch