CAREER TALKS - ALUMNI INSTANT A passion for Event Management by Clementine Colin (2019/2021) - Assistant Event Manager at the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes

For Clementine Colin (2019/2021), Event Management is a passion that has been with her since she was very young, and one that has driven her career ambitions since she first stepped through the doors at Institut Paul Bocuse. Always in contact with students or applicants during the admissions phase, giving them advice on the programmes run by Institut Paul Bocuse and employment opportunities, Clementine enthusiastically shared her journey with the Year 4 students in the Strategic Event Management specialisation during an "Alumni Instant" event on Thursday, 15 June.

It all began at the Sofitel Paris Le Faubourg on her 1st year Bachelor's in International Hospitality Management internship, during which she discovered the luxury hotel industry and its standards. Despite being only 19 years old, she was able to find her place by managing a team of 10 chambermaids on two floors of the hotel. The values and culture of the company that she appreciated, led her in 2018 to do a 3rd year internship at the Sofitel London Saint James. But before that, she was offered a made-to-measure internship by Abdelaziz Belkaziz (2006), at the Mandarin Oriental Marrakech. Clementine's role was to set up the banqueting service (process, design, menus...), with a different assignment each week. At the same time, Clementine was giving French lessons on a voluntary basis to a class of 20 young girls from rural areas supported by the Soroptimist International Association.

Following this, her 3rd year internship confirmed Clementine's wish to continue her studies specialising in event management, when she took up the position of Conference & Event Sales Coordinator at the Sofitel London Saint James.  Her schedule was split between corporate events during the week and leisure events at the weekend (such as weddings), but also numerous requests for filming in the evening. It was a world of high-end luxury and glamour that she discovered, having to deal with numerous challenges and amusing anecdotes! Her job had a strong impact on the business of the palace as the turnover generated by events was higher than the accommodation and food service, which is quite rare in this sector.

For Clementine, it was therefore essential to pursue her studies on the MSc in International Hospitality Management programme in partnership with the emlyon business school, although it was a rather peculiar year due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. However, she managed to turn this misfortune into an opportunity, which became the topic of her dissertation in event management, using hotel closures to study the sector, convinced that corporate and leisure events would recover as soon as the crisis was over. Clementine therefore focused for two months on a project to benchmark the "celebrations" activities of hotels competing with the Société des Bains de Mer de Monte-Carlo, enabling her to suggest new activities and processes.

To complete her Master's degree, Clementine pursued her professional experiences with an end-of-study internship at La Bastide de Gordes, in the heart of the French Provence region, as a sales assistant for groups and events. After barely two months, to her great surprise, her manager told her that she was leaving on maternity leave and offered her job until the end of her contract. This was a great opportunity for her to take on a managerial and cross-functional position in this luxury hotel, and to develop her sales skills focusing on profitability and optimisation of the events calendar, even going so far as to train two interns alongside her.

As this fixed-term contract was coming to an end, Clementine seized a new opportunity within the same Oetker group, joining the management of the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc as Assistant Event Manager.

"By working for the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, I am working towards achieving 3 personal goals:

- To work for the hotel of my dreams!

- To discover a mythical, historic venue, known as a legend on the French Riviera;

- To learn to manage major events such as the amfAR, the Red Sea Film Festival...

But the most complicated thing is managing how to say "no", because with our ultra-VIP clientele we have to satisfy all their demands and unlikely requests, while respecting the limits of this historic building. This makes my job really challenging. "

During this online personal account, the students had the pleasure of getting to know a cheerful, dynamic young graduate who is sure of her ambitions in the event management profession.