We spoke to member Kieron Garlic, Managing Director at Present Communications, for his thoughts on creativity, the current crisis and an essential addition to any summer playlist!
What is your favourite thing about what you do?
Working in live events can be stressful and is always to a tight deadline. But occasionally, a client is genuinely happy, slightly shocked and often relieved at the work we do. It’s a real buzz for me when a client’s nervousness subsides when they realise it’s all going to be ok.
What is one thing you’ve learnt from the current crisis?
Business owners often get hung up in ‘what they do’ but ultimately, what we all do is help our customers communicate with their customers and those of us who have remembered that much, and flexed the rest and survived and even thrived during this Covid period.
What does creativity mean to you?
Creativity means stepping outside of your comfort zone. Our services are very technical, we don’t get involved with ‘content’ or ‘creativity’ per se, but that doesn’t mean we’re not a creative business. Businesses have to be creative to survive. We are always finding new ways to do things, and new ways to improve, that’s where we stretch out creative muscles.
Can you recommend a resource for us to check out – could be something you’ve found incredibly useful, a source of inspiration for you or just something that made you laugh at a difficult moment?
I wasn’t really sure what to put here and what occurred to me is the real community spirit that has occurred during this time. Facebook groups particularly have popped up for every technical niche, interest and even hobby for people to get together and continue interacting. As a live streaming expert, I often end up on there, helping others with their tech problems. And I’ve gone on their with issues too. Everyone at the moment is just so keen to help others, and see everyone come out of lockdown stronger than they went in.
What TV show/ film/ book can you not live without?
“The Big Bang Theory” – sometimes after a long day, it’s nice to watch something which I don’t actually have to pay attention to!
Can you suggest a song to add to our summer playlists?
There is only one Summertime song (actually not true) and it’s the Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff one!
Thank you so much to Kieron!
‘One Minute With…’ is a series of articles and films where we ask our members questions and they answer in just one minute! If you’d like to be involved in the initiative please get in contact with Amelia at amelia.brown@evcom.org.uk to express your interest and find out more!