My Working Day: Julie Mackenzie, Liverpool Vision Events Co-ordinator
Liverpool Daily Post
7am: Mornings are all about getting the four of us out of the house with everything we need for the day – my husband Dave, our sons, Iain and Rob. We live in Childwall. Dave and I drive into town together – he works in the city’s regeneration department.
9am: A quick ‘To Do’ list review. I’m busy handling MIPIM, the world’s large property convention, which takes place in Cannes next month. We’ve come a long way since Liverpool’s first attendance. Back in 2001, if you could find our stand at all, you stumbled across it. These days we genuinely compete with Manchester, Birmingham and other European cities. Apart from anything else, it’s a glimpse of the future. A lot of the projects we enjoy today – including Liverpool One – were once just models on our stand.
9.30am: An internal meeting with Ailsa Horne, my colleague on sponsorship contracts for MIPIM and Shanghai. The whole point of Liverpool’s presence is to give the city’s property community a platform. MIPIM is a complex, challenging event - 18,000 delegates, even during the credit crunch. A single Liverpool delegate might get lost without us as a focal point. Our job is to help sponsors, like the Langtree Group, make the most of the three days.
11am: Coffee and a Danish pastry – my absolute favourite. I take five minutes out for a couple of personal emails. My son Rob is off to Texas soon to a tennis academy. He and his brother Iain are sports mad, and Rob was a ball boy at the Davis Cup match between GB and Poland at the Liverpool ACC last year. We were all very proud seeing him on the same court as Andy Murray!
11.30am: Catch up call with the captain of Sunliner X, the Liverpool yacht charter. My French is not great but Benoit speaks perfect English. We co-ordinate all events for our sponsors and I’m currently organising an event Keepmoat is hosting. Our charter is relatively modest – Paris, by comparison, tends to be an all singing and dancing affair!
Noon: Mandarin lesson. The World Expo in Shanghai - my other main project. It’s vast, will last six months and promises some 70m visitors. I’m working with sponsors like Peel Holdings, Arup and EA Technology on the logistics. China plays a huge role in the global economy. Lots of Liverpool businesses are already involved. Happy to be picking up some basic phrases – want to be a good ambassador when I go out there for the launch in May.
1pm: Usually don’t have time for more than a sandwich at my desk but dash to Liverpool One for some retail therapy – last minute bits for Rob’s Texas trip. I have lots of friends working in the city and enjoy meeting up for lunch occasionally, but I’m just too busy at the moment, hopefully they’ll still remember me in six months time!
2.30pm Have a sit-down with our apprentice, Joe Wainwright. This role is all about logistics, co-ordination, and relationship management. We review progress on some of his work. Joe’s definitely got the X-factor – he’s the lead singer in a local band, The Temps, and tells me about their gig last night.
4pm Another MIPIM meeting. I’m reminded that even the best plans can come unstuck. My nightmares include transfers. The roads out of Cannes can seize up. We’ve had people stuck in traffic, worried about missing flights. All very stressful. After such a full on week, people are desperate to join the mass exodus and get home.
5pm Email catch up with ‘our man in Shanghai’ - Oliver Hayakawa of the Liverpool Shanghai Partnership. Update him about the school trips – two children from every High School in Liverpool will be visiting the World Expo, a wonderful opportunity.
6.30pm Off to a World Expo briefing in Birkenhead with Jessica Zhang of UKTI/China British Business Council. We are meeting Wirral companies which have a serious interest in sponsoring Liverpool’s presence. Wirral has a number of tremendous assets and prospects, including Peel’s Wirral Waters scheme and Royal Liverpool Golf Club at Hoylake.
8pm. Long day, heading for home. I do sometimes feel guilty about being away from the family but that goes with the territory – it’s not a 9-5 job.
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The Capital, 39 Old Hall Street, Liverpool L3 9PP Telephone: +44(0)151 600 2900
Email: info@liverpoolvision.co.uk