A Day In The Life

Fiona Dally

Posted 01 January 2018

New York Program

September 2001 Intake

Fiona, a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, works in a small team of 6 Event Managers (National Events Agency - EventScotland) responsible as the national events agency for investment into national events and active bidding towards securing international events to be hosted in Scotland. She works across cultural and sporting events and has a mixed portfolio of events to work on, ranging from Track Cycling World Cup, International Rugby fixtures, to Glasgow International Festival of Visual Arts.

My Alarm Goes off... at 8am, the luxury of being within walking distance of my work, with views of Edinburgh and the backdrop of Arthur’s seat on-route.

I Got The Job... Having worked as Operations Manager on NatWest Island Games and Project Manager on The Tall Ships Races, I had built up considerable experience in international event delivery. Having received investment awards from EventScotland it was time to try out the other side, poacher turned gamekeeper and have worked supporting the growth and development of the Scottish events scene for over 6 years.

My Typical Day... In events, the variety of work means there is no such thing as a typical day! This week, for example, I travelled to Manchester to attend a host city bidding workshop for securing an international sporting event, and at the weekend, I am attending a 24 hour Mountain Bike event in the Highlands. Needless to say, I think I will participate in a lap of honor rather than participating for a full 24 hours…

The Culture Of My Workplace... Working in events means that there are pretty exciting periods of pressure and deadlines going into event delivery, followed by the post-event blues at times when everything has been wrapped up on the project. The variety of events we work on means we are always looking forward to the next event or challenge/whilst wrapping up business with other events- so it always keeps you on your toes. We also attend all our events so often I am working at weekends, but get the fantastic opportunity to be travelling around the country experiencing the best of Scottish events.

My Most Memorable Work Moment... I have been very lucky to have lots of fun memories at work, but nothing quite beats the roar of the crowds and the atmosphere in Fort William at the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup every June where the world's top downhill racers speed down Ben Nevis and battle it out for victory.

My Role Models are... I draw a lot of inspiration from my grandfather who was a top salesman in the Oil Industry, and sought out opportunities throughout his career, always learning and developing.

The Most Challenging Part of My Job... The most challenging part of my job is delivering the news when clients have been unsuccessful in securing money from us, and they are so disappointed.

The Best Part of My Job... The variety of our workload is very unique, we contribute to the business development of multiple companies. Seeing how our investment can support world-class event delivery and nurture and develop national events is very satisfying, especially when events grow successfully and prosper for years beyond our investment.

After Work... After work, one of things I enjoy doing, is running with my local sweatshop running club and more recently took on the challenge of marathon running. In 2016, I completed my first race at the New York Marathon- definitely had to do my first marathon in the Big Apple with very fond memories of my time out there with Mountbatten.

Plan B: If I wasn't doing this, I would... I would love to being be travelling the world for a living-I guess for now I am pretty lucky that I get to travel around Scotland attending amazing events as part of my job.