Behind the scenes: team Events

Behind the scenes

Team Events

What do the vernissage of an exhibition, a steaming performance at M-IDZOMER and a two-day conference in the event halls have in common? They are all organised by the Events team.

This team is made up of three enthusiastic people. Event coordinator Fien Degrande deals with partnerships and the organisation of external events. Her colleague event coordinator Sien Hamelryck is in charge of events organised by the museum itself, such as vernissages, study days and late-night openings. Technical & logistics manager Symen Dodemont is our technical wizard.

Sien: ‘Organising events is important for M. As a source of income, but also because it strengthens our reputation and image. Many companies and organisations come to M because it is a beautiful, well-located event location.’

Fien: ‘And also because we include our museum function in our offer. An organisation staging an event with us can also visit the halls during the museum's opening hours. A nice extra.’

‘We tried out a new formula during the Bouts exhibition this spring.’ That exhibition was a huge success and we had many more requests than there was space, especially for the nocturnes. We started thinking about alternatives, and so we came up with a guided tour followed by a stylish afternoon tea, provided by Barbóék in M. It caught on. That formula is now part of our permanent offer.’

Team Events van museum M Leuven — © Aurélie Geurts voor M Leuven

Teambuilding

‘Companies and organisations can also come to us for team buildings. There are two formulas. TeaMspel has been around the longest. After a cup of coffee, you and your colleagues can spend 2.5 hours in the museum. There, you are given creative assignments to tackle together, accompanied by a guide from M. The aim is to foster a team spirit, but also to learn to look at art differently. Afterwards, participants can have lunch in a room of the museum building or have a debriefing. The Events team contact interested companies, arrange the concrete arrangements, welcome the group as they arrive and make sure they go home satisfied.’

‘Two years ago, M started a second team-building formula: de Kunstroof. That is a kind of escape game. It is a very different approach to TeaMspel, but the goal remains the same: to start looking differently at each other and at art.’

‘But companies and organisations can also book a room for a meeting or a brainstorming session. We have five multifunctional rooms, as well as the roof terrace. You start by submitting an application and then we organise a site visit and see what is needed together. This is different for each organisation. As a result, very diverse companies and organisations come to M for their events.’

Lying down for a while

Sien: ‘I organise the internal activities such as openings, study days, lectures, the annual Friends' Day for M-Arts patrons and M-bassadors... We try to put together a surprising and varied programme each time, taking into account the target audience and the budget. That's a great challenge every time.’

‘We have also just finished the Summer of M. The summer months are much busier for us than for most of the other staff. They are long days. But we also get a lot of energy out of it.’

Symen: ‘Many people know Summer of M from the M-IDZOMER festival in our courtyard garden. We mainly work together with Het Depot's production team when we organise that. Together we draw up the set-up schedule and look at the logistical and technical issues. The performances start on Thursday evening and I am always the first to arrive and the last to leave. From Sunday night to Wednesday, we take everything away. And then we lay down for a while (laughs).'

The nature of the beast

How does an event coordinator actually end up at a museum?

Sien: ‘I studied marketing, but I got tired of it. There was one subject I did like: project management. So I then switched to event management. I got my degree in that in 2015. By chance, I knew someone at M and asked her if she wasn't looking for a colleague. Answer: come down for an interview.’

Fien: ‘I studied communications, specialising in event management, and then another master's degree. I have been working for M for three years.’

Symen: ‘I studied entertainment business, that was then a brand new degree programme. I really wanted to get into the culture sector. I was able to do an internship at M, and I haven't left since.’

Sien: ‘He was my very first intern. I was happy with his work so I let him stay (laughs).’

Symen: ‘I like working here. It's a varied job, in a unique workplace. You come into contact with a lot of people, you have enthusiastic colleagues...’

Sien: ‘We are also very well matched. The first afterwork last summer - when everyone can bring colleagues, neighbours or friends here for a drink in the ZoMer bar - attracted many more people than expected. Very cool, but the bar couldn't keep up. We spent much of the evening washing up and clearing away. That's part of the job, and we don't mind. Being flexible and able to move quickly is kind of in our DNA.’

Fien: ‘Even at internal events, we stay on task. Behind the scenes, we are busy with this and that until just before the start, and during the event we keep an eye on everything. That's the nature of the beast. When we've wrapped everything up and we then find a few enthusiastic colleagues to go for a last drink together in Commerce, that is when we know that our evening has been a success.’