{"id":2690,"date":"2021-11-16T09:00:27","date_gmt":"2021-11-16T08:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.embl.org\/events\/?p=2690"},"modified":"2022-09-08T08:10:23","modified_gmt":"2022-09-08T07:10:23","slug":"meet-the-embl-events-team-sophie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/course-and-conference-office\/2021\/11\/meet-the-embl-events-team-sophie\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the EMBL Events Team: Sophie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Meet the newest member of the EMBL-EBI training team, Sophie Spencer. She joined the team in October 2021 with a focus on the on-site and virtual training programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"PHOTO:
PHOTO: Sophie Spencer<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

We sat down with Sophie to get to know her and find out about some of the other career paths she could have taken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Welcome to the team, Sophie. Now that you have been able to visit the EMBL-EBI campus, what is your favourite place in the area?<\/strong>
The campus is absolutely amazing, and I have to say Hinxton Hall<\/a> is a fantastic venue. I can\u2019t wait to run an event there once restrictions allow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an experienced events organiser, what is the first thing you do before a course starts and the first thing you do after a course finishes?<\/strong>
Just before a course starts, I take a deep breath and visualise how the day will run. It might sound odd, but it helps me to work through my on-the-day checklist. The first thing I do after a course finishes is to take another deep breath and smile!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sophie
Sophie poses with an alpaca<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Changing tact, if you weren\u2019t an events organiser what would you be?<\/strong>
I absolutely love working in events, but I do have a dream of running an alpaca farm with a cute little caf\u00e9 when I retire. Of course, I will need to learn about how to care for alpacas first\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the funniest thing that has ever happened in an event?<\/strong>
That\u2019s a tricky one! I\u2019d have to go with this time I was running a virtual conference a year or so ago. During the event, we had some unforeseen technical issues which, unfortunately, disrupted the entire event. I managed to fix the issue and came on screen to explain to the audience what had happened and to apologise for the disruption. A little while later I was running a session with our keynote speaker who happened to be a polar explorer. He proceeded to invite me to join his next polar exploration because of how calm I am under pressure! Can\u2019t see myself traversing the Antarctic any time soon but nice to know I\u2019ve got options if my event organiser career doesn\u2019t work out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We think events organisers are already superheroes, but if you were a fictional superhero what power would you like to have?<\/strong>
It would be wonderful to be able to talk to animals, imagine if you could know what your pets are thinking!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And finally, tell us, what is your favourite book?<\/strong>
I\u2019m going to cheat and give a series rather than a single book\u2026 I\u2019ve just revisited \u201cHis Dark Materials\u201d by Philip Pullman which I loved as a child, and still do today!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can connect with Sophie on LinkedIn<\/a> or join her at the following events she is currently working on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n