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An Event Professional from the Age of 14: Five Questions with Callie Cleary

At Castle, we believe that our greatest asset is our amazing team of public relations and event management professionals. From planning employee incentive programs and creating event marketing campaigns to executing internal social media audits and executive media training, our team does it all.

Each member of the Castle team has a different back story and unique insights and information on public relations, events, marketing, social media and more. Today, we’re spotlighting Senior Event Manager Callie Cleary.

Callie, who recently achieved her Certified Meeting Professional designation, has had a life-long passion for events, and has expertise in planning corporate meetings, conferences and user groups, sales incentives, product launches, galas and more. Callie is also an avid baker who (lucky for us!) is always bringing in treats for her Castle teammates to enjoy.

1. How did you get started in the events industry?

As a family friend of Wendy Spivak (Castle’s co-founder) I watched her work growing up and thought she had such a cool job. I would come to Castle to shadow her and I was able to have internships at Castle during the summer in high school and college. I continued to explore an events career further with internships at other industry-related companies. The more I learned about the industry, the more I enjoyed it and realized that I wanted to do something in the events field after finishing school.

2. In the next 2-5 years, what do you see changing about the events industry?

The events industry is going through enormous change and there are lots of exciting things happening. In the near future, I see:

  • Digital events becoming more prevalent, whether it is the complete event or a part of a live event, creating new ways to attend (or even the only way to attend).
  • Social media further integrating into events (featuring an event hashtag, using social media to drive attendance, incorporating social media sharing into contests, photo booths or even session discussions)
  • More companies going digital vs. paper in general (digital agendas and sponsor collateral on the attendee side, and digital event orders, production documents and attendee lists on the planner side)
  • Conference apps integrating into the attendee experience in more ways (contests for posting content, more information featured on the event app including agendas, FAQ’s, helpful information, digital polling, etc.)
  • Changes in conference food & beverage such as integrating cannabis into food!

3. What is something about working in events that would surprise people? 

The events industry feels like a small community. Everybody knows somebody and there are many opportunities to build long-standing relationships with multiple different industry partners.

4. What is your favorite event venue and why?

Indigenous venues to the destination we’re working in, such as Hotel de Paris in Monaco – it is incredibly iconic and historic and leant itself to a gorgeous gala evening – or Nancy Hands Pub in Dublin – again historic but a totally casual pub atmosphere that, paired with local musicians and Irish food, made for a magical welcome reception.

5. What is your favorite thing about working at Castle?

The people and the culture make the work environment fun and feel like a family. I love getting to know my colleagues on both the events and PR teams in informal settings and enjoy our internal initiatives including happy hours, holiday “The Thing” contest, Wellness Wednesdays, company outings, and the many other fun things we do as a company.

To read more of our “Five Questions” blog posts click here.

The Castle Group, Senior Event Director, Callie Cleary
Written By: Callie Cleary

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