Spotlight on Sonia Abrams

This week the spotlight is on Sonia Abrams, Events Manager, UCL Communications and Marketing.

What is your role and what does it involve?

My role is as an Events Manager within the UCL Communication and Marketing team.

I am one of three Event Managers who work on Corporate Events with a number of colleagues across UCL on a diverse range of events including venue launches, receptions, high profile lectures, Professional Services conference and most recently the Lunch Hour Lecture series. My role also includes providing professional event consultancy to colleagues on how to best deliver their events. The new CAM website has some great resources to help colleagues plan a successful event including a toolkit you can download.

In spring this year we launched the UCL Events Network for colleagues across UCL who plan events as part of their role. We have two events scheduled for this year and more to follow in 2016. The first one is on 21 October and will focus on booking internal and external venues at UCL and our Christmas Social is on the 4 December.

To register for either of these events or find out more about the Events Network please email events@ucl.ac.uk.

How long have you been at UCL and what was your previous role?

I have been at UCL since February 2014 and previously was the Wedding Planner at Harrods organising multi day, multi-location weddings and bespoke private events in some really stunning venues across Europe.

What working achievement or initiative are you most proud of?

I'm most proud of starting and running an award-winning business for over 6 years in an industry that was new to me. It was a wedding and party planning business.

Tell us about a project you are working on now which is top of you to-do list?

At the moment I am working on the promotion of the new series of Lunch Hour Lectures which starts on 13 October with UCL President & Provost, Professor Michael Arthur's lecture in the Darwin Lecture Theatre.

The new edition of Brain Food has just arrived and will be appearing next week around the campus and as ever includes some great events and the full autumn Lunch Hour Lecture schedule.

What is your favourite album, film and novel?

Album: Jamiroquai - A Funk Odyssey

Film: Dead Poets Society

Novel: Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella

What is your favourite joke (pre-watershed)?

How do you kill a circus troupe? Go straight for the juggler.

Who would be your dream dinner guests?

Victoria and David Beckham, Richard Branson, Michelle and Barack Obama, Marilyn Monroe, Idris Elba, Madonna, Simon Cowell and Tom Kerridge (to cook obviously)

What advice would you give your younger self?

Remember there is always more than one way to solve a problem and it's ok to take risks.

What would it surprise people to know about you?

I worked in television for a short while and auditioned to be a Nickelodeon TV presenter when I was 20.

What is your favourite place?

I can't possibly choose just one - I love Crane Beach, Barbados, The Atlantis, Dubai and Quaglino's in Green Park.