When one is good, greatness is near – The INTERVIEW

1. How did you start off in the Events Industry?

G: From 1988 to 1999, I spent 11 years as a flight crew with SIA. Growing up, I have always love – movies, sports and the outdoor. After leaving SIA, I joined a media production house – churning out TV programmes for TCS, whom we all now known as MediaCorp.

As ironic as it may be, a sports incident left me with a fractured arm and ankle that had me on crutches for a period of time. Not one to stay rooted at home, i went for an interview on crutches, ace the interview and clinch the job – in the outdoor sports and adventure industry. These became my career and eventually, it evolved into the events industry which would be the business that I currently owned

2. Any memorable Event(s) you have done and why?

G: Life’s journey would usually take a person through various jobs. Most are satisfying and usually as a mean for one’s financial and family commitment. Few are truthfully satisfying. I have been blessed and grateful when I had the opportunity to serve the youths in projects of all genres in the educational events industry for many years. Allow me to share a personal story – I was managing a 3 days / 2 nights youth event. It was impactful. Not only did the students enjoyed themselves – they were so appreciative of the achieved goals, made respective speeches that were just heart-warming. When I delivered the break camp message – the tears of the students were evident. They felt loved, they felt worthy, they felt great! At that moment, they feel they can achieve anything. When the final goodbyes came, hundreds of students were in line – queuing to board the buses. Platforms like these are usually very regimental – part of instilling discipline and safety. A defining moment came…a student ran out of the queue towards me – as she nears me, she stood still and utters gently “Thank You Mr Glenn for everything. I will always remember this camp and what you had taught us. I will miss the camp, all the trainers and you” as tears welled up in her eyes. In her short verbalization - the innocence, the sincerity, in return the impact on us and me! Something shot through me internally – kind of a current that is unexplainable– dumb folded me for a short while. All these actions – she was actually lunging on to several heavy bags – packed to use for the camp. As she returned to her queue some distance away, she turned and waved goodbye – dropping the heavy bags several times while walking. The girl was a P5 student. Fast forward several years – I was at a concert at the Indoor Stadium. Full house concert with a crowd size of about 8000 to 10000. I was queuing for the restroom. Then someone came up to me and asked “Hi, are you Mr Glenn who run events?” I was puzzled but nodded my head in reply…processing my thoughts and wondering what was it. She introduced herself as the student (in my story), she recognised me and is currently pursuing her degree in a local university. Before we left each other to go back to the concert – she gleefully said “Thank you for the event back then. Really impactful and simply unforgettable”. We waved goodbye…. leaving both of us a trail of unexplainable joy – walking back to our seats. The concert was high but the chance meeting was the highlight!

It was just so surreal, cause moments like these only appeals to me in a movie and I watch loads of movies. But this was real…which also explains why till today I am still in the industry.

Good question that you had asked though, cause as I answer and recollect – memories like this also serves as a reminder to me – to hang on, bite the bullet and persevere in this trying times.

Covid had affected me tremendously, unimaginable loss and mental health totally in disarray. But I am determined to persevere…my life is already written in events.

All the positivity I had advocated to my staff and friends in the industry all along, i would further impose it on myself now. It’s also a silent promise I made to my loved ones and my 2 sons – I will prevail…

Another memorable event for me - would be Chingay 2013!

3. Any advice to people in the industry with regards to the Covid-19 year?

G: My truthfully shared story of the previous question would have been the advice…. it’s sincere it’s uplifting and most importantly it’s real – not a piece of gimmicky story online

4. Your outlook on events Post Covid-19 beyond 2020

G: Technology is the word out there now. Digital transformation will always envelope us. Social media became us. COVID-19 would have accelerated all these. My reckoning is that nothing will ever take over a LIVE event. Technology can be a part of LIVE events.

The human element, the human interaction, the human touch and most importantly the human-ness of it. The sincerely happy faces of LIVE events compared to faces of virtual events will be a testimony of what I meant. If mankind ever allows a piece of machinery or augmented visual to replace us – I would be happier playing with the angels above.

Thank you for the interview!