Cerys Gwilliam

Events & Communications Coordinator, Business Events Industry Aotearoa (BEIA)
Bachelor of Arts in Event Management & Bachelor of Business in Marketing, Advertising, Retail and Sales

She loves absolutely everything about her job, says Cerys Gwilliam who studied event management and business, and now works as an events and communications coordinator for Business Events Industry Aotearoa (BEIA).

“Because this is both an events and a marketing role, I get to basically switch between two jobs. One day I’m writing EDMs, creating social content or being creative with branding, and the next I’m setting up registration forms and creating the content for our event websites.

“What I love most about this role are the people I work with, the daily coffee from Holy Shot in Takapuna and all the people I get to meet. I’m constantly learning and furthering my skills, and there’s never a boring or dull day. This is my first ‘proper’ role in the industry, and I think I landed the best one.”

The right university environment
For Cerys, the first step towards the exciting career she has now was enrolling in AUT’s event management degree.

“I knew from a young age that I wanted to be an event planner, and AUT is the only university to offer it as a degree in New Zealand. And if one degree wasn’t enough, I decided to add a business degree for fun, to keep my options open.”

She certainly hasn’t regretted this decision and thoroughly enjoyed her time at AUT.

“I met one of my best friends during my time at AUT, as well as some other great lifelong friends. The culture at AUT is great, and everyone is so friendly and wants to get to know one another.

“I also enjoyed the lecturers and the vast majority of the courses you could take. I think the best class I ever took was the Marketing Insights course as this was the first class where I felt like we were putting practical skills into action. We got to make our own business venture and create our own product to sell. It was the start of my love for marketing.”

Advice for other students
Cerys, who graduated from AUT in 2020, has some great advice for other students.

“Don’t be afraid to make friends in your classes – they might just become lifelong friends. Get involved and absorb as much as you can in class. Keep your grades up. Take classes you never would have thought about taking and just enjoy it.

“The time you spend at university flies by so quickly and in a few years, you’ll be in a full-time job so enjoy it while you can.”