What's Your Story?

In my last post I shared my personal journey of how I became an event professional. I also offered some ideas for those with the desire to work in the industry either fresh out of school or as a career change. As promised, I wanted other event professionals to share their experiences as well. My hope with this "series" is that it is both enlightening and inspiring to those looking for a way "in" and hopefully interesting for everyone else.

My first guest blogger to share her "story" is a dear friend. She and I met and became fast friends in junior high school where we commanded the attention of our classmates with masterful Spanish class projects, took horseback riding lessons together and rung up customers in our polyester uniforms as proud Burger King employees! Without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to Vivian Santora of Santora, LLC.

Full name: Vivian Marie Santora
Age: 35
Hometown: Dix Hills, New York
Current position: President and Owner, Santora LLC
Education: B.A., University at Buffalo; M.P.A., American University
Years in the industry: 13

How I got to here in 10 words or less: Supportive friends and family, outstanding education, great mentors and seizing opportunities.

I had an interest in public policy and a realization that, one way of making sure the policies I believed in were pursued was to get candidates who shared my beliefs and values elected to higher office. Given my passion for public policy and the importance of progressive leadership in government, it made perfect sense to pursue are career in politics – behind the scenes of course!
While in grad school, I volunteered on the Clinton/Gore ‘96 Campaign and what happened for me was definitely serendipitous. I was working on a database project in the “volunteer pit” and the Deputy Finance Chair came through bruskly asking “who here has nice handwriting?” I quickly responded “I do” (I really didn’t have great handwriting, but I knew who he was and wanted the opportunity to get assigned a more interesting task). I realized how much I enjoyed the challenge of raising money, organizing logistics, and being sociable at the same time.

After grad school my professional experience began in political fundraising working for a statewide candidate in Massachussetts – Pat (Patricia) McGovern for Governor. A small, but talented team managed to raise something like $1.5 Million in increments of $1,000 or less. (Oh the joy of contribution limits!) Sadly, Pat lost the primary and I needed another job. I dabbled in non-profit fundraising for two years: American Cancer Society and the Boston Bar Foundation.

Shortly there-after, I had the honor and privilege to serve as a top aide to Senator Hillary Clinton where my positions included National Finance Director for Friends of Hillary and HILLPAC, the Senator’s Leadership Political Action Committee. As an integral part of so many public and private events for the Senator and the former President Clinton, I worked closely with dignitaries, celebrities, diverse personalities, and cultures over the years. The experience and knowledge I gained were invaluable. It allowed me to possess an understanding of event logistics and to develop priceless relationships. Through the years, I've developed a unique sense and skill of adaptation. This is one of the reasons I believe I’m so successful at event planning.
I raised money professionally for about 10 years. No matter what cause you raise funds for, it remains part art and part science. Event planning is very similar – it’s the art of décor, building themes, creating the perfect experience for attendees, and the science of making things run in order, logically, and with a strategy in mind (this is particularly true for corporations with specific business objectives in mind).

I'm thrilled to play a role in helping to create memorable occasions for people.

How I Believe Others Can Get There, Too


Skills you need: Event planners need to be organized, have an eye for detail, the ability to multi-task, and be problem solvers. I grew up the youngest of 7 kids in an Italian family – I learned the importance of a “to do list” at a very early age by watching my parents respond to the diverse personalities of each of their kids while juggling multiple tasks/responsibilities.

Where you should start: I believe event planners can be born out of any job. You might start in a catering hall or floral company; you might work at a company where responsibilities include meeting and conference planning, or like me - political fundraising.

Best Advice: Follow your passion – you’ll be successful and the best at whatever you do when you truly love it – it will hardly feel like work.

From Film school to Fundraising...say that 3 times fast

I've often been asked for tips on getting your foot in the door for the events industry, how I personally got into the industry and what I think about non-profit events (which is where I do most of my event work currently).

The short answer is volunteer, happenstance, and it can be tough but equally rewarding.

Now that can be the end of this blog, but it might be more interesting and possibly even helpful to my huge following of 4 people (insert sarcasm here) if I elaborate.

I wanted to be an actor but knowing the response I would get from my family I decided instead to work behind the camera, where maybe I would have a slightly better chance at earning a steady pay check. So, I studied film in college.

After college while I was working in film I unknowingly was gaining experience in producing and managing projects and events...whether it was a film premiere or an awards show. The film industry can be a tough biz and as a naive girl in her early 20's I was easily consumed and spit out. The web world was booming and start up companies were abound, so I got a job as a junior web designer at exactly the time all the companies were about to bust.

While collecting unemployment I thought long and hard about what I enjoyed doing. What I came up with was planning events. I reconfigured my resume so that the listings were by job type rather than chronological and landed a job at NYU planning Academic and Alumni events...during that time I also enrolled in NYU's continuing education program certificate program where I met mentors like Dianne Devitt and Richard Aaron who introduced me to ISES. I quickly joined and started to volunteer on any event that would have me. After a bit people started offering me compensation for my work (how cool was that). On the home front I saw an opportunity to advance at NYU and took at position in the development office managing fundraising events...a totally different animal. I learned quickly the art of asking for money, managing the expectations of board members, committee members, trustees and appeasing sponsors. Whoa, what a lot of letter writing...I would like to publicly apologize to all the trees and say that their lives were not taken in vain. The solicitation letters were pivotal in generating much needed funds for the many programs and treatments at the hospital.

I felt like I was hitting my stride, feeling good about events and getting more involved in ISES, (freelancing on other types of events as much as possible) eventually producing the Big Apple Awards Gala, joining the board and helping produce the NE Regional Education Conference (REC). During this time I was itching to grow and felt I had learned all I could at NYU. So after 6+ years I left one acronym for one that was a bit longer, MSKCC (Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center).

Two years later I am still managing events for The Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center...a one-of-a kind volunteer board with a more than 60 year history. During this time I garnered valuable exposure to high society, celebrities and high fashion (I wish I could say my wardrobe has improved accordingly). Simultaneously, I launched my own event company...Clockwork Events...that is just in the infant stage....I should also mention that I studied my tush off and achieved both the CMP (Certified Meeting Professional) and CSEP (Certified Special Event Professional) designations.--both well respected achievements in the meeting and event industry that I highly recommend obtaining.

Oddly enough, my personal trainer husband, wrote and independently produced (and starred in) a feature film that just wrapped shooting this summer. http://achieveyourdreamsatanycost.blogspot.com/ So I feel that I've come full circle from film to fundraising to film? Maybe, I wouldn't want to be a publicity assistant at Miramax Films again, but I'd be happy producing premieres or the Oscars or any event for a studio...bring it on, I can do it.

My suggestions...volunteer, join event organizations, subscribe to event publications most are online right now--(there are many...some of my favs are BizBash, Best Events, Event Solutions, Special Events), ...tweet, follow tweets, read blogs, volunteer, did I say volunteer? For me I'm not sure how much longer I will stay on the non-profit side of events, I feel I have been type cast, however, I do feel like I have priceless skills as a result and know that I can produce all types of events.

In my next post I hope to be able to share another event professional's story in how they got where they are today and their suggestions for "making it" in the industry.

I hope this is helpful.