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Opus Teammates Share Their Highlights from re:Invent 2019

Have you ever wondered what a day in the life of an event manager is like?

This year’s re:Invent just wrapped, with roughly 65,000 attendees and hundreds of Opus Agency’s own employees descending onsite in Las Vegas. An enormous number of people and different companies play a part in making re:Invent great every year, and we’re proud to contribute to making this event a success.

Here’s what some of our Opus teammates had to say about their experience:

What does a typical day at re:Invent look like for you?

Life at re:Invent is busy. Tuesday, day two of the conference, is a great example. We had our big keynote this morning, so we’re up bright and early, get ready, get lines and scanners ready, and make sure everyone’s getting caffeinated! We’re solidly busy seating everyone until after keynote content kicks off, then we pivot and start preparing for the post-keynote rush. Throughout the day, the team is making sure attendee flow is good, that people are getting into sessions, lines are managed, and that everyone is having a great experience. We’ll wrap up the evening events, then head to bed and rest up for tomorrow! – Kellie Jewett, Senior Director of Event Management

What was your most memorable moment?

Anytime I heard positive feedback from attendees or saw social media reviews of how smoothly their transportation experience was. – Tony DiFrancisco, Ops Lead, Transportation

Sum up your experience in one word:

Whirlwind! – Emilie Wolfe, Strategy Manager

What’s the energy like onsite?

The energy onsite is contagious. Attendees are excited to be here – they just want more! How can I get more content, do more networking, get more involved? That fuels our team because we want to make the experience the best for them. – Whitnie Ray, Senior Manager, Registration

What was your most memorable moment?

There are many memorable moments, but one is when we were seven minutes from the start of a breakout session and realized the table and chairs we needed were not coming in time. Six of us were in the staff office, and we grabbed one of our office tables and carried it across the hall and down the aisle to the stage, then set it up and walked out. It was a funny team moment, almost like it was orchestrated! – Michelle Fleming, Executive Producer, Production

What does a typical day at re:Invent look like?

In the morning I walk to Starbucks, get my coffee, and head to the staff office. I usually walk 28,000-30,000 steps a day. We all know there will be long days, but come Friday when we’ve successfully done our part in executing the event, everyone will be riding a high. – Diana Tran, Director of Event Operations

What was your most memorable moment?

Being onsite and handling keynote seating is a huge rush. We have a giant team of Opus employees spread out in a huge room, working to seat everyone in less than an hour. It’s so fun to see the room going from completely empty to full of excited attendees. – Marissa Hamilton, Senior Event Manager

What’s the energy like onsite?

This particular event is the definition of what it means to be on the Opus team. It takes an army to execute this event, and every person plays an integral role. My favorite part is having the opportunity to see the rest of the team members that you don’t usually get to see throughout the year. – Kim Dickerson, Senior Event Operations Manager

Sum up your experience in one word:

Wild. – Amy Otis, Event Operations Manager

Fun facts:

Nick Harvey, Opus Extended Team logged the most steps during the event, with a total of 178,629 steps – that’s 89.3 miles!

A total of 202 gallons of coffee were consumed in our staff offices (plus 64 gallons of decaf, 77 gallons of hot water for tea, 983 sodas, and 130 sparkling waters!)

Thank you to everyone who worked hard on this year’s event! If you’re interested in joining the team, check out our open positions here.

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