Meet This Term’s Lecturers: Learn Event Management from Industry Professionals
A strong event management education should connect what happens in the classroom with what is happening in the industry now.
This autumn, students at The Event School London will learn from lecturers whose careers span international event production, luxury hospitality, venue management, weddings, festivals, creative event design, business events and event operations.
Our teaching team brings together professionals with substantial industry experience alongside the ability to translate that experience into practical learning.
Students can explore not simply how events should be planned, but how experienced professionals approach clients, budgets, suppliers, venues, production challenges, commercial decisions and the realities of delivering events successfully.
Meet the event professionals bringing industry experience into the classroom this term.
Medina Williamson
Luxury Event Management
Medina Williamson brings more than 28 years of experience across luxury hospitality, events and brand management in the UK and Europe.
Her career has included senior roles with prestigious venues and luxury organisations including The Lansdowne Club in Mayfair and The Connaught Hotel, alongside experience in brand management and the delivery of high-profile launches and campaigns in the UK and Monaco.
Her work at The Connaught received national recognition at the Catey Awards, while her experience also includes developing bespoke private dining alongside Michelin-starred chefs.
Medina brings this understanding of the luxury market directly into her teaching. Students can explore what differentiates a genuinely high-end event, including the importance of client experience, discretion, attention to detail, supplier standards, brand positioning and commercial awareness.
She also contributes to the School beyond the classroom, representing the academic and industry perspective on our Industry Advisory Board and supporting careers outreach with young people considering their future in events.
Nick Oxborrow
Lead Event Management Lecturer
Nick Oxborrow brings more than 25 years of international experience across events, hospitality, business and education.
Before developing his work in professional education, Nick founded and led award-winning Singapore events agency Fabulation.
His portfolio has encompassed conferences, exhibitions, marketing activations, gala dinners, celebrations and major outdoor events, with clients including Netflix, Facebook, Microsoft, Credit Suisse, Soho House, Chanel and LVMH.
Nick has an educational background in Hospitality Management from Hotel School Switzerland, with further study in Boston, and has taught hospitality and event management at universities and colleges across the United States, Europe and Asia.
As Lead Event Management Lecturer, he helps students connect structured event management principles with the decisions professionals make when working with real clients, suppliers, venues, stakeholders, budgets and risk.
He encourages students to understand events from several perspectives rather than specialising too quickly, building the wider industry awareness that can make them more capable event professionals.
Nick also leads The Event School London’s ATHE Level 7 Diploma in Events Management, bringing his combination of event production, agency leadership, business development and higher education experience to professionals studying at postgraduate level.
Siobhan Craven-Robins
Lead Wedding Planning Lecturer
Siobhan Craven-Robins has been at the forefront of professional wedding planning in the UK for three decades.
Widely acknowledged as having established the UK’s first wedding coordination service in 1996, Siobhan has helped shape the development of wedding planning as a recognised professional service.
Her weddings have featured in Hello!, OK! and international bridal publications, and she has appeared as a wedding expert across television and radio, including the BBC and GMTV.
Siobhan was also Co-Founder and Director of the National Association of Wedding Professionals and now sits on the Advisory Board of the UK Wedding Association. She regularly represents the sector as a speaker and industry expert.
For students, this means learning from someone who has seen the wedding industry develop over many years and understands both the creative expectations and professional standards behind successful wedding businesses.
Her teaching combines detailed planning knowledge with client management, commercial awareness and the insights that come from a long-established career working directly with couples, venues and wedding suppliers.
Rachel Williams
Lead Venue Management Lecturer
Rachel Williams brings more than 25 years of senior management experience across events, venues, hospitality and business.
During 15 years with etc.venues, Rachel was responsible for operations supporting the successful delivery of more than 10,000 events annually.
She later held a senior role at ExCeL London, working across corporate learning programmes, AGMs, launches, receptions, exhibitions, executive events and other major business event formats.
MBA educated, Rachel now works as a hospitality, venue and events consultant, with specialist expertise including customer experience strategy, CRM implementation, sales, revenue management and service transformation.
Her earlier career in finance, banking, audit and accountancy also gives Rachel a particularly strong commercial perspective.
Across her teaching, students benefit from this combination of operational event experience and strategic business knowledge. Her specialist areas include venue and event management, leadership, project management, conferences and exhibitions, and corporate events.
Alex Spargo
Event Operations, Production and Festivals
For students interested in festivals, live events and production, Alex Spargo brings more than 20 years of hands-on operational experience into the classroom.
Her career includes work on Glastonbury, Boardmasters, Camp Bestival, the Mercury Prize and events for the Royal Family.
Since 2019, Alex has worked as Operations Coordinator across the Pyramid, Other Stage and Interstage areas at Glastonbury Festival.
Her expertise spans the operational areas that allow major events to function successfully, including logistics, budgeting, accreditation, health and safety, production planning and on-site team coordination.
That experience gives students an insight into a side of events that audiences rarely see.
Large-scale live events depend on detailed advance planning, extensive coordination and professionals who can make good decisions when conditions change.
Alex brings those operational realities into her teaching, helping students understand how ideas are transformed into events that can actually be delivered safely and effectively.
Sandra Agyapong
Event Styling & Design
Sandra Agyapong combines event styling, concept development, creative design and brand marketing, giving students an opportunity to explore how the visual identity of an event develops from the first client conversation through to delivery.
Her professional work includes weddings, private celebrations, brand events and parties, encompassing décor, florals, installations, themed backdrops and stationery design.
She develops mood boards and photorealistic 3D visualisations to help translate a client’s initial ideas into a coherent event environment.
Importantly, Sandra’s work extends beyond the creative concept.
She also brings experience of supplier negotiations, budgets, scheduling, contractor coordination and quality control, helping students understand that professional event design needs to be achievable as well as visually impressive.
Sandra holds a BA in Creative Events: Design and Production and remains active in the industry through The Signature Eventive. Her teaching connects creative thinking with the operational and commercial skills required to bring an event concept to life.
Natalie Green
Event Management, Business Operations and Production
Natalie Green brings more than a decade of experience across event management, business operations, marketing and communications.
Her career has included senior responsibility as Executive Director of Business Operations with The Black British Business Awards and TNON, The Network of Networks, alongside work with global events and creative agency Key Position.
Natalie’s wider experience includes event, marketing and communications roles with organisations including McKinsey & Company, Gartner, FireEye, GSMA and mcm Creative Group.
This breadth of experience allows her to bring both the event and business sides of the industry into the classroom. Students can gain insight into planning and production while also understanding the financial management, communication, stakeholder relationships and operational structures that sit behind professional event delivery.
Maria O’Dea
School Director and Programme Leader
Maria O’Dea is School Director and Programme Leader at The Event School London, bringing together experience across vocational and higher education, senior leadership, people development and event and venue management.
Her career has included senior roles with ExCeL London and TAFE Queensland in Australia, alongside extensive experience in education management and programme development.
She holds a Bachelor of Business, Hospitality Management, a Master’s degree in Diplomacy, Statecraft and Foreign Policy and multiple certifications in training and development.
As Programme Leader, Maria works closely with the lecturing team to ensure courses remain practical, industry-relevant and focused on preparing students for the realities and opportunities of a career in events.
Learning from people who know the industry
There is no single route through the events industry, and there is no single type of event professional.
That is reflected in this term’s teaching team.
From the operational scale of Glastonbury to private luxury events, London venues, international agencies, corporate events and weddings, our lecturers bring different perspectives into the classroom.
Together, their experience helps students see how broad the events industry really is and begin to identify where their own strengths and ambitions could take them.
At The Event School London, we believe industry-focused education should give students access to people who understand the standards, pressures, possibilities and opportunities of contemporary event management.
This term, our students will be learning from professionals who can do exactly that.
