Lydia Owen • 3 min read

Employee name: Lydia Owen
Employee job title: Co-owner & Client Services Director
Length of time with OSP: 16 years
 
What does your job entail?
I wear two hats at work; the first is as co-owner so that can involve everything from having 1-2-1s with the team to planning marketing drives to get our name out there. The second — which is really my day job — is project management. Although I'm involved with various different projects across our service offerings, my focus tends to be on exhibition projects and this entails taking client briefs and scoping the project; drafting action lists, timelines and production schedules; developing 3D visuals; client, congress and contractor liaison; and overseeing all the logistics related to getting the job over the line and the exhibition booth installed and ready to go.
 
What do you like most about your job?
I love all things exhibitions but, most of all, I truly love being onsite. The best bit about my job (aside from working with the very best bunch of people) is seeing a project come to fruition and, when it comes to exhibitions, that can account for months of planning, weekly status meetings, hundreds of lists, and usually a frenzied last minute push! There are so many variables and forces at play with a live event, it's never completely within your control — which I like and loathe in equal measure! But nothing beats waiting for the client to arrive at the end of a build, standing back with the rest of the onsite crew and surveying a finished booth that looks even better than it did in our 3D visuals.
 
Favourite work memory?
That's a tough one. There are several memories I'd love to share but I should probably take to the grave with me! There are also quite a few involving the rest of the team; hearing longed-for baby news, attending weddings, hosting work hen parties and so on. But, on the strictly professional front, a high point for me would be the day we completed our management buy out in 2015. The process had taken months of our lives and lots (and lots) of late night meetings writing funding pitches for investment and crafting our business plan. Sitting around a table together, along with our legal and financial team, finally signing the papers that meant OSP was our company was an unforgettable milestone moment. And the post-meeting celebration afterwards also lived with me for several days...!
 
If I wasn't so good at my job, I would be...
Royal correspondent for the BBC! I once interviewed the BBC's Chief News Correspondent, Kate Adie, who used to report from war zones all around the world. I was just starting out in journalism and I was completely awe-struck by her. That said, I'm not sure I'd like dodging bullets like Kate famously did but I'd happily stand outside Buckingham Palace!
 
Hobbies?
Reading — I enjoy an audiobook when I'm on the go but I much prefer the feeling of holding a new book in my hands. I also tend to read the last few pages halfway through as I'm not very good at waiting for a punchline! I'm not sure what that says about me... Having grown up beside the sea, I also love being by — or on — the water. A perfect afternoon for me would be one spent paddle boarding, followed by a beachy dinner of scampi and chips accompanied by a chilled bottle of wine — and some family and friends too.
 
Fun/surprising fact people might not know?
I had a steam train named after me during a one year stint as a junior reporter on the news desk at a Devon-based daily newspaper.
 
Favourite quote?
"You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there's still going to be somebody who hates peaches!" Dita Von Teese
 
Follow Lydia on Instagram the_exhibitions_expert for tips and tales from the world of exhibitions.