In this month's edition, Veronica talks to Kala Preston, Senior Events and Studio Marketing Manager at Ubisoft Reflections and Ubisoft Leamington.
Kala, you’ve had a fascinating career; how has this developed so far?
I started working for agencies in the region in advertising and design, working for retail, B2B and arts and culture sector clients. Alongside working full-time, I started my CIM journey and took a course to gain professional marketing qualifications.
I enjoyed working with my culture sector clients and had the opportunity to make the move client side to a regional theatre, then a dance company and I went on to spend seven years with a design festival, working with amazing designers and makers in our region.
I then moved into an Event Director role with conference brand MuseumNext and had the opportunity to produce events in the US, Australia, and Europe. I then worked with Scaleup North East, delivered by RTC North, producing engagement events for businesses embarking on their scale-up journey.
Around three years ago, I moved into my current role, working in the video games sector across Ubisoft Reflections in Newcastle and Ubisoft Leamington studios.
What have you learnt along the way with each organisation?
So much! Working in agencies gave me a great grounding in relationship building, collaboration, research, and project management. Working within small arts organisations gave me a huge appreciation for and exposure to all aspects of running a business, from strategic business planning, budget and financial planning, funding applications and reporting and managing teams. And working in events specifically has given me experience in logistics, programme and speaker curation, and a knack for creative problem-solving! I can draw on things I’ve learnt across all my roles; I’ve gathered skills and experiences and built knowledge along the way, working across very different sectors.
What do you enjoy most about your current role as Senior Events and Studio Marketing Manager at Ubisoft?
Working within the games sector is a joy, especially with people that are so talented and passionate about what they do. Being part of a global brand working with our HQ in Paris and other studios in the network is exciting.
Every day is different, which I love! My day-to-day job consists of organising studio events, from our annual conference bringing together all 400 staff members to in-studio celebrations to external event participation that promotes and raises the profile of the studios in the UK. I am also part of the Studio Leadership Team and enjoy working with different teams and individuals throughout the studios.
I’ll be looking forward to supporting our Graduate Campaign launch this January, where we will be looking for recent graduates across programming and other disciplines to join the business.
Why did you choose to do the CIM Marketing Leadership Programme, and how has that influenced your work?
It had been a while since I’d done any formal professional development after finishing my MA in Cultural Management in 2006. It was the clear option to return to the CIM for a leadership-specific qualification. Learning with NESMA was attractive due to the flexible delivery and one-to-one tutorials. It’s been great meeting the other students studying with NESMA during the socials and group sessions.
Because the course is work-related the module assessments have given me the opportunity to reflect on our sector and explore specific projects in more detail, it has been useful to apply what I’ve learnt in a very practical way.
