Life on Both Sides of the Pond

Employee Spotlight Profile
 

Ellen Durchholz, Event Coordinator, Gardner Business Media Inc.

In December 2010, I was sitting in my ’02 Saturn Sedan about to drive home from babysitting some kids when I saw the missed call and voicemail. I didn’t recognize the number it was from but began to play the voicemail. My ears perked up when I heard, “This is Julie Baker from Map Your Show.” Tears started to stream down my face when she offered me a customer service representative position at Map Your Show (MYS).

Now, this all sounds a bit dramatic, but let me provide you with some backstory. I graduated cum laude from Indiana University in May of 2010; I was on the Dean’s List and part of the Hutton Honors College; I had a major in telecommunications, a minor in German and a certificate of business through the Liberal Arts and Management Program (LAMP). I had just finished four years of cycling for my sorority, Alpha Gamma Delta, and being part of the runner-up team in the world-famous Little 500 bicycle race (ever heard of the movie Breaking Away?). I felt on top of the world, and at the same time, I was in a panic wondering, “Where do I go from here?” As one of my good college friends kept stating at the time, “I think we’re having a quarter-life crisis.”

Riding in light blue, team #5 on race day of Indiana University’s Little 500.

 

Graduation day at IU . . . looking ahead to my bright future of . . .

I had interviewed for countless jobs my senior year, applied for Teach for America and even acquired all the materials needed to go teach English in South Korea. No job offers were made, and teaching in South Korea for two years terrified me more than it excited me. So, in May of 2010, I moved back home, continued to submit my resume and cover letter into the abyss of online job applications, and got a “summer job” and then a “fall job,” and was headed into the heart of winter when a friend of mine had a connection to someone at MYS. She said they had some customer service job openings. I interviewed, and after more than half a year of being denied jobs and wondering what was wrong with me, somebody finally wanted me… and they were a mapping company, I mean they planned tradeshows, I mean they went to tradeshows and physically set them up. Well, I wasn’t quite sure what they were, but I had my first full-time, salary-paying, “real” job.

MYS was a new thing I had to wrap my head around. They developed software to map out tradeshows and provide an online directory of all the exhibitors at the show. I was learning so much, and the software was always changing and improving. My role was to set up each of my client’s tradeshows within the software as well as teach my client how to use the software from there. It took time, but I became an expert at knowing the software; I collaborated with developers to improve it and fix issues with it; I traveled to some of the tradeshows to run mapping kiosks of ours onsite at the event. I became way more tech savvy than I ever thought I would be. When I started, I had to ask my boss what the keyboard shortcut for copy and paste was, and before I knew it, I was throwing around terms like “responsive design” and “hamburger menus.” I met some amazing, smart and hard-working people at MYS, but I felt ready for a change.

Many a coworker of mine there said MYS was the best company they had ever worked for. That was something I didn’t want to leave, but I was ready for more responsibility. Since I started at MYS, I knew it was tied to this other company, Gardner Business Media (GBM). All I really knew about Gardner was that they published manufacturing magazines and put on some conferences and tradeshows.

After five years at MYS, I got the nerve to talk to my boss and express my interest in Gardner and inquire about any opportunities “across the pond” (Gardner and MYS are only separated by a parking lot), especially in relation to the tradeshows they put on. Before I knew it, an opportunity became available in the events department. I interviewed with Allison Miller, now the chief events officer, and so began my career in events.

It was interesting seeing everything that went into events. I realized the tunnel vision I had at MYS. I was always surprised when clients weren’t getting back to me about specifics of how they wanted their show set up, and now, I realized it was because they had a million other things they were trying to get done for their event. At first, I didn’t have the clearest direction on what I was going to be doing at Gardner, but I was there to help. Whatever anyone threw at me or needed a hand with, I was ready to pitch in. After a few years, I began to manage the Molding Conference and SUR/FIN tradeshow. I was now the one making decisions with a team of people looking to me for answers. Luckily, I wasn’t completely isolated — there was always someone above me that I could discuss matters with and bounce ideas off of.

Dinner out with the GBM gang during one of our tradeshows.

After having two little ones, Joan, 4, and Loretta, 2, I have scaled back my role a bit in events and am grateful to Gardner for allowing me to achieve this work-life balance. I’m no longer managing events but have picked back up where I started, pitching in on events wherever I am needed: registration, speakers, signage, directories, websites, etc. I have a well-rounded education in it all and still get to work in MYS everyday (it is Gardner’s event software of choice).

I’m unique in having worked on both sides of the “pond” (there are a handful of us), but don’t ask me to tell you which one I have enjoyed more. They have both been different, good and insightful experiences — due to the work and the people. I’ve obviously been at different stages of life for each job too — single and independent at MYS, and now a wife and mother at Gardner.

There’s no telling when things might change again, but Gardner and MYS are amazing places to be. I encourage many of the new hires to get to know some of their coworkers that have been here longer than them. You will be shocked to learn how many have been at GBM for a decade or two or three or four! Our employees have worn many hats, hatched many ideas and pitched in where they were needed. It says something about a company with that kind of retention and employee loyalty, and I am proud to be a part of it.

Life with two littles, Loretta (left) and Joan (right), and my husband, Matt.

Need more information?
Ellen Durchholz, Event Coordinator
Gardner Business Media Inc.
513-388-2191
LinkedIn

About the Author

Ellen Durchholz

Ellen Durchholz has worked in the events department at Gardner Business Media Inc. for seven years. She has managed conferences and tradeshows and assisted with registration, speaker logistics, AV, catering, signage, directories and the list goes on.

She loves enjoying the outdoors with her husband and two daughters and venturing to Cumberland Lake with her family and local Oktoberfests with her in-laws.