b'MARILYNROYfounder ofEvents by Marilyn Royby Sandi HumphreyCM&E: How did you get started in event consulting? MARILYN: As a youngster,I wanted to be a nurse when I grew up. I ended up going into a secretarial program. After a few positions with banks and so forth, and taking time to have children, in my early 30s I went to work for a large corporation. After a couple of years working there, they asked me to help organize a corporate event. Events kept coming my way after that first undertaking, and I ended up doing events across Canada and even internationally, like two full-week conferences aboard cruise ships. I retired from the company in 2016 and knew that I wanted to do something, so I opened my own business, tapped into my contacts and vast network, and since then I have been super busy. The corporation I used to work for also brings me in to run some oftheir events.CM&E: What is the most interesting event youve planned? of events over a six-month period. Itemployees with long service that was included a corporate Christmas galaattended by a number of government MARILYN:for 400-people, a cruise for a branchdignitaries, a golf tournament, and An interesting and fun corporate event (well, eventsof the company, a 4-day conferencea family day for 3,000 people. All of really) was a 100-year anniversary forfor 400 delegates, an awards banquetthese were back-to-back-to-back over a corporation that involved a numberfor 1,200 people recognizinga period of six months.48 CORPORATE MEETINGS & EVENTS corporatemeetingsnetwork.ca'