b'PROFESSIONAL Q&AThrough a Different LensEast Coast events organizer Rmi Lefebvre on what its like to operate a business in a region with limited LGBTQ+ presenceBy Matthew BradfordWhat led you to your positionwith eSource Event?Thats a bit of a history lesson. eSource was founded by Jill Black in 2005. Jill identified a need for secure event data systems, specifically ones created and kept exclusively in Nova Scotia.She ran things for nine years before reaching a point in her career where she was looking to move on. At that point, the eSource system was thriving. It was serving local charities and organizations, and many people depended on it, so she didnt want to shut it down. Instead, she reached out to a few colleagues at venues around town and my name was recommended.At the time, I was building an event production career for myself in the city. I had a background in classical music performance and was moving over to events. When Jill approached me, I took the opportunity to buy the company and take over operations.Take us through those early days.Right away, I made some changes to the company in terms of its systems and its Rmi Lefebvre,service offerings and very much just made President andIts a mix of community spirit, showmanshipit my own. My background is in event Executive Producer ofand tech-savviness that makes Rmi Lefebvreproduction planning and the arts, but Ive Halifax-basedalways had a passion for computers and eSource Event a valued member of Nova Scotias eventscoding as well. That let me do quite a bit in and entertainment scene. As presidentterms of developing new featuresfor eSource.and executive producer of eSource Event,So today, we still provide secure Lefebvre is a man who has his fingers on theregistration and data system and services for events of all sorts throughout the country, pulse of many of the exciting happenings onbut we also do production consultation. You the East Coast. As a member of the regionscan hire us to either brainstorm ideas for an event or run it from start to finish. Its been fairly small LGBTQ+ community, he is alsosix years since I took over, and the company someone who supports LGBTQ+ businesseshas grown substantially. It helps that we have an all-star team, which includes my through his work.colleague Leanne Andrecyk.10| QBiz CANADA | 2021'