Top event planners show how to create happy spaces at home

A year of bookings was cancelled overnight in the pandemic for these three conference organisers. Here's what they did next

Sat, 26 Jun, 2021 - 22:59

Eve Kelliher

When 12 months of engagements vanished from their diaries overnight, three Irish event organisers joined forces to come up with a plan B.

It was March 12, 2020, and the restrictions were being announced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Deirdre Young, Sinead Bailey Kelly and Eileen Denham. Picture: www.patriciocassinoni.com

Deirdre Young, Sinead Bailey Kelly, and Eileen Denham had been busy on site visits up to that day, tweaking schedules and finalising dates for large-scale conferences and corporate events.

“When we received the news, everyone was flooded with booking cancellations, postponements, arranging refunds, reviewing booking contracts, and within a couple of weeks all in-real-life events were cancelled — 12 months of bookings gone, just like that,” says Deirdre.

She and Sinead owned their own business in experiential events and branding, H&G Creations, and Eileen was working for a separate events company.

They had worked together on several events in the past and kept in close contact through the 2020 collapse of the industry and brainstormed ways of doing “what we do best, making people happy”, as Deirdre says.

BRAINSTORM

Like the rest of the world, they were confined to base, getting up close and personal with their four walls.

Sinead says: “We collectively understood the struggles that people were experiencing as a result of the pandemic — how the home had now become the one-stop-shop for everything, and how important mental, physical and emotional health had become.”

Their solution?

They used their combined 48 years of experience in conference organising and branding to create what Sinead describes as “an experience-based product that would help encourage customers to create more peace in their homes, create space for self-care and feeling good”.

Sinead Bailey Kelly at home, near her 'plant jungle'.

And that is how The Home Moment was born — an earth-conscious luxury interiors brand, starting with candles that come with their own “sound-scape”.

Speaking of the candles in the range, Eileen says: “It’s important to us that our products are manufactured in Ireland using earth-conscious components including GMO-free soy wax, sustainable packaging, premium fragrance based on moments of joy through the psychology of scent and wellness.”

So, what’s different about these candles?

Well, because of their background in the experience-based industry, Eileen, Sinead and Deirdre wanted to integrate their knowledge into their products.

So they created unique natural soundscape recordings to accompany each candle.

This QR code is printed on a seeded paper card enclosed in the box of each candle, encouraging customers to slip into a bath or sit down for meditation and scan the QR code, to be transported into nature.

When the candle is burned out, you can then clean out the amber glass candle jar and put the seeded paper card with a handful of soil and let wildflowers grow from your jar at home.

SANCTUARIES

Do they have particular happy spaces in their own homes?

Eileen seeks refuge in her cabin in the garden. “It is a sanctuary of peace, the wood and bamboo outside and silence is a meditative space for me,” she says.

As for Sinead? “I adore my furry Buddha beanbag nook, which is sat next to my indoor plant jungle, for reading and afternoon naps on the weekends,” she says.

Dee, meanwhile, is passionate about art and travel and uses her sitting room to reflect these interests.

“My sitting room is a long space with a big window that lets in lots of light. We have covered every inch in art, plants and trinkets that we have picked up on our various travels,” she says.

“I’ve started drawing again recently and I love to sit here with candles lit every evening watching the sunset.”

TIES

Funnily enough, home and interiors always played a key role in the three women’s friendship.

Dee and Sinead’s paths crossed nine years ago through Gumtree when Sinead was seeking an intern in the art gallery she was managing at the time.“I met Dee after she came home from her travels across the world in 2012. This is when we started working at the Little Green Street Gallery together, a pop-up art space run by a company called Emergence,” says Sinead.

“We then met Eileen while helping her with some interior design projects for some of the numerous venues and bars she ran over the years, and kept in touch ever since.”

CHANGES

All three Dublin-based women say their relationships with their own homes have changed in the past year. “My home became my sanctuary and a place to work to develop the new company. My surroundings, wellbeing, and positive spaces became incredibly important as I was spending so much time at home,” says Eileen.

Deirdre Young in her favourite perch in her home.

Sinead says her abode became her “one-stop-shop for everything: work, socialising virtually, eating, exercising, resting”. “So, I invested a lot of time making sure it was as comforting a place as it could be so I could always find rest and calm amidst all the chaos.”

Dee adds that her investment in “beautiful pieces” for her home has tripled.

“The events industry tends to have mad hours, so when I was forced to spend more time indoors, I focused on creating a space that I loved and that inspired me,” she adds.

“Plants, candles, books and art have exploded throughout my apartment.”

Having rarely spent time logging on from home before, her lifestyle has pivoted completely, says Eileen: “I was working from the city five days a week and running events and seminars for big corporate companies. Home was a place to relax and spend time with the kids; I rarely worked from home before the pandemic.”

Meanwhile, Sinead had previously whirled about the city using pedal power. “I spent every day cycling across town to the H&G Creations offices in Rathmines where I was working on creating concepts and pitches for clients,” she says.

The sitting room in Deirdre Young's home.

Pre-pandemic, workdays were long for Dee. “Sometimes I would spend 16-hour days on my feet, she says.

“They were definitely exhilarating and I had a feeling of accomplishment. However, we then took a few days of downtime to recover. My days are far more balanced now.”

That said, their experience and client base in the event sector have proved invaluable. “Formulating experiences, ideas, pitches, and concepts have been the grounding creative for the development of The Home Moment,” says Eileen.

Dee agrees that the many years spent devising campaigns for high-profile brands have fed into The Home Moment.

“I think all of the work and the high-calibre clients I’ve worked with within the corporate and brand sector over the years has really helped contribute to all the learnings to create The Home Moment, from branding to visual merchandising, to turning this product into a product-based experience,” adds Sinead.

“It has all come full circle and now I would treat us as I would have any client in the past.”

JOY

They aim to give people “moments of joy” through their products, adds Eileen.

“Previous sensory experiences I would have created for other clients, reading inspirational books, talking to my friends and co-workers, looking at other artists and collaborators I admire, thinking about how I want to make people feel with the brand and product all inspire me. I really love to focus on creating feelings, atmosphere, and comfort,” says Sinead.

INSPIRATION

Dee adds: “My partner Damien is perpetually curious. We have a constant flow of art and news magazines landing on our doorstep weekly thanks to him.

“These are a great source of inspiration, especially the interviews with creative people from around the world. I’m always interested in how and where they live their daily lives and what inspires them.”

They plan to expand their scent and accessories and add other wellness products.