We recently connected with Artem Lomaz and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Artem, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned while working at a prior job?
Before entering the event industry, I worked in advertising. I was chasing my Don Draper dreams and wanted to be an ad agency copywriter. While I still love advertising, I quickly learned that the office environment wasn’t for me; however, my time in advertising did teach me about selling an idea or concept in front of a room and using a variety of presentation skills to do so. This directly correlates to my current role of an MC and even when I’m speaking on stage. Each moment at an event, whether it’s something deceivingly simple like cake cutting, or introducing a speaker, I need to advertise that moment to the guests in attendance. Another correlation came with the way that I decided to position myself as solely a Destination MC. In a creative advertising agency, there are typically teams that work on campaigns that consist of a copywriter and an art director. To me, in events, I correlate that to me (an MC), and the band or DJ. The MC is the copywriter, while the musicians (band/DJ) are the art directors. The planner is the Executive Creative Director that pieces everything together and helps get the best out of everyone and ensures that it’s the best match for the client – just like in an ad agency.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I got into the event industry by chance, I guess. While in college, I was picking up catering opportunities from time to time. I never had any culinary aspirations, and always enjoyed serving at the events, as opposed to being in the kitchen. I kept seeing some entertainers that I felt were really great – so once I started chatting with them, I quickly realized that the old adage of “the good ones make it look easy” was true. I’ve always admired musicians and have always been mesmerized by great DJs (I also grew up on hip-hop, so I’m sure I was influenced by that as well), but alas, I personally possess no musical abilities. I did however know that I could combine my love of storytelling, writing, and elegant presentation and curate a position in the luxury event industry that hasn’t been seen before. Once I established the position of designated MC (Master of Ceremonies), working alongside DJs and bands at events, I entered an MC competition – and won. The “Entertainer of the Year” competition consists of twelve Master of Ceremonies competitors presenting ideas, utilizing their MC skills, to a panel of industry-peer judges. I was fortunate enough to win during my first time competing. The following year, I wanted to defend my title. I did. Getting that award in back-to-back years in a peer-judged competition is something that I’m certainly proud of. As my career progressed, I was asked to speak to industry organizations and at industry events. I don’t take that honor lightly and always look to bring the best content and presentation to my audiences whenever I’m speaking. Thus, another love was born – speaking, and moderating.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I believe that networking and networking events helped build my reputation, but I also subscribe to the formula of “be great at what you do, mind your business, and just be nice”. My hope is that by executing that formula and pinpointing which networking opportunities were best (which certainly came with some trial and error earlier on) helped brand awareness grow. I also believe that by being an MC that doesn’t approach events with a mentality that it’s a showcase of my skills, but rather a showcase of how those skills help spotlight the guests of honor, transition attention to special moments, and generally facilitates the moving pieces of each production, brand ambassadorship also played a part. I believe that my attention to detail and organizational skills also have garnered me a reputation for being meticulous. I wear that as a badge of honor.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Undoubtedly word-of-mouth is the best source of new clients for me. Whether that’s from event planners, fellow creative partners, or past clients, I’m exclusively brought onto events via referral. That’s also partly on purpose – to create a truly personalized luxury experience for clients and their events, well, that takes proper time investment. Thus, I limit how many events I take on annually. By doing so, I ensure that each client does indeed get the proper preparation time. I’m not wildly active on social media or in public advertising platforms, as I want to keep that referral process coming from planners and partners that I know will match me to the best matched clientele.
Contact Info:
- Website: artemlomaz.com
Image Credits
Jessie Barksdale Photography Caroline’s Collective Afrik Armando Photography ArtVesta Photography Michelle Walker Photography Fedya Ro Candid Image VU Pictures Sergey Ulanov Photography