TERRAEVENTS Director of Administration & HR
Of late we’ve been talking about ‘frontline workers’ and common to companies in our industry sector we certainly have people who fill such a role in our Company, our Senior Project Managers who create, review and realise incredible events with our clients. But a role of equal importance is played ‘behind the scenes’ by our Director of Administration & HR, Clelia Lo Campo, a person who is vital to ensuring the administrative functions of our business run smoothly, who manages our people and our resources and who works with relentless dedication, patience and resolve to handle the day-to-day tasks of our business operations. Clelia joined TERRAEVENTS back in 2015, working from our HQ office in Milan and we’d like to take this opportunity to dedicate a space within our newsletter to this special member of our team, and her narration of ‘living through lockdown’.
1. What are the critical issues you have encountered whilst carrying out your role during the last few months?
Lockdown occurred during one of the busiest times of the year for a Director of Administration & HR; the first half of any year being dedicated to closing the previous financial year and setting up for the new one in compliance with the latest operational and fiscal regulations. Additionally 2020 saw the added challenges created by Covid-19 on an HR front and the need to ensure business continuity.
2. You have two teenage children – as a working-mother of two adolescents, how have you managed life at home?
The aftershocks of lockdown, a family of two parents and two adolescents suddenly finding themselves at home together 24/7, undoubtedly created initial difficulties which we were forced to acknowledge and work through. Whilst we’re privileged to enjoy a large family home, which allows each of us to enjoy our own personal space, we certainly had to develop a familial spirit with an understanding of how we should best share both our space, our time and our duties; the teens with ‘home schooling’, we adults with ‘smart working’ in addition to the daily tasks of any household. Certainly not easy, but looking back I can say we took the time and energy to make it work.
3. Your definitely a family of sports enthusiasts, how did you manage the fact that lockdown denied you any possibility to actively enjoy sporting activities?
We’re a family that thrives on sport. My 16-year old daughter, Ludovica, has been playing volleyball at a competitive level since the age of eleven and next season will debut in national division B2; whilst my 13-year old son Filippo, is a rising star on the basketball scene, having played since the age of eight. Alessandro, my husband, played volleyball at a national level, and since giving up playing competitively he still plays and also competes in half-marathons. As for me, whilst I hung up my “boots” sometime ago, having enjoyed a place in Serie B2 national volleyball, I’m still very much involved in sport as I follow the activities of my children. Being denied the liberty of engaging in sport, almost a physiological need for our family, proved to be one of the most negative aspects of lockdown. Sport, as a physical and mental experience, provides an essential element of well-being for our family so we adjusted our house accordingly creating an indoor fitness room, complete with a basketball hoop on the wall for Filippo, bare walls for Lodovica to practice against and late-night secret midnight runs around the interior courtyard!
4. What was the first thing you did after lockdown?
Visiting friends and enjoying dinner together.
5. During the last few months have you found the time to develop new hobbies or pastimes?
Due to a heavy workload, unfortunately not. However I have dedicated time to those things which I always used to put off, preferring to be outside or enjoying sport – for example emptying the loft and cellar.
6. What do you like best and what do you like least about your job?
I like the varied responsibilities the role entails, providing endless opportunities for continued learning.
Frustration when I feel over-whelmed by excessive and over-lapping demands on my time – a sensation of being ‘over-booked’.
