Planning the GQ Men of the Year Awards with Events Director Michelle Russell

Michelle Russell is British GQ Magazine’s Events Director.

With almost 30 years’ experience at Condé Nast, Michelle is an authority and expert on every aspect of events and, we’re proud to say, a friend of zkipster. She and her team use zkipster to plan and manage their events, including GQ’s flagship annual event, the Men of the Year.

GQ Men of the Year honors the best and brightest men and women across fashion, film, music, culture and sport. 2022 marked the landmark, agenda-setting event’s 25th anniversary, and the event was once again sponsored by Boss.

The November 16 celebrations in London included an exclusive reception and dinner at the Mandarin Oriental in Hyde Park followed by the House of MOTY party at the Pavilion Club; both with a suitably star-studded, high-profile guest list and reams of press coverage from around the world.

We caught up with Michelle to compare and contrast planning and delivering the previous Men of the Year event, which took place in September 2021 against a backdrop of uncertainty and Covid restrictions, with the 2022 event.

Michelle, what are your key takeaways from planning events over the last couple of years?

“I’ve learnt so much. Pre-pandemic I could organize a live event for 1,000 guests with my eyes shut, but I had to quickly learn about virtual events and rethink social activity, which was a great challenge. I’m delighted by how effectively my team pivoted, and by how quickly we were able to return to hosting live events.”

What was different about planning live events? 

“During the pandemic we had to have Plans A, B and C prepared, as restrictions kept changing, and by late 2021 we were working with one more flexible event plan that we could easily adapt if needed.

“When we hosted the previous GQ Men of the Year Awards in September 2021, we saw a genuine appetite for the return of live events. It was our first major live event for some time and was held at full capacity, so it was a watershed moment to see if guests wanted to return. There was incredible uptake on the invitation and we didn’t have any dropouts.

"With zkipster’s Invitations tool we were able to add a dedicated section with Covid restrictions and information to the invite. On the day only one person had to be turned away because they hadn’t provided proof of Covid vaccination or a negative test by the time they arrived at the event."

We’ve been hearing huge buzz and excitement around live events for the past few months, and zkipster clients are reporting that their live events are better than ever - is this what you’re seeing? 

2022 was an incredible year for events, with everything returning to normal. We are busier than ever with an even greater appetite for live events than pre pandemic.

How about hybrid and virtual events – are they still in the mix?

“Even though virtual events were popular in 2020, people in our world of fashion and entertainment had soon had enough and couldn’t wait to meet in person again. In 2021 we were using Zoom for catch ups – it’s great for quick smaller gatherings - and we are still using it for small meetings and team meetings now, as it saves so much time previously lost traveling to and from meetings. Events are very much in person though!"

How did you create the best experience for your guests at the GQ Men of the Year Awards in 2021?

“Everyone was issued with hand sanitizers and masks, though we didn’t make the latter mandatory, and in fact pretty much all our guests were comfortable removing them. Everyone was SO happy to be together again after such a horrific year and a half!

“The restrictions and hybrid elements didn’t diminish the 2021 event in any way: clearly communicating the measures we had put in place reassured our guests and meant they could relax and enjoy the event. It was a lovely moment to see everyone back in the room together.”

And what about the GQ MOTY events in 2022?

"GQ has undergone so many changes in 2022 and it was only right that GQ Men of the Year did too. Firstly we hosted an intimate dinner in the Mandarin Oriental Ballroom for some 200+ guests and throughout the dinner we toasted the key talent that reflected the cultural zeitgeist - from Leah Wiliamson to Andrew Garfield, from the Heartstopper boys to Stormzy.  

"For GQ the party was the biggest part of the night, inviting 500 guests to a house takeover of the stunning Pavilion in Knightsbridge. The night featured a live music performance by Jack Harlow and eight different DJs performing over four floors, including three DJs curated by Stormzy. Guests arrived from 9pm and partied through to 3am - it was quite a night!"

How does zkipster tech help with GQ MOTY events?

"In 2021 we created a dedicated column for vaccine status in the guest list, and informed guests that if they provided paperwork in advance entry would be quicker at the event (and we would of course destroy it afterwards). Plenty of guests did submit information beforehand, and we had two queues at the door – one for vaccinated guests and one for guests with negative lateral flow tests. zkipster really sped up the check-in process: it was super quick and we didn’t have to allow any extra time.”

zkipster was and continues to be a valuable resource at the events. For the MOTY 2022 dinner we used it for the guest list, dietaries and table planning and for the party guest list too.  We were able to set up our door staff with access and make changes right up to the eleventh hour.

How do you factor in and capture plus-ones? How important is this at GQ events? 

“Our guest lists for GQ events are carefully curated so it is essential to capture all guests' details so that table plans can be accurately created - we work on our table planning for a couple of weeks prior to the event, making many changes.  That time and consideration ensures everyone has a great time.

"We use the zkipster Guest Relationships tool to a point - we are in truth still getting used to it - but we can definitely see the benefit. I can see us using it more and more."

Which other zkipster features do you use?

“We love zkipster at GQ: we’re really enjoying it. We love the Facesheets: they make our job so much easier as we have guests’ photos to hand, can memorize their faces and then make sure we give them a memorable experience. It’s such a great feature. Being able to copy the table plans for our events year after year saves us so much time too.

"We always use custom fields and color coding within our guest lists, and we add badge colors, accommodation needs, hotel requirements and plus ones for our GQ Heroes. It’s great to be able to customize the guest list view and check-in details."

AT GQ we really care about who is in the room, and using zkipster allows us to carefully curate tables, keep guest lists fresh and clearly identify who is a speaker, who is a sponsor, and so on. zkipster is a tool we’re very happy to recommend to any event organizer.