evm_december-2023 - 44

WOMEN IN EVENTS
2015
CYNDIE WANG
VP-Global Sponsorships
and Brand Experience
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
" T
he thing that I'm most proud of is the relationships that I've
built, " said Cyndie Wang in her 2015 Women in Events interview,
and she continues to stand by that, eight years later. Wang
describes her approach to relationship building as authentic and two-way;
she's in it to partner and collaborate, which are key attributes in her position
as vp-global sponsorships and brand experience at Hewlett Packard
Enterprise (HPE). Wang focuses on managing and activating a portfolio of
customer partnerships within sports and entertainment spaces, and also
runs HPE's global brand merchandise program.
What has made you stay with HPE to continue building your career?
Back in 2015, HP was going through a transformation; it was splitting into
two companies. One was HP, which would continue to be the printer and
PC company, and then a new company emerged, which was Hewlett
Packard Enterprise, an enterprise IT infrastructure company. So I went
to HPE, and it was an opportunity to build a brand from scratch, to think
about partnerships and experiences with a fresh lens, and that was really,
really exciting. We were part of a start-up in some sense, but a very stable,
large multinational start-up. All of those things from a brand building
perspective, a customer relationship perspective, employee engagement
perspective, it was all new and fresh.
Back in 2015, would you have thought that you'd be where
you are today?
I think I actually hoped that I would be where I am today, which is a senior
executive at a company that I'm proud to represent in a job that I absolutely
love. The very core of the job has remained unchanged. My scope of
responsibility, my field of influence and the team have grown, and so it's
nice to be in a chair where you essentially call the shots. There's nobody
more senior in marketing partnerships, sponsorships and activating sponsorships
than I am. And I had the privilege of handpicking an exceptional
team. I'm very, very proud of the fact that my team has been intact. I've
had no attrition, only growth, and I've been able to help steer and guide the
careers of the people who have stayed with me and given them opportunity
to grow, learn and develop. That's been just so rewarding.
What kind of lessons or advice have you imparted to your team?
I've really encouraged them to take risks. Don't just wait for things to be
told to you. For a while, my team was all women-we've since grown to
have some men on the team-and what I found when it was all women
was that the voices were sort of more muted, and they weren't as bold and
wouldn't speak up unless they had the answer. So what I encourage people
to do is speak up, have a voice, share your ideas and take credit where credit
is due. There are opportunities to grow and flex with special projects, big
events, mentoring. Read, go to events and conferences, build your network.
What would you say is the most challenging aspect of building a
career in this industry?
One thing about the events industry is that there is an inherent bias that
we're party planners. Putting on an event is a big part of how we activate
our partnerships. We create, design and build experiences; that's a
platform for our executives and sales folks to engage with our customers
and partners. And it's not about the party. I feel like we have to overcome
this unfortunate bias that events are just a dinner or a conference. An event
is a very strategic tactic in the overall marketing arsenal. So how do we
sort of up-level the perception of this profession? I think that's a persistent
challenge.
Book or podcast recommendation:
" SmartLess, " with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett
44
EVENT MARKETER WINTER 2024
eventmarketer.com
http://www.eventmarketer.com
evm_december-2023

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