JTPM – Celebrating 10 years in business!
JTPM is turning 10 and you’re invited to be part of the celebrations…
We simply wouldn’t be where we are today without YOU – our incredible staff (past and current), suppliers, partners, photographers, entertainers, venue teams and of course all of the amazing clients we have worked with along the way.
In this blog, we celebrate some of the key milestone’s that have helped make JTPM the successful business it is today and excitedly look forward to providing many more decades of service.
686 events and counting…
Starting with a mix of festivals, theatre, fundraisers, awards ceremony, launches and seminars – Julia produced just nine events in her first year in business, back in 2013.
Fast forward to 2023 and the JTPM team are now delivering more than 150 events each year (168 events in 2022!) – that’s an impressive 1566.67% increase!
Yet, it’s not the quantity but the quality that JT Production Management has become renowned for – a strong and unwavering belief that meaningful and memorable events have the power to connect people, spark important conversations and make a real impact in our community and the world.
Support from Western Chances
Julia has been speaking at functions and supporting Western Chances as the first official Ambassador and Chair of the (STAR) committee, sharing her journey and helping to promote all the organisation’s great work for over 15 years.
Western Chances has actively supported Julia’s education and career pathway since 2008 – providing life-changing scholarships that enabled her to complete her studies, as well as invaluable personal and professional development opportunities.
While studying a Bachelor of Production at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), Julia also had the chance to work in the Western Chances office part-time, helping with administration and organising events.
Today, Julia and the JTPM team manage several major Western Chances events as the organisation’s official pro-bono events partner, including the Scholarship Award Ceremony and the annual Good Business Forum fundraiser – which raised over $116,000 last year to help support more young people throughout Melbourne’s west.
Without the ongoing support from Western Chances, Julia and JTPM would not be where it is today. We are incredibly grateful and look forward to many more decades of working together and helping make more dreams like Julia’s come true.
Partners in business and life!
Back in August 2017, Victor made the difficult and somewhat risky decision to quit his secure banking job of more than ten years. He used his long service leave to explore and trial the opportunity to join Julia and the growing JTPM team as Managing Director. At that early stage, there were no guarantees – just the desire and determination to help make Julia’s dream. It would turn out that the combination of Julia’s creativity and Victor’s logic was a match made in heaven, both in and outside the office…
By November 2017, only a few months after Victor officially joined, the team had already grown and the first JTPM office was opened in North Melbourne. Business was booming and less than two years later, they outgrew this space and moved into a larger office right across the road.
In the start of 2020, things were looking positive with more than 50 events already booked for the year and a need to hire even more staff…Then COVID_19 happened!
Surviving and thriving in a pandemic
When everything shut down and events were cancelled, Julia and Victor looked at their finances and knew they would only survive a few months. It was a scary time, and no one knew how long the pandemic would last. Victor even considered returning to his finance job…
But instead of standing anyone down, a team brainstorm was held to help reimagine what events could look like in the midst of a global pandemic!
The result was the creation of Couch Community – a digital entertainment series that offered free online events to bring the community together and support businesses in need. From cooking challenges and classes with chefs to comedy shows, tips and tricks from a range of experts such as a florist and make-up artist to interesting and inspirational conversations on the coach with Julia – couch community provided a lot more than just a fun escape from the pressures of the pandemic.
Photographer, Peter Casamento who was also hit hard by the pandemic, happily donated his time and equipment to run Couch Community. Despite having only limited online events experience, the JTPM team all jumped on board to quickly learn new skills and develop a professional online event offering.
By May 2020, the team had begun actively pitching online events to clients and by July all staff came back on a full-time basis. In fact, the virtual events arm of the business became so successful that in March 2021, there were three times the number of staff compared to March 2020!
The future of JTPM…
While lockdowns may be over and in-person events have returned, demand for virtual and hybrid events only continues to grow. Providing flexible, engaging, affordable and eco-friendly ways of engaging and connecting people no matter where they are, has become vital in today’s world.
In response to these growing and evolving digital needs, JTPM established and launched its own video production services in 2022. Always looking to improve and provide the best possible experiences, the development of a new events app is now also in the final stages of development.
Julia and the team have always been at the forefront of pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, and if this first decade of business is anything to go on, JTPM could be delivering as many as 2,500 events per year by 2033… IMAGINE THAT!
Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook, and stay tuned for all the birthday news, announcements and a chance to be part of our anniversary festivities!
