Every two years, the University invites you to its science festival, the OPEN CAMPUS – when the University’s twelve Faculties and institutes present themselves in pagoda tents on the green meadow with games, fun, experiments and culinary offerings, and famous rock stars make provide music and entertainment late into the night. But who holds the strings in their hands. Who plans and organizes the festival which last year drew more than 19,000 visitors?
“Sometimes a bit nervous”
For the event professional Julia Pundt, the Open Campus is by far the biggest event of all others she is involved in. Perhaps this is the reason why the offices of her department are plastered with the colorful Open Day posters from 2013, 2015 and 2017. What is there to do? Report appointments, print flyers, order tents, organize catering, invite bands, negotiate with management, sign contracts, find exhibitors, advise the Faculties, organize guided tours, and pay bills ... ..Julia Pundt stays calm throughout all this. “Well, the Open Campus does sometimes make me feel a bit nervous, though,” admits the 25-year-old. "But it's also a lot of fun and so different from the other events organized by our team. Alone, because of the contact we then have with the music business.”
34 events a year
It is an impressive list of tasks that the event management team comprising Julia Pundt, Rebecca Grotheer and a changing apprentice has to tackle. 34 receptions, award ceremonies, parties and festivals are on the agenda for 2018. Julia Pundt is currently working on the preliminary run for the Bremen Study Prize. A car drives up during our conversation; the commercial artist looks through the large windows on the ground floor of the administration building and beckons; the invitation cards have arrived.
Hobby: Riding
The 25-year-old completed her training for her dream job in 2015. She completed a practical part of her apprenticeship in the Faculty of Production Engineering and in this way got an insight into life on campus. “I was lucky. On completing my training, the University leadership offered me a job in the central event management.” Why organization is her career wish? “I had previous experience,” she says. "My parents have a riding stable. BB Horses in Hagen near Bremen.” She grew up there and organized horse shows and holiday programs for children. Riding is still her hobby. Her pitch-black Trakehner is called Aragon.
Not for a shy little gray mouse
She loves the creativity new ideas she can bring to her work. The bureaucracy bothers her a bit, though: “You can’t always do what you want.” At the same time, she gets to see places where not so many people in Bremen have been before: The representative rooms in City Hall and in the Schütting building, for example. She is also a little proud of the important people she has contact with: Mayor of Bremen, Senator for Science, University President, Head of Finance and Administration, and University Vice Presidents. She is thankful for the appreciation she receives. “I often get praise from the University Leadership for my work,” she says. In return, Julia Pundt puts everything into her work. “I'm a perfectionist,” she says. An event manager has to be flexible and ready for work from early in the morning until late at night, as well as on weekends. “You need good self-management, because deadlines have to be met and you cannot postpone appointments. But I like doing such an active and varied job. As a shy little gray mouse, that's not always so easy, though.”
Relaxation in the garden
Alongside her job, Julia Pundt studies business administration and business psychology at the FOM. She attends evening lectures in the Technology Park three times a week. Her boyfriend is also on the campus. He is studying International Logistics Management at the German Foreign Trade and Transport Academy DAV. Sometimes they can have lunch together in the refectory. The young couple lives in Schwanewede. “I need it a bit rural,” she says. She enjoys gardening. It helps her switch off.
