By Gagandeep Ghuman
Published: Sept. 21, 2013
District of Squamish has hired Devon Guest for the newly created position of Film & Events Manager.
Squamish has seen a growing number of events held on the district property, with 72 events facilitated in 2012.
With 120 candidates, interest in the job was high. 
The Film & Events Manager position was created to further develop and leverage Squamish’s growing event and film industries, according the media release issued by the district.
The event manager is expected to forge lasting relationships with film and event industry providers, and manage the events and filming held on municipal property.
A Squamish resident for two years, Devon Guest brings more than 10 years of national and international experience in event development, broadcast and project management.
She worked with both the Vancouver 2010 Games and the London 2012 Games as a Broadcast Venue Manager and Broadcast Logistics Manager, and has also used her skills to produce TED Conferences.
She spent six years with the Canadian Football League (CFL) in Toronto as Manager of Championships and Events, working on key properties such as the Grey Cup and Touchdown Atlantic before being recruited to join the BC Lions Football Club as Director of Operations in 2008.
As director, she was responsible for the Club’s stadium operations including game day and stadium production, while being a key member of the team responsible for the construction and move from BC Place to Empire Stadium.
“Live event experiences can shape us, providing us with connections and memories that last a lifetime,” Guest said.
“I also love Squamish and the film and event industries both represent further potential for economic growth here.”
Don Patrick says
Interesting… what really is our invoiced income from the film industry ? we have a specific job description which will probably require a assistant, office space, couple of cell phones and a vehicle with parking space… plus the pensions and benefits… certainly hope the income exceeds $150,000 or why. Has the city been losing the visits because the industry has not been serviced properly, or is someone looking at those inflated projections of income presented after every event ? I got it, we are under budget so spend the surplus.
Dave says
Don, a nice bit of Squamish negativity. If you read the article, it refers to Film AND Events.
We have had a lot of Events recently which did certainly contribute to our local economy in a positive way…Give things the needed chance! Too many initiatives are shot down prematurely in this town. We should be pleased to have someone as qualified as Ms. Guest to help us out.
Craig Davidiuk says
As someone who has ran many events in this town and now services that market with my business , I think this is an amazing hire. Squamish needs to start thinking big and creating infrastructure so we can attract higher caliber events and further develop our ability to service the film industry. For the past decade its been incredibly difficult to facilitate this due to red tape and multi jurisdiction snafu’s during the pre-event permit process. Having someone with this kind of experience deepens the management capacity at the DOS in some very exciting ways. To the previous commenter, don’t be such a naysayer. Whatever she’s being paid, she is taking a huge pay cut to work here. And its about time we actually dedicated resources to job creation. This council finally put their money where their mouths are.( Given how young, healthy and hip Ms Guest looks from her photo, she might ride a bike to work and save you the worry of a parking spot.) It might now pay off in the immediate future, but lets give the idea a chance. Squamish’s business owners could really benefit from a city hall that is serious about making the film and events industry a big plank in the economic development platform.
Jared Sissons says
I personally wanted to congratulate the District in hiring such a qualified individual as Ms. Guest. As I am sure that she will certainly help Squamish’s Economic Development and Tourism Industries. I wish her well in her new position.
Jared
Tax payer says
GREAT!!! More tax dollars spent on more of these “consultants” or “managers”. How about worrying about us existing residents and businesses who are getting taxed through the roof!! Maybe more businesses will come to Squamish if we cut all the “fat” and lower taxes.
Dave says
From one Taxpayer to another:
The more activities we promote in this town the better the economy. Do some research (Test of Metal, Concerts, Triathlons, Regattas, Kite boarding, Climbing etc. etc.)…… Attracting more people to spend their money the better (and that means not just downtown).
We have had more activities like these this year than ever but with a growing town, more efficient coordination becomes more essential….but I guess you don’t see this…ah well…..(The cost of Ms. Guest?…Peanuts in the long run scheme of things). Any growing business, even yours…should you have one, might well need more staff to make it work better; but if you do turn a profit expect to pay more taxes.
Gailforce says
her resume certainly sounds impressive. i look forward to having someone with the skills handling activities and events and film productions that come to this town. in case nobody noticed there is a lot of filming around this area on a regular basis. and i think there needs to be someone full time to handle the organization of events like the squamish music festival and the granfondo.
i don’t know who’s been handling it up until now, but, these things are getting bigger and bigger. you can’t mess around. this isn’t a one horse town anymore!
Paul Watt says
Squamish is blowing up as both a commercial shoot location and an event location. Anything that facilitates this quickly and easily will help bring more business here. As someone who works doing commercial projects I can tell you that nothing brings more business than streamlined speed and efficiency. In an industry where everything has to have been done yesterday this is critical.