***Editie online: Anul nr. III

februarie 6, 2025

Interview with Vassilis Mentzelopoulos- a Greek businessman who among others is an entertainment manager and a radio and TV Showman


Vassilis Mentzelopoulos is a multi-talented business professional who has made significant contribution in the fields of event management, business networking, and entertainment.With a diverse background in civil engineering, DJing, radio and TV, Vassilis has carved a unique path in the business world, serving as the managing director of Amuse, an agency well established for organizing extravagant events locally and throughout the world. His passion for arts is evident through his work as an DJ and presenter, adding a creative dimension to his professional pursuits. Today, we look forward to gaining insights into Vassilis’ remarkable career journey, his innovative approaches to event management, and his valuable perspectives on business networking in Greece.

What inspired you to pursue a career in radio and event management, even though you had a background in civil engineering?

I am an engineer that’s true but since I was a child I liked music, and I started as a hobby, playing music as a DJ for parties and that hobby eventually became a profession.I was a professional DJ in major night clubs in Athens and Mykonos and for private parties. So trough this path, as DJ, I ended up in the radio, because in 1988 was the beginning of the free radio in Greece, until that time were no private radio station, so when many radio-stations simultaneously started to operate they were looking for radio producers.  The next step was to move on to television as a presenter in the beginning and as a TV producer eventually.One thing brought the other and so I ended up organizing events and TV shows.

Can you tell us about your experience in creating and managing Amuse, an agency that organizes high-profile events throughout the world?

It is not an easy thing to manage a company, especially since after we introduced the company in the Greek market, doing a lot of events, we have organized events in Romania, Dubai, Los Angeles, even in Bangkok. The key to success is to find the right people, who can join and get the appropriate position in the company and that those people should be multi-talented. Being in a job that requires high responsibilities, every time you start a new project is a new task with totally different needs, so you have to be certain that the people you work with can adjust into these needs. The secret of a successful event is that you must listen carefully to your client’s needs before you start suggesting ideas and concepts, making sure that whatever you propose cover his needs by 100%. You must also design everything properly including every little detail way before you reach the actual time of the event, so everything has been taken care of before you arrive there.

How do you balance your roles as a business professional and a presenter in some of your events?

As I said before, it is a hobby that became a profession and the best part of it is when I present, direct, sing, or play as a DJ. As you can imagine this is a small proportion of the things I have to do as a managing-director of a leading event agency, but its one of the things that help me wake up every morning in a very good mood!  The other one is my partner in business and in life, my wife Elli who started Amuse in the first place 22 years ago.

What are the most rewarding aspects of working in the event management industry, and how do you stay motivated in this competitive field?

It is a very competitive field, but I think that most of the fields today are very competitive. What keeps me motivated is the appreciation from our clients and the applause at the end of our events when people are shaking my hand and kiss me and tell me: Thank you guys, it was an amazing event. That’s the most rewarding part of our job. You know Andreea, payment is just a transaction that you receive for your services as a company and through which you can pay your personnel and your suppliers.But this is not mainly what make drives us to the office every morning to do what we do. It’s our clients’ appreciation and satisfaction that keep us going as professionals and individuals too.

Can you share any memorable experiences or challenges you have encountered while working with international celebrities in event planning?

Well, I have many, one of it… for example is many years ago when we had invited Frank Sinatra in Greece for a concert. When the Greek Prime Minister was informed about it, he wanted to organize a dinner for Frank Sinatra the night before the concert, so forwarded the invitation to his manager.  While we were preparing the contract, I asked him again, but he replied: ok we will discuss about this dinner invitation once Frank Sinatra will be in Athens. Finally Sinatra arrived, the dinner day also came the previous day of concert so I asked again in respect to that dinner invitation and the manager replied: look you do you want him to sing tomorrow for 60.000 people or do you want him to participate on that Gala Dinner were he might get tired and thus maybe he will not be able to perform tomorrow? As you can understand this reply coming from his manager’s mouth was very tough for me, therefore I had to reply: Let’s make sure that he can sing for the people tomorrow. So, regretfully as you can imagine, we had to inform our Prime Minister that the Gala Dinner event would have to take place without the participation of the person in honor!

Which were the most important celebrities you have meet through the years?

As I mention before, Frank Sinatra was the most important one, but I had the opportunity to get interviews or organize concerts for Tina Turner, La Toya Jackson, Barry White, Dione Warwick, Gloria Gaynor, Shirley Bassey, Carlos Santana, Debbie Harry, Jerry Lee Lewis and many others, singers, and actors from Hollywood. It is very interesting that when you meet famous celebrities and talk to them, you realize that they are in fact ordinary people like you and me. And some of the have very interesting stories to share!

What initiatives or projects are you currently focusing on as the managing director of Amuse?

So, the projects that we are currently aiming to, are mainly private events from India, Lebanon, and Arab Countries mainly for the summertime on Greek islands such as Mykonos. We know that Athens and our islands are highly appreciated at this and people from those countries want to organize, weddings, parties or even their corporate events here, so we are aiming to bring these events in Greece.

How do you integrate your engineering background into your business and event management endeavors, and in what ways has it contributed to your success?

Being an engineer gives you the opportunity to operate like a drone seeing things from above so you can understand how they should work in the best possible way. As you know very well engineers are very successful in many different areas apart from engineering such as: finance, marketing, sales, management, and many other positions. Your studies give you the opportunity to see things in a much clearer way compared to other professions.

As a prominent figure in the Greek business community, what advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs and professionals looking to make an impact in their respective industries?

If you want to succeed and make an impact, never let go of your dreams, work two times harder than the others, don’t let problems and other obstacles let you down, accept the fact that you will fall several times and never forget where you started from and where you are heading to. Set a target from the very beginning and even though you may deviate several times on your way, you will most surely get there!.

How do you envision the future of event management and what role do you hope shaping this area?                                                                                                                                                       I strongly believe that events will rise more and more every year because people have the need to get together, exchange ideas and learn new things or have just fun together with coworkers or total strangers. In this respect I am very positive and confident about the future of events and of course about the future of Amuse in this field.Now regarding my personal vision is to be able to share my expertise to as many people as I can because our market needs well trained professionals and I really feel that I am ready for that.

Interview conducted by Andreea Arsene

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