Next time you wonder whether college fees are going to waste on offspring who do more partying more than studying, take a little heart from the story of Cyril Giorgini and his rise to become founder and CEO of Auditoire, which has an extensive presence in Asia. Giorgini’s first taste at organising events came as a teenager when he and friends hosted parties while at business school in France.

These became large-scale affairs and when the ‘rave’ scene exploded in Europe, organisers began trying their hand at corporate events. Paris-based Giorgini combined the ‘edgy’ qualities of the rave scene and his fondness for exhibitions and the arts into Auditoire, the creative events organiser that later became part of advertising giant TBWA.

Love exhibitions
It’s a very simple story. My CV is only one line… when I was a teenager, I was more interested in partying than studying. At the age of 20, I continued organising parties, but it became more serious when we started promoting events. I also love exhibitions, and that is why we decided to become an events company.

Privatisation
Between the ’80s and ’90s, the nationalised industries in France were being privatised. We became promoters of events for these companies, so this offered us a new experience and we became specialists for the likes of the French power company. Our work began reaching audiences of 80,000 people and the digital arena.

TBWA
When we joined BDDP, which later became TBWA, we kept our share. We believe in being entrepreneurs and not just working as a commodity line of a business. We still have a complete interest in the company.

Luxury brands
We decided to make it big in China in 2006, and opened an office in Qatar and China in the same year. This naturally brought us to organising events for the luxury brands and the watch industry.

The streets
Our information and ideas come from everywhere – what we see in the street, what young people are doing. For the work we do you need a very curious mind, you have to love detail and be a very passionate person, because you work 18 hours a day.

Making a difference
What differentiates our business is we have to be clear that no client is the same as, say, Adidas. Secondly, it means being creative with sound and digital content as this gives added value for the clients. We sell experience… and the appeal is trying to keep it as long as we can. It’s always risky to do this at events, but the difference comes with having to brief, debrief, rebrief again…then debrief.

Giorgini loves...
Jogging
This gives you a better way of thinking. Keep running for 10km and you discover more.

Intimate clubs
Small, private clubs are fashionable in Paris, but close if they become too popular.

David Lynch Museum
This venue opened during fashion week in Paris, but it has closed too.

Collecting art
I am a collector and galleries connect my preferences for the new and interesting.