Day in the Life: Mathew Tait, general manager and festival director of Emirates Dubai Sevens – in pictures
Matthew Tait is the general manager and festival director of Emirates Dubai Sevens. All photos: Chris Whiteoak / The National
He is involved in developing commercial and strategic opportunities across both the Emirates Dubai Sevens and The Sevens Stadium. He oversees logistics, social media, marketing and the events calendar
Mr Tait uses his mornings to meet staff members to ensure everyone is on track and up-to-date
He will also check in on the full-scale infrastructure, hospitality chalets and bars, ahead of the event
Mr Tait will check the weather forecast to ensure the venue's partners have built structures that can cope effectively
The Emirates Rugby Sevens expects to play host to 180 teams from all corners of the world
This year's event has a number of new activations, including padel courts and a children's stage
The new children's zone will have its own line-up of Disney singalong shows, balloon bending and giant roaming mascots
One of the Sevens' partners is HSBC, which has its own section at the event
Every Wednesday, Mr Tait hosts an open forum to go through every part of the planning with teams involved
The padel courts being built for the weekend
Part of Mr Tait's role is ensuring that all provisions are in place for match day and event day, and that includes ensuring there are rest areas for players to chill out
Mr Tait will also spend a few hours of the day arranging and checking in on the entertainment plans for the weekend
There will be an official merchandise shop for visitors at the Emirates Rugby Sevens event this weekend
Despite long work days in the lead-up to the event, Mr Tait says it's worth it
The changing rooms are prepared to host the players on event day
There will also be netball matches throughout the weekend
