Jacquie Rogers: My worst job

30 April 2010 by
Jacquie Rogers: My worst job

Jacquie Rogers is the general manager of the BT Convention Centre in Liverpool

What has been your worst job?

I once worked in taxidermy when I lived in the South. I worked in a peculiar little natural history museum on the outskirts of Brighton with an equally peculiar team of curators. The entire museum was an anachronism, consisting of Victorian dioramas filled with stuffed animals and birds and an all-pervading aroma of preservative.

What was so bad about it?

Two things, really. First, defrosting road kill - whatever was brought in went straight in the freezer and was then thawed out at a later date to be stuffed and mounted.

Second, emptying the stomach contents of seagulls and scraping out stoat's sex glands. Brighton seagulls live on a diet of McDonalds, doughnuts and popcorn. The pungent odour clings to your skin for a good 24 hours - it certainly stops you from enjoying your food!

We also had a chap who kept snakes and lizards in his home, who would make donations to the museum. Reptiles have a unique odour and he wore very heavy scent in an attempt to mask the smell. It didn't work - it was just a clash of eau de reptile and cheap cologne.

What did you learn from the job?

I learnt too much detail of the internal organs of animals and birds, and also that taxidermy is a job for those with a strong stomach and no sense of smell.

However, despite all that, I really enjoyed it. If I had kept it up, I'd be making a fortune now in modern art - it's the latest creative.

What is the best bit of your current role?

The moment when delegates and visitors' preconceptions of Liverpool are blown away when they visit and realise what a great meeting destination the city is.

There's also the big wins, of course, and the opportunities to answer bizarre questions like these.

What's next?

Always innovative, ACC Liverpool [home of the BT Convention Centre] has many more surprises up its sleeve - watch this space.

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