JUST over a year ago, Kirsten McAlonan, the PR head of the SSE Hydro, SECC and the Armadillo, was on a well-deserved holiday, and was determined to make the most of it.

Then her mobile phone rang.

"It was the then chief executive, John Sharkey," says Kirsten.

"He asked where I was and I said on holiday. He said he was, too, but he'd come into work and there had been a gas leak at the SECC.

"I drove to work, horrified, and could smell and hear the gas escaping.

"The whole area had been evacuated and staff removed to the Science Centre across the river.

"It was quite scary. In all my time here, it was probably the scariest moment.

"The police wouldn't allow me in, but I knew I had to brief the press. We had an orchestral show at the Hydro that night."

Because she'd left home in a rush, all she had were her purse and her house-keys.

"So I had to crouch on the ground, scribbling a press statement on the back of an Asda receipt, and then find a safe place where I could ring the press."

In the event, the gas-leak was dealt with, and the show went ahead, just an hour late.

It was just another episode in Kirsten's eventful career.

She has worked at the SECC since August 1993, and has seen the rapid expansion of the complex at first hand.

She still talks with pride at seeing the 12,000-seating-capacity Hydro gradually take shape.

Kirsten was born in Nottingham, and moved to Glasgow with her family when she was 10.

"My dad, a Scot, was a civil engineer and he wanted to progress his career," she says, "so we all came up here."

She left school, much to her parents' horror, while in her fourth year - "I hope my son doesn't read this"- and got a job as an assistant Glasgow District libraries.

She was at Stirling's Library (now GoMA) for six years but her exuberant nature often led to her being told to keep quiet.

Normally in libraries, it's the customers who receive that reminder. "I was probably a bit too raucous for that kind of business," she says now.

Her sister, Elsa, was a journalist. Kirsten, envious, wanted to do something equally glamorous. She decided on PR, after studying for a business qualification.

She worked at Clyde Action for a year, then sold store-cards in House of Fraser, before getting a job as a personal assistant with former Lord Provost Dr Michael Kelly's PR agency.

"I was there for seven years and got a feel for doing event management.

"Michael had the most amazing blue-chip client list and I got a great training working with such clients as British Caledonian and Scottish & Newcastle.

"One day I decided it was time for a change and I saw an advert for a PR executive at the SECC.

"I'd been thinking for a while about working in-house rather than working for an agency.

"Not only was this job in-house, but it covered lots of different sectors - exhibitions, conferences, concerts and live events, as well as the business side of it."

When she arrived at the complex, all that stood was the 'Big Red Shed' - the SECC itself. The Armadillo lay in the future, as did the Hydro.

"Most of the work I did then was related to events like the Modern Homes Exhibition, the Christmas Carnival, and the Boat, Camping and Caravanning Show," she says.

"Despite having quite a small budget I had to come up with ideas of people to open the shows and get as much press coverage as possible.

"The person I was most impressed with was the actress Honor Blackman, who opened the 50th Modern Homes Exhibition.

"The theme was gold, in honour of her role as Pussy Galore in Goldfinger. She was in her 70s at the time.

"She spotted a stand with lots of hats, and she started posing with all these hats. The photographers loved it, of course.

"Unfortunately, the guy who ran the stand could only see the back of her head. He didn't know who she was.

"He told the photographers that if they wanted a proper model, his girlfriend had done some modelling and she could oblige them.

"At which point, Honor turned around, fixed him with that frosty glare of hers, and said in that distinctive voice: 'I've had my moments'.

"The guy was absolutely mortified."

Kirsten also got Christine and Neil Hamilton to open the camping and caravanning show - "They were game for anything" - and the girl group Eternal to open one of the outdoors leisure shows.

She also remembers the epic scale of the Rotary Convention of 1997, which attracted a remarkable 24,000 delegates.

The fire that broke out during the Hydro's construction process was a big challenge for her and the rest of the corporate team.

But, like the gas-leak in 2013, it was dealt with, and life continued as normal.

Kirsten is delighted her career-path has taken her to the heart of the huge entertainment operation on the banks of the Clyde. It's an ever-changing job she has come to love.

"I can be anywhere in the world and if someone asks me where I work, and I tell them, they've heard of this place - they know someone who knows someone that has been here."

She laughs. "I was in Spain once, on the way to the airport. I got talking to the taxi driver, and he said he'd been to see Bob The Builder, of all things, at the SECC!

"It's a great ice-breaker, to be able to say you work here. You can always find something to talk about with people. It's a very sociable kind of job to have."

russell.leadbetter@ eveningtimes.co.uk