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Career Plan: Be an Event Planner!
from: John GrothCareer Planning: Plan the Big Event!
The event planning career is a recent career field addition. Prior to 1990 the career wasn’t listed in the Department of Labor job data base. The job goes by various names such as convention planner, conference or workshop coordinator, meeting manager or perhaps special event coordinator. Whatever the title of the job, meetings have tended to become more complicated with the expanding global economy.
Event planning has become a complex service that requires training and experience to properly carry out all the duties involved. Corporations and large organizations pay well for a high level of competence for this multifaceted service.
To be an effective event planner you must learn a variety of important skills. These skills range from selecting a suitable location for the event, travel arrangements, housing, rental cars, event set-up, entertainment, assist in planning the program, registrations and of course food. The full service event planner must be a skilled planner and problem solver, able to negotiate with a variety of people and coordinate meeting and events from the local level to an international event. They may in one week organize a small meeting for a group of executives. Then start planning a year or more in advance for meeting involving a thousand or more sales personnel from all over the world. Then they may end the week traveling to be on site for a regional recognition conference.
Many event planners are self-employed, and have a staff of specialists to coordinate the planning of events. Some specialize in smaller local events like weddings, reunions or local seminars and workshops. Larger corporations may have event planners working on the corporate staff. Others in the event planning field have found rewarding careers working for large hotels and big convention centers many in resort and destination areas.
Normally a Bachelor’s degree with a liberal sprinkling of business courses is a minimum requirement for event planners. There are professional organizations that offer certification programs in event planning. Excellent communication skills and fluency in English are also minimum requirements. A foreign language is becoming more and more important.
Any experience that builds strong leadership qualities, effective project management and other management skills would be a big plus. To be a successful event planner you must be strong in public relations and have demonstrative sales and marketing skills. To be a strong “people person” would be an understatement.
At times, your career in event planning, you will be working with dozens perhaps even hundreds of people all performing different tasks to get the event running smoothly. The potential for problems ruining the well thought event seems infinite. So you must be able to think fast and resolve problems, keeping in mind the timetable and budget. Your trouble shooting skills must be finely honed to pull off the successful event.
Unless employed by a hotel or some other facility that hosts conventions, you may have the opportunity to travel all over the world to some very desirable locations. The career is growing and with the right planning you too can have a career in event planning.
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