Who is an Event Planner?
Amongst the plethora of career opportunities we are showered with, one of the growing and more interesting fields is that of an Event Planner. An event planner configures an event, organizes all of the parts of the event, and makes sure everyone at the event has a nice time. They are also referred to as convention and meeting planners. They do everything to make sure that these events go smoothly, and their responsibility extends from choosing locations to hiring caterers, entertainment groups, and other dealers. Event planners focus on the structure of a place, based on a specific theme or function and the expected gathering of people. Event planners are part of the hospitality industry, globally.
Starting up as an Event Planner
If you want to start your career in event planning, start off with getting a basic degree in management, because most employers are looking for aspirants who either have a bachelor’s degree or have substantial knowledge and experience of holding meetings and event management or hospitality. While a credential certificate might not be necessary, a Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) certification can offer you greater opportunities and help you get a job more quickly with bidding a higher salary.
If you are still a college-going student, you can ready yourself for your career and construct a portfolio by taking up internships, paid or unpaid (that would totally be your choice). By working alongside skilled and experienced professionals, you can gain great experience which later would give you an edge to acquire bigger projects. Doing an internship gives you an edge over others when you are searching for a job. Also, it can help you create your professional network.
Improving as an Event Planner
As an event planner, focus on learning required master programs that are useful in the hospitality industry. This includes project management, customer relationship management, and sales & marketing software. There are a few specific programs that you can use as an event planner professional, for example, Marketo Marketing Automation and Active Network EventRegister. Although a certification might not be required at all, earning a credential certificate can help you to impress potential employers and clients and also help in getting a better job or a better project.
The next important step is to choose a specialization. While some event planners work as generalists, many choose their specialization in a certain type of event, for instance, weddings, birthdays, business meetings, conferences, fundraisers, mall events, and corporate retreats. You must choose a niche to specialize in, especially if you want to start your own business.
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Skills found in a Professional Event Planner
Event planners need to be perfectly organized. Even minor events have several varied elements, that include caterers, guest speakers, technicians, etc. You must learn to work dynamically with people at all levels, from senior managers to servers, to make sure that the event goes on smoothly.
Negotiation skills are another essential factor. Part of your work is to keep the event within the allotted budget, which means going back to vendors often to discuss pricing and bargaining for a better deal.
Eventually, after all this, the most important part of being a good event planner comes with the ability to maintain your composure and patience. Things often go wrong in this job. Your client may not show up, the caterer may not have prepared sufficient food, or the technicians might fail. You must be able to deal with every difficulty with ease and calm and come up with better solutions.
Now as an event planner, there are a few social skills you can focus on. Starting off with communications. Communication is necessary for all walks of life, but why does it become so important for the job of an event planner? Well, as an event planner, you need to effectively communicate with your client, winning their trust and making them believe that you are the best person for their desired event.
Organizational Skills
Next in the list, we have organizational skills. If you are an event planner, you sure will be endowed with projects to handle and organize. While many people can work in chaos, it is important as an event planner that you follow the format, the rules, and the chronology while organizing an event. Remember, you are accountable to your client, and the client wouldn’t want to host a messed-up event.
Problem-solving skills are also something that you need to master as an event planner. Bargaining and budgeting are important too. You must be creative in your work and be able to manage events with utmost creativity and integrity. You will enhance your chances of getting better and bigger projects.
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As an event planner, multitasking is another skill that works alongside. To hold an impactful event you need to jog through the tasks and if you have a team working for you, you can even delegate some tasks to them, but ultimately, it is your responsibility at the end of the day to check whether all the works are done accurately.
Making a livelihood from the job of event planning can be challenging, but it can be a profitable job with strong growth opportunities in the future.
