Event management can be one of the most fun and dynamic fields to work in today. It is a fast growing multi-million dollar industry. Event managers are responsible for a wide range of projects and tasks. They can coordinate everything from festivals, concerts, sporting events and conferences. When you’re an event manager, an event’s success rests on your shoulders.
Event management is an important strategic marketing tool, so anyone who wants to get involved in the fast-paced world of communication and marketing should consider events management.
Event managers coordinate everything from events for the Olympics to major charitable events, and even down to a simple business breakfast for ten people. Read on for more information about the kind of person who would make a good event manager, and the kind of responsibilities expected via the event manager job description.
What kind of person makes a great event manager?
Someone who will make a great event manager is someone who can be:
- Well-organized and great at time management
- Outgoing and a natural “people person”
- Flexible
- Enthusiastic and self-motivated
- Able to “think on their feet”
- Willing to work odd hours or additional hours
- Good at managing other people and working with a wide range of clients
- Creative
- Able to accomplish a set of goals with an event, like fundraising or attendance
- Passionate about making sure everyone has a good time
- Hospitable and welcoming
- An eye for detail
Think back on that friend in college who always threw the best parties, or the friend you know now who is perfect at helping other coordinate weddings, showers or brunches. An event manager should be well-organized and able to conceptualize everything from the major ideas and themes for an event down to the simplest details.
Responsibilities of Event Managers
Event managers are often responsibility for all creative, technical and logistical aspects of an event. This can mean that they’ll need a natural sense of organization, a “big picture” mind for the goals of the event, as well as a creative mind for tackling the details and atmosphere an event is attempting to create.
Event managers can expect to:
- Survey potential event sites
- Work closely with clients
- Draft budgets and manage cash flow
- Create identification for a supply chain, and work with other businesses for catering, decorations or other aspects
- Procure event sites
- Negotiate pricing
- Schedule for the event lead-up and the event itself
- Design the site and coordinate the “look and feel”
- Make sure the event is in line with health and safety concerns, including crowd management
- Hire security and coordinate a plan
- Publicize the event
- Confirm attendance
- Make sure technical details are in place, including rigging, sound, lights and video
- Creating an event’s “Wow Factor”
Education Requirements
A growing number of universities offer undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in event management. Often an events management degree is related to marketing and public relations. Some degrees have specific focuses for event management when it’s related to the fields of festivals, nonprofits, businesses, hotels or hospitality, mass media, and major corporations.