Skift Take
Event planning is not for everyone, but for many it is the job of a lifetime. Here are just some of the reasons event planners love their job and are proud to do what they do.
Eventprofs are a passionate and resilient group of people that often thrive under the pressures of the job. Of course, sometimes event planners can have a love/hate relationship with events but many wouldn’t ever dream of changing to a different career. So let’s focus on the positive and highlight some of the real reasons we love to do what we do and why we are proud to call ourselves event planners.
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Variety
In the space of a single day you could be checking out a new venue, having a demo for some new technology, meeting with clients and brainstorming ideas . No two events are the same and as you are probably juggling multiple projects at once, you probably don’t have an average day either. Even if you are having a day of admin at your desk, an event planner is likely to undertake numerous different roles. Variety is the spice of life and event planning certainly keeps us on our toes. There is no time for boredom in the fast-moving world of events!
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People
Whether event planners are born or made, it takes a certain type of individual to be a successful event manager. Generally speaking eventprofs are a lot of fun and seem to be drawn to others working in the industry. Working in a dream event team is the best way to get results, help to make the fast-paced event industry less stressful and share the workload. You can bounce ideas off each other and collaborate on problem-solving to find the best solution. You also enjoy the victories as a successful event team is likely to be close-knit, going out for drinks and socialising after a big win and supporting each other through the challenges; taking it as a team, win or lose.
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Travel
Event planning can take you anywhere. Whether it is an event in the next city, a different state or even a different country you are likely to explore some exciting and interesting destinations. Whatever the destination, travelling in style often means travelling like an eventprof. Hopefully, there are plenty of sights to see when you get the occasional break and a variety of experiences that you can try while testing out parts of an event package for your clients, just like a working holiday!
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Negotiating
Negotiating might not be the first thing you think about when you consider why you love your job so much, but it can be a fantastic adrenaline rush when you get what you want. A real negotiation ninja can make the other party feel like they want to give you more and that they aren’t compromising, so everyone is happy.
It’s not always about money though, you could use venue negotiations to get room upgrades, better WiFi, technical equipment, catering or other perks included in the original price. All of these small wins make you feel proud of yourself.
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Fulfilling People’s Wishes
Creating dream events for your clients or boss and making your attendees happy is a real pride moment for event planners, who have often endured many challenges to create what they have been visualizing and planning in their head for so long. Understanding and producing the wishes of your client or boss effectively can be challenging but also very rewarding and likely to encourage greater loyalty.
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Cutting Edge Technology
The event industry is innovative and many attendees want to be wowed and see the latest technology up close. As an event planner you get to work with exciting event tech and may even be working with virtual reality, drones or 360 degree cameras. As an event planner you are looking to the future and getting ahead of technology to anticipate what attendees want to see. Whether that’s planning in the hotel of the future, anticipating technology trends or coming up with concepts for event entertainment and boosting user experience, you get to use technology to give attendees something they haven’t seen before and wow them!
The technology isn’t just for the attendees, some of it is designed to make event planning easier or to smooth some of the event functions to make the planning process more streamlined.
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Creativity
As an event planner you get to explore your creative vision and see an idea be turned into reality, from concept to execution. Those who get to express themselves creatively tend to be happier and have a more balanced life, so as an event planner you get the best of both worlds! Plus, you also get to showcase your own creative talents and ideas to inspire others, which not everyone can say about their job!
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Flexibility
While the hours can be plenty and sometimes include unsocial hours, there can be flexibility involved in event planning, as it is project based and you can work from anywhere. For those who prefer early mornings or late nights as their most productive hours, or have family commitments, they can choose their schedule. That doesn’t mean the hours aren’t long, or the work demanding, but managing your own deadlines is a vital part of being an event planner.
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Challenges
The event industry is fast paced, competitive and high pressure which many #proudeventprofs thrive in! There are plenty of challenges to overcome, such as short lead times, or restrictive budgets but issues force us to think of new and inventive ways to work. Original ideas and work-arounds can be the foundation of a great event and when it is completed gives us a greater sense of pride.
Event planning can be challenging day-to-day too when trying to work with unforseen circumstances, difficult people, overcome obstacles or sell more tickets. It’s these challenges that make event planning exciting, keep us on our toes and make us really love our job, particularly when it gives us a chance to shine and prove why we are successful eventprofs in the first place!
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Recognition
While this probably isn’t a big reason for being an event planner, it’s always great to have your hard work recognized. This could be a simply thank you, overwhelmingly great feedback, a testimonial or a small gift of appreciation. Recognition and praise can help keep you motivated during the long, lonely hours. Recognition can also help to bring referrals to bag high profile clients or more events to boost your eventprof career and allow you to take on more exciting projects.
It can also be nice to receive recognition from others about what you do and realize that many are envious of your role as an event planner.
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Results Driven
There is no greater feeling that watching the results of several days, weeks or even months worth of hard work and effort. You get a fantastic AAA view of the events you are planning and even though you are working behind the scenes you can take a moment to soak up the atmosphere. You can also see first-hand how the attendees react to certain event elements, what works and doesn’t and how you can change or improve in the future directly from your audience. Maybe this is one of the biggest reasons that event planning is so addictive.
In Conclusion
There are plenty of reasons that event planners are proud and love their jobs, some are more personal and could involve specific clients, events or obstacles that they have overcome while others just love the flexibility and logistics of getting it done. Regardless of the reasons, it takes a special type of person to be a successful event planner but it is easy to see the appeal and the reasons why so many love their job.
