Event planning and production is such a simple, creative, and fun occupation that it is a wonder more people are not interested in pursuing this career path. To get an idea how unpopular the field is, just Google “event planning” – you will find a mere 115,000,000 sites. Just for fun, Google “trends in special events” – you will find over 11,000,000 sites. It appears there might be a little competition in the special events industry.
Every week I talk to people who think my life is simply one party after another. Almost daily I am asked how I managed to find a job where every moment is fun, fun, fun!
The truth is that I really do love what I do for a living – but glamour and fun is far less than 1% of what my daily routine entails.
Successful event planners work between 60 – 80 hours per week, mostly writing proposals, filing applications for food permits, fire permits, street closing permits, amusement permits, facility rental agreements, entertainment (among hundreds of other) contracts. Then we add the joy of negotiating hotel reservations, which usually means finding three or four properties who can offer the best deals on the items most important to each client, all of which work in varying industries and have entirely different requirements that must be considered in the negotiating process.
Finally after countless hours of mediating resources and offers between many vendors and your client (the most important person(s) in the process, you learn that the hotel/venue you had chosen has decided to schedule renovations during your event; you find out that a union strike has been organized that is expected to continue through your event (maybe the housekeeping department, the catering department, the maintenance department); or worse yet, a natural disaster has damaged the entire area and everything you have planned must begin all over again. These types of occurrences, although usually on a smaller scale, are frequent in this industry.
This is really where creativity kicks in gear. It takes many years of experience in Event Planning and Production to develop the skills, reactions, and flexibility to turn these crises into positive situations. It also requires having superb relationships with many, many vendors, who understand the Event Industry, and work with you to discover the best solutions to your challenges. You can check out our website for the range of services we offer – and we are a small company!
I have met hundreds of people who tell me they used to be an Event Planner. I often wonder why they are no longer in the business. I am guessing they found jobs where they could spend time with their families; or they didn’t realize the excruciating details involved in completing a great event. Or maybe, just maybe, they couldn’t stand all of the fun, fun, fun!
Everything's Eventful 
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