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I am going off to college in the fall at Auburn U and I would like to change my career to an event planner. I’ve gotten multiple answers from people such as hospitality, marketing, business and public relations. Help?
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Probably the best people to ask are the event planners themselves. If you live near a major city that has events at some high class hotel you can usually ask someone with a nametag who to talk to. However, during the convention or event, they won’t have time to talk to you. Try to get their business card or give them a card with your name, phone # and email address with a short description why you would like to talk to them. Trade cards and wait. Early morning is the best time to go.
Go to as many events as you can. Atlanta has major events so if you are close try there.
Generally, the events are held in warm climates with good golf courses. A lot of execs go to those things to golf and meet customers and network.
One thing an event planner does is negotiate with hotels for good prices and comps. The better you are at negotiating the better event planner you will be. Perhaps psychology will help. Business classes will help too as Event Planners also run small staffs to help them. They need to keep an eye on the budget and the honesty of those handling the money. Accounting would help there.
Finally, you need to keep the members of the organization happy. You are the point person to handle any complaints between members and the facility. Being a little unreasonable sometimes helps. Such as even if the complaining person is wrong, You are the person who made the deal with the hotel, if they want your organization to return, they should help you out with some comp.for the complainer.
I just talked to my wife who was the former president of a large professional organization. She said there are courses or special schools that teach this stuff but doesn’t know where they are. The lady who runs the organization my wife belongs to was raised in Philedelphi so there might be one there. The organization has it’t office in Washington DC along with a lot of similar groups. That is the best place to find a job.
It is a stressful job at times but pays well. Booze is free in most events so it is best to avoid alcohol all the time. It is too easy to become an alcoholic. Several times a year you will be away from home for extended periods of time so it doesn’t fit well with a family person with young kids. There is a high rollover of personell so there are always job openings.
A career in event planning doesn’t really require a degree. However, you most likely will want to go into business for yourself, so business courses would probably be most helpful. Consider something like entrepreneurship.