Event planners are the professionals involved in the process of creation, development, and planning of medium to large scale events like festivals, ceremonies, concerts, business conferences, etc. The main responsibility of an event planner is to organize and plan every aspect of the event like the location, themes and arrangements, travel, security, etc.
Event planners work for organizing an event for personal to semi-professional purposes. Personalized event planning includes wedding ceremony, birthday/anniversary party, etc., while semi-professional event planning includes organizing a music concert, business party, and convention. Responsibilities of an event planner is similar to that of an event manager, but the latter includes large scale event planning pertaining to brand recognition and advertisement.
Key Responsibilities
The range of occasions for event planning is quite vast. Event planners have to organize each event differently, as per the occasion. Though the approach for planning a wedding event and other professional events are different, the main responsibilities of an event planner remain the same.
Key responsibilities of an event planning comprise:
The key requirements in any event-related planning are location, designing, lodging and boarding, security, logistics, transport, parking facility, toilet facility back-up, sound and multimedia, catering, and entertainment. It is the responsibility of an event planner to make a checklist of all and make sure that all the arrangements are in place.
Required Qualifications and Skills
The basic qualification required for being an event planner is graduation in event planning or other related field like event management, meeting management, hospitality management, public management, etc. Educational requirements for starting a career in this field are not much. One can start a successful career even after acquiring a certificate course in event management or planning. The key requirements for sustaining in this profile are skills.
The main responsibilities of event planning require one to have certain skills for management and multi-tasking, which include organizational and communication skills for planning and execution, time management, budget management, and personnel management. They need to maintain certain needs and requirements of set-up and supplies for different events like office parties, corporate meetings, conferences, festivals, and wedding ceremonies. Event planning is a multi-dimensional work and it requires one to have a sense of responsibility and keen eye for details to monitor every aspect of the event.
Career Prospects
The scope of event planning is expected to rise in the near future. As per the trade reports, the job openings in this field is expected to increase steadily by the year 2014.
Salary Compensation
The average salary of an events manager falls between $30,000 to $50,000 annually, though it mostly depends on the job location, industrial requirements, and work experience of the professional.
The scope of event planning is very vast, and this profile can fetch you a job in separate sectors like decor, catering, tourism, and hospitality industry. A brief knowledge about event planner responsibilities will surely help you in deciding if you wish to start a career in this field.