What is event planning?
What is event planning?
Event planning is the art of planning a convention, part of a exhibition, a ceremony or for example a sport competition. An event planner needs to work on budgeting, establishing the dates of the event, selecting and reserving a suitable location, acquiring all necessary permits from the authorities and coordinating all involved other event logistics. In the creative process of planning an event, the event planner needs to develop a theme, arrange artists and speakers, coordinate all necessary utilities, select and arrange the decor, tables, chairs, tents and all other requirements such as catering, security, toilets, emergency plans and so on.
How do you plan an event?
First an event planner needs to establish the purpose of an event with his client: it could be a product launch, a company celebration, a sport event or a music festival. Then the event planner needs to work on the location, guest list and content, such as dancers, music or other forms of entertainment. The opportunities for locations are endless and typically match the overall event concept. Standard locations for events are convention centers, museums, hotel lobbies, shopping malls or any other type of interesting places outdoors like beaches, public places, parks or any type of arenas. Once the event location has been selected by the event planner (event organizer), he needs to look into preparing this event with staff, choose the entertainment and present the concept back to his client. He needs to look into all details to make the event a success: food, drinks, decoration, entertainment, music as well as budgeting, marketing, advertising and other logistics. Important for an event planner is to able to work within time lines and to be able to coordinate all parts smoothly to work perfectly at the actual day of the event. Only a perfect managed and organized event will be a success and satisfy a client fully. Event planners have therefore mostly flexible and quick thinking personalities, which can work around interruptions easily and have a mind for practical solutions.
How to become an event planner?
Event planning is a quite new career and requires training and experience. An event planner needs to be able to deal with pressure and work efficiently. To be able to communicate with many people simultaneously is crucial for an event planner to be become successful. Event planners are also knows as convention planners, meeting managers or conference coordinators. Whether this career is right for you, depends on your creative capabilities, your organizational talent and your ability to deal with stress. Event planners need to be very flexible with time, the working days around the actual event can be very long and demanding.
There are many B2B publications on the market, which educate the event market about trends and developments in their industry. One way to go, in order to get into the event industry, is seeking a job with an established event planner. Normally there are opportunities to start on a lower level, such as an assistant in one of the event related areas and then to work your way through once you have gained some experience.
Here a directory list of the largest event planners worldwide:
Abigail Kirsch, New York
www.abigailkirsch.com
A Joy Wallace Catering Production & Design Team, Miami, USA
www.ajoywallace.com
Along Came Mary Productions, Los Angeles, USA
www.alongcamemary.com
AMCI, Marina del Rey, California, USA
www.amcimarketing.com
Barkley Kalpak Associates, New York, USA
www.bka.net
Blue Plate, Chicago, USA
www.blueplatechicago.com
Bob Gail Special Events, Los Angeles, USA
www.bobgail.com
Cirque Du Soleil, Montreal, Canada
www.cirquedusoleil.com
CMS Communications, Los Angeles, USA
www.cmsbiz.com
Deco Productions, Miami, USA
www.decoproductions.com
ECA2, La Plaine St. Denis (Paris), France
www.eca2.com
Eclipse Event Specialists, Washington, USA
www.eclipseworldwide.com
Eddie Deen & Co., Dallas, USA
www.eddiedeen.com
Eventmakers, Toluca Lake, California, USA
www.event-makers.com
EventQuest, New York, USA
www.eventquest.com
EventWorks, Los Angeles, USA
www.eventworks.com
Everything Spandex, Baltimore, USA
www.everythingspandex.com
Experiential Agency/(XA), Chicago, USA
www.expagency.com
Extraordinary Events, Sherman Oaks, California, USA
www.extraordinaryevents.net
Festivities Catering and Special Events, San Diego, USA
www.festivitiescatering.com
George P. Johnson Co., Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA
www.gpjco.com
Global Events, Madrid, Spain
www.global-events.com
Great Performances, New York, USA
www.greatperformances.com
Hargrove Inc., Lanham, Md., USA
www.hargroveinc.com
Hartmann Studios, Richmond, California, USA
www.hartmannstudios.com
Henry V Events, Portland, Oregon, USA
www.henryvevents.com
Imagination Group, London; New York; Hong Kong
www.imagination.com
Impact Productions, Westfield, N.J., USA
www.eventswithimpact.com
InVision Communications, San Francisco, USA
www.iv.com
Jack Morton Worldwide, New York
www.jackmorton.com
JHE Production Group, Concord, N.C., USA
www.gojhe.com
ME Productions, Pembroke Park and Orlando, Florida, USA
www.meproductions.com
Media Event Concepts, Austin, Texas, USA
www.mecteam.com
MGM Mirage Events, Las Vegas, USA
www.mgmmirageevents.com
MVP Collaborative, Madison Heights, Michigan, USA
www.mvpcollaborative.com
P.W. Feats, Baltimore, USA
www.pwfeats.com
Paint The Town Red, New York, USA
www.paintthetownred.net
Paradigm Shift Worldwide, Northridge, California, USA
www.psww.com
Party Planners West, Los Angeles, USA
Paulette Wolf Events & Entertainment, Chicago, USA
www.paulettewolfevents.com
Ronsley, Chicago, USA
www.ronsley.com
Sequoia Productions, Culver City, California, USA
www.sequoiaprod.com
SportsMark Management Group, Larkspur, California, USA
www.sportsmark.com
Star Trax Corporate Events, Southfield, Michigan, USA
www.startraxevents.com
Strategic Events, Atlanta, USA
www.strategicevents.com
Tamar Productions, Chicago, USA
www.tamarproductionsinc.com
TBA Global Events., Los Angeles, USA
www.tbaglobal.com
TSE Sports & Entertainment, New York, USA
www.tseworld.com
USA Hosts Destination Services, New Orleans, USA
www.usahosts.com
Vok Dams Group, Wuppertal, Munich, Hamburg, Germany; New York; Beijing; Bordeaux, France
www.vokdams.com
World Event Management, Lambertville, N.J.; Leeds, England
www.world-events.com