<p>I hate to seem dense but what exactly do event planning firms do? </p>
<p>Is event planning a viable career/industry? Why or why not? </p>
<p>Are event planning firms usually separate or part of large marketing firms. Would it be better to work for a large multinational firm or a small boutique specialty firm? </p>
<p>All opinions are welcome. TIA</p>
<p>Viable but very tough too. There are both firms that specialize and inhouse groups that handle it and other duties–often in marketing and communications areas. Have convention planners too. I think many just grow into it from small events as part of their job to full-time specialty. Lots of stress.</p>
<p>I think it’s also “feast or famine,” as when times are tough, more is done “in house” and when there is funding, there is a sudden need to spend the money before the deadline & events are scheduled with very short timelines. I know quite a few folks who do specific events as volunteers–lots of work & coordination with short timelines.</p>
<p>There’s quite a bit of competition as well and you have to be sure to have adequate insurance for yourself and events planned, especially premises liability.</p>
<p>For someone interested in event planner what should be his/her major in college?</p>
<p>I would suggest googling “Event Planning” and see what you come up with. </p>
<p>Many years ago I heard of a new major created called “Arena Management” to manage large Civic Center type arenas for Sports games or shows or Rock stars…</p>
<p>There’s also Public Relations, Communications, Marketing, Hospitality, maybe even an Event Planning major…</p>
<p>My cousin studied some sort of event planning at a local college and did event planning for Universities and then worked for Whole Foods in their Marketing Dept…</p>
<p>If interested, you could also take Entrepreneurial courses that could lead you to starting your own event planning business…maybe look into Babson College near Boston? The college specializes in Entrepreneurial majors…</p>
<p>University of Central Florida has a degree in Event Management:</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://hospitality.ucf.edu/academics/]Academics[/url”>http://hospitality.ucf.edu/academics/]Academics[/url</a>]</p>
<p>I notice if you drill down into this link that it says the program is the first of its kind in the U.S.</p>
<p>There is someone on the board whose daughter is working on this degree, which is how I knew of it.</p>
<p>I know someone who has been in on organizing some of the largest techie events - Microsoft’s CEO summit, South-by-Southwest, etc.</p>
<p>She booked venues, invited the right people, negotiated prices, made sure that seats, projectors and white boards were in place, worked with caterers, and made sure that everything came in under budget. It was a somewhat rewarding career but very stressful. To start, she worked for an event planning outfit with about 5 employees. The small outfit allowed her to get lots of responsibility quickly.</p>
<p>She majored in Economics, but I’m not sure that mattered. She is just super organized and detail oriented, and has an unusual ability to network with people. She has some of the most powerful people in the world on her speed-dial; one of her recommendations coming out of college was from President George H. Bush.</p>
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<li>1 to Magnetron’s post.<br></li>
</ul>
<p>Add: need the ability to work under very high pressure with people who are stressed out and sometimes behaving badly, and the willingness to modify plans quickly as the situation changes. (I’ve known many hyper-organized and detail-oriented people who have gone bonkers in that kind of environment.)</p>
<p>My sister’s done this kind of work for years as an employee of various institutions (both non-profit and for-profit) that have facilities. Big difference between event planning for a facility that handles weddings, luncheons,… and one that handles conventions, conferences, …</p>
<p>I have a young (~27) cousin who has had a lot of success with this – which is wonderful, since she had not previously had a whole lot of success with anything in her life. She currently works for a large advertising agency in Manhattan as an in-house planner for things like product launches, promotional events, sponsored tours, etc. She stumbled into the field after getting a BA in Hospitality (or something like that) at a directional state college. I am a little fuzzy on exactly how she got from Point A to Point B, however, because she has changed jobs on average once a year, and I don’t see her as often as that anymore. She worked at a large hotel in Las Vegas for a while, but at some point she left and a mutual relative helped her get hired at a smallish regional ad agency, where planning parties was one of the many thankless tasks she was asked to do. She turned out to be good at it, and she came to the attention of an event planning firm in NYC that hired her away. After she had been in NY less than a year, the big ad agency made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. Networking is obviously a big part of the story, and one of the skills that a successful event planner has.</p>
<p>D of a friend recently graduated from NYU and is working in NYC.</p>
<p>I know 2 people who are successful doing this. One (in Dallas) has a BA in Art History and Spanish and is very social and outgoing. I’m not sure what the other one’s degree is in but she went to the U of Wisconsin and comes from a heavily-academic family (brother has a PhD from Yale, that type of thing) - she broke into the fashion social scene in NYC and got her start that way. It’s less about credentials / academics and MUCH more about networking, enthusiasm, extroversion and being excellent with details. The kind of person who gets noticed, for whom “life’s always a party,” who is creative but also detail-oriented.</p>
<p>JHS: wish CC had a like button…</p>
<p>DIL is getting into event planning via wedding planning. She has been developing her own business for the past 3 years. The hotels all wanted at least 3 years experience do she is planning to apply for those jobs this coming year. </p>
<p>Her background - She was a laid off middle school history teacher and did her own wedding first. Very outgoing and networks everywhere.</p>
<p>Personally if I were hiring an event planner, I wouldn’t give a darn about her academic background (or whether she had a college degree at all). Is she creative, does she have great ideas, is she detail oriented, does she know how to make a splash or imbue an event with presence?</p>
<p>Would also want references on other events s/he has coordinated to be sure s/he could do the job we needed/wanted. That may involve him/her volunteering with established planners or working as an extra/hourly to get experience. Marketing would be useful, to help get the publicity out so that the event would be well-attended.</p>