Ever wanted to know what a week as a meeting and event planner looks like? Here is some insight into the life of one.
"What did you do this week at work?" someone once asked me. If you are an event planner, you know that person opened up a can of worms.
Being an event planner with Cvent means I touch on all sorts of events. Monday, I might be producing an onsite client training and then on Tuesday, I could be assisting with planning Cvent CONNECT 2018.
So how do I answer that question? I make it simple and break my week down into three different parts.
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Production
Producing events is a huge part of my job and each week there are different events to work on. These events include trade shows, customer & hotel success groups, client training sessions, seminars, EMAs and Cvent CONNECT. These are some tips I use to keep myself on track. I work to ensure that everything supposed to be at an event is there. This takes serious organization and communication with multiple different types of people. I work with employees simultaneously at Cvent, FedEx, and different venues to stay on top of the event. Site visits are crucial to choosing venues, and there is no shortage of those! Some days I am attending a walkthrough of a local venue, others times I find myself discussing catering options with potential vendors. Hosting events normally takes double the time of the actual event. I have to be prepared to spend time setting up, hosting, and cleaning up.
Budgets
A lot of what I do involves working within a budget. The biggest part of producing events is knowing how to handle expenses. I manage invoices and make sure that all budgets are allocated to the right departments. This takes having an eye for mistakes and being on top of all money spent. Contracts are crucial to the budget process. When dealing with contracts it is important to know the first presented copy is not the final one. There is always room for negotiating. For example, you might be able to get discounted rooms rates if you meet a certain amount of food and beverage. Sometimes the sum price of an event will increase due to demand for different things. For instance, if the AV company sees your event now requires a bigger screen, you might need to adjust to the additional costs. Prices can also decrease, which is a good "budgeting problem" to have! Make sure to keep a tab on all changes. I typically print everything out just in case.Design
My job doesn’t end with producing and budgeting events, as one may assume.No one knows what your audience needs better than you!Event planning also includes design. This is a rather broad category and covers a lot of things. Whether it's designing marketing t-shirts, critical Cvent CONNECT signage or simply swag passed out at trade shows, being involved in the design process is key. No one knows what your audience needs better than you! The design process requires working with multiple departments within Cvent and addressing the common goal: an exceptional attendee experience. Interested in finding out more about event planning careers? Learn more here!
