The Everything Guide to Being an Event Planner

Insider Advice on Turning Your Creative Energy into a Rewarding Career

Jennifer Mancuso

• Publisher: Everything
• Year: 2007
• ISBN:
  9781605502267
• Topic: Negocios y empresa
• Subtopic: Reuniones y presentaciones

Do you love throwing parties? Are you the most organized person you know? Can you thrive in a fast-paced environment? If so, event planning could be your perfect career choice! Seasoned event planner Jennifer Mancuso helps you to get started and succeed in this exciting field.This book's insider tips and step-by-step guidance will teach you how to:

• Tailor events to each client - from a corporate dinner to an intimate wedding
• Market and network to keep business coming
• Hire vendors that your client will love
• Build a great reputation in your area and beyond

Whether you've recently earned a hospitality degree or are simply looking for a fun career change, The Everything Guide to Being an Event Planner will help you break out of the routine and start a new, creative endeavor-one celebration at a time!

Chapter 1
An Introduction to Event Planning

IF YOU HAVE EVER had the desire to be a part of the top social events in your city, event planning is an excellent career path to take. The life of an event planner is filled with socializing and networking with people from all walks of life. As an event planner you will find doors opening in your social life as well. That said, it is also a very challenging position that involves many skills, including organizing, marketing, and hospitality. This chapter offers a general introduction to what's involved in a career as an event planner.

What Is Event Planning?

Simply put, an event planner is a person who plans social events professionally. Event planners are employed in many industries and settings, from restaurants, hotels, banquet halls, and party planning companies to Fortune 500 corporations and mom-and-pop operations. Event planners are also known as event coordinators, special event coordinators, or private event coordinators. For the purpose of this book, all of these titles will be referred to as simply event planner.

Many businesses have a single person or a core of people responsible for their calendar of events. Restaurants use a planner to book large groups coming in and to book private rooms. Hotels use a planner to book their function rooms. Hospitals, colleges, and corporations use a team of planners to coordinate functions for their doctors, professors, and staff respectively. The career path you choose as an event planner might be based upon your past experience, creativity, and prior education.

Event planning is fast becoming the most popular major among college freshmen in the restaurant and hospitality industry. There is also an increased demand within businesses to establish this position internally to streamline communications between different departments. For these reasons, the number of event planner jobs are at an all-time high, and the options within this field are bountiful.

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How will becoming an event planner impact my social life?

In many communities event planners not only plan functions but also attend them as well. Fundraisers, restaurant and nightclub openings, as well as press-related events are some of the many different invitations on an event planner's social calendar. Many companies employing event planners expect them to attend these events.

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A career in event planning can be accessed through education or hands-on experience, which makes it a great field for beginners as well as seasoned professionals looking to make a career shift. As you begin your career, you will meet event planners from different backgrounds and with different levels of experience. It is a fast-paced career in which you will be meeting new people and learning new things every day. The more experience you have, the easier it will be for you to increase your income potential.

Important Characteristics

An event planner is the main point person or contact for social and business events. You might be hired by a client looking to book a function or be employed within a business in which your main goal is overseeing the company's social and business calendar. As an event planner booking a function, you will find that oftentimes your point of contact is another event planner.

Event planners must be extremely organized. You will deal with so many details, both large and small, and your organizational techniques will be tested on a daily basis. As an event planner, you will also need to be a good communicator. So much of the success of an event comes from your ability to relate the needs of your client to chefs, staff, and vendors. Communication skills are a must for this career. Other positive attributes include:

• Calm demeanor
• Sociability
• Friendliness
• Efficiency
• Leadership
• Ability to be a team player
• Creativity

By using positive qualities that you may already possess, you will become a more attractive hire as you build your client base, interview for a job, and establish contacts. A positive reputation is very important for success as an event planner. Potential clients and employers may ask for letters of recommendations or references from your past experiences. To succeed as an event planner you must be trustworthy, generous, and patient. Your clients need to know they can trust you with their most important moments, whether that means coordinating a board meeting or planning a wedding. They should know that you have their best interest in mind.

Much of event planning involves the client's budget and expenditures. Often you will be asked to entertain events in the client's private residence. You need to remember that you are responsible for the actions of yourself and your staff. You will be accountable to the client if budgets go over or if any damage occurs to personal belongings. Accidents are bound to happen, and it is best to be honest and correct the problem rather than make excuses and lay blame on someone else. Offering to dry-clean a guest's dress after a server spills wine on it is a better solution than not acknowledging it at all. The dry cleaning bill will be a few dollars, which is nothing compared to an unhappy client. This will only increase your accountability with your client and employer.

Helpful Experiences and Specialties

It is likely that interests or hobbies in your past can be a springboard to event planning. If you enjoy entertaining friends in your home, this may have led you to the idea of event planning. The same can be said of a love of cooking, baking, and gardening. Perhaps you have a passion for wine, fashion, art, or music. These are all hobbies that can be useful in an event planner's career.

In fact, many careers in the hotel, restaurant, and hospitality industry also make for a seamless transition into event planning. Because employment in these areas usually entails dealing with the general public, you'll learn the etiquette, phone skills, and public speaking skills you'll need to effectively deal with guests and complaints.

It is possible that upon entering the field of event planning you will find a specialty within the field. A fashion enthusiast may gravitate to the creative department of a party planning company where she can coordinate china, linens, and centerpieces. An amateur chef may find a calling as a catering manager to develop menus. An art lover will find himself at home booking events for a museum. Even a sports enthusiast can use the similarities between the team environment of organized sports and that of an event planning team to her advantage. While you are deciphering the connection between your hobbies and the specialties of event planning, remember that it may have been these hobbies that attracted you to the field to begin with. It only makes sense now to use your strengths in your new career.

Floral Designer

A floral designer is a specialist in the florist field. A florist might be an employee of a flower shop or a shop owner but usually doesn't have as much experience as a floral designer. A designer is a person who is trained to make flowers into visual art. He may specialize in exotic or rare flowers, and his knowledge is broad and extends well beyond the regional selection of flowers in his area.

The craft of designing flowers includes creating bouquets, centerpieces, and large ornamental decorations. Event planners will call on floral designers when booking weddings, galas, and large festive events such as rehearsal dinners and holiday parties. Designers work closely with event planners to create themes, follow color schemes, and visualize creations that will work within the parameters of chosen venues.

In large party-planning companies, a floral designer is a member of the staff. She is part of the creative department that will brainstorm and work up a proposal that aids in turning clients' dreams to reality. Outside of a party planning company, you will find floral designers at high-end florists. To find a good floral designer, ask for recommendations from other event planners that have similar needs as your own.

Baker or Pastry Chef

A great baker may or may not have a culinary degree. A good percentage of the field has not been formally trained. In lieu of formal education, he may have chosen to travel and work as an apprentice for someone of great reputation and stature. He may also gain experience by working in the garde manger department of a large restaurant. Also known as a pastry chef, members of this field not only must make their creations look aesthetically pleasing but taste magnificent as well. Some pastry chefs specialize in only cakes or decorating cakes.

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Garde manger is a French term for the place in the restaurant where cold dishes such as salads, cold appetizers, and desserts are plated. A person overseeing this department is referred to as a chef garde manger.

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Whichever field of event planning you come to work in, chances are you will have the name of a baker in your Rolodex. Most catering companies, hotels, and restaurants employ their own in-house pastry chef. Still, requests will come from guests asking to bring in their own cakes from their favorite neighborhood bakery.

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When a client brings in a cake from another bakery, it is customary to charge a cake-cutting fee. Typically the fee is $2 to $4 per person, which offsets the lab...