On it’s surface, few careers are as exciting as those involved with business event planning. The mere thought of having the opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the world’s finest corporate minds is enough to attract just about anybody. That said, believe it or not, corporate event management isn’t for everyone.
In fact, for real success to come about on a regular basis, it takes a certain kind of person to be involved. Though we’d never exclude anyone from converting their personal, professional dreams into reality, the following five attributes are most commonly associated with the best corporate event planners:
1) Personable
A corporate event planner needs to feel comfortable working with people. Yes, there are a host of tools that make the planning of a conference, workshop or dinner an easier endeavor, but at the end of the day, if you’re not routinely winning the trust of people through face-to-face interactions, you’re not doing your job correctly.
2) Communicative
This goes along with being personable, but it takes things a step further. Regardless of industry, the best communicators are able to adapt their communicative tacts—both verbal and non-verbal, mind you—to meet the preferences of the person with whom they’re speaking. For the most part, even though you’re working behind the scenes, the need for frequent client meetings and negotiation make business event planning more difficult for those who don’t communicate well.
3) Resourceful
Ask any experienced event planner to talk about the importance of resourcefulness and you’ll likely be listening for a long while. Case in point? This is arguably the most important attribute for effective business event planners. It doesn’t matter how much preparation you’ve put into an event, if something can go wrong, at one point or another, it likely will. In such a scenario, your resourcefulness will either serve or fail you.
4) Organized
Though business event planning specialists are often referred to as “managers,” they’re also sometimes known as “coordinators.” Basically, this is due to the fact that they must constantly coordinate the responsibilities of a number of teams—usually, at the exact same time. Needless to say, for the faint of heart, this can be a real issue.
5) Passionate
Business event planning can be very stressful. Simply put, without a passion for the bumps and bruises that are bound to take place en route to making an awesome event happen, an end product’s quality will severely be compromised. Though concrete skills like time management and finance can be learned on the job, passion can’t be taught. Without it, you’re not likely to go very far.
So, do you think you have the stuff to take the world of business event planning by storm? Only time will tell, but if you genuinely possess each of the aforementioned attributes and are willing to put in the time and effort that’s required of such a competitive industry, you’ll undoubtedly accomplish great things.