Working in Event Management Training

I’m often asked by students what it’s like to work in event management training. The best of both worlds I say! You have the creative freedom and buzz of delivering world class live events (as part of the course) while experiencing a tangible sense of reward by making a positive difference to students’ careers. They then usually ask if it’s the same working for an event management company. The truth is that much of it is the same, but the scales stretch from a creative and involving hub at one end to a less than comfortable dictatorship at the other! So here are my thoughts on what it’s like working in event management…

Corporate event management

If you end up working in an events team or department for a big corporate you can usually expect:

• big budgets (compared to Charities) and the experience of managing them
• a competitive standard in the suppliers that you engage
• the responsibility of selecting, negotiating and managing suppliers
• bigger salaries (if you’re lucky)
• longer hours (if you’re not!)
• the experience and responsibility of being treated as a ‘client’
• a more formal feel of wearing smart attire, business protocol to follow
• the possible downside of dealing with corporate heirachy/politics

There is typically less creativity involved within Corporates (agencies do this bit) but there is often an opportunity to enjoy the perks of events that have bigger budgets (staying in 5 star accommodation, travelling business class around the world, using the best caterers etc) As a career path, working for a corporate events team can lead to some great opportunities. For example one of my students started working for Goldman Sachs as one of their events team and is now a global marketing manager working in Dubai.

Charity event management

If you work in an events team or department for a charity you can expect:

• smaller salaries (sorry)
• more flexibility in work/life balance (except for the immediate lead up to an event obviously)
• often a higher sense of job satisfaction, in that you are working towards a great cause
• pressure to meet fundraising targets (you would be mistaken if you thought charities were not run like businesses)
• generally a more relaxed culture
• opportunities to develop a specialist skill in event management or use the experience as a platform to build on

Although relaxed there is a definite focus on every penny counting so the art of negotiation and supplier management is an absolute must. Perhaps the biggest advantage from my experience is the creativity and autonomy that you can have in a charity event. For example a recent student joined MAP UK and rather than just stuffing envelopes and doing admin she ran the entire event ticketing and guest relationship database for their annual gala dinner for 350 people…a responsibility that just wouldn’t happen in a large corporate event management team.

Event management Companies (Agencies)

If you work for an event management company you will usually experience:

• a work hard/play hard mentality. Event management companies are often seen as a young person’s game as much energy is needed to keep up. For this reason the fast paced and ‘buzzy’ feeling of an agency can be quite addictive but with high burn out rates.
• progressive thinking, both in event management techniques and culture
• high levels of creativity and fresh thinking, but also some exposure to the tried and tested formats that work
• a real sense of being a team, often brought about by shared, high levels of pressure
• exposure to both corporate and small business culture and activity
• focus on budgets and financial management
• a service culture, understanding of what customer and account management actually means

There are many event companies that also exist that may not run events but are directly involved in events – theme and decoration houses, staffing agencies, production companies, catering, venue management etc. What is common to all is that they now recognise the need for quality event management training to ensure they have confident and competent staff who can ‘hit the ground running’. This demand has been met by a series of event management training companies offering bespoke and accredited courses.

Event Management Training

I am also often asked about is what it is like to work in an event management training company. These are my personal reflections on what the experience of working for an event management training company is like:

• there is always the thrill of designing and running real event projects (which are live event briefs that our students work on and respond to)
• the satisfaction and buzz of sharing knowledge as a practitioner (all the trainers are live event planners with their own areas of expertise).
• a powerful sense of team/family that builds between the lecturers and students (that we carry on into our alumni programme)
• the knowledge that you are at the cutting edge of the industry (we always have to be current with changes in tech, venues, formats, agencies, briefs, thinking)
• most importantly the reality that you are actually helping individuals to experience their futures, to get meaningful work in a dynamic and growing industry

The truth is there are so very many different types of event companies. If I were to offer you some advice I would recommend trying all of the above sectors and more! I would also recommend getting some experience from a variety of event planning companies – from wedding event management to sporting events.  The beauty of this incredible industry is there is never any excuse to get bored as there is always a new area to be explored!