Meeting Planner Careers

The economy has certainly closed many doors of opportunities, but it has opened plenty of windows too for the right people. Meeting planners are one career choice that may actually experience far more new opportunities being open to them than opportunities denied, and this leaves the door open for a little moonlighting. There are a few things to be aware of before moonlighting as a meeting planner:

• Your day job may not be too happy about you moonlighting, even if you do it on your own time. Discretion is the key word here, and learning how to exercise it could be the difference between getting along and putting a few thousand extra dollars in the bank each month.
• Some of the most successful moonlighters have discovered that they can make the time zones work for them. If they live in a region on PST then they try to find work from home meeting planning opportunities for clients as far east as possible and arrange to come in a little late and leave a little late at their day job. The opposite is obviously true of those living clear across the county.
• Leveraging your existing connections and knowledge is ultimately what will make you more attractive. It might be difficult for caterers or concierges to keep things straight when they don’t know that you have two sets of clients, so be sure to let them know that you are semi-freelance and that discretion on their part is rewarded with more business.

There are many reasons why becoming a meeting planning might be attractive, but the top four reasons to consider a job as a meeting planner are:

1. The Salary – data gathered from salary.com, Indeed.com, and other sources all indicate one thing: meeting planners can make a great deal of money. The median average varies by site, but all sources seem to agree that salary expectations of $52,000 to $61,000 per year are quite reasonable.
2. The Benefits – On top of a very reasonable salary, meeting planners also tend to receive generous compensation packages. Bonuses based on performances are very common as are medical and even retirement assistance options.
3. The Job Itself – A meeting planner has to be detail oriented, but it is fundamentally a job for social people. It may not be possible to chat the day away every day, but one can plan on spending a good deal of time using both sides of their brain during any given day on the job. How many people can honestly say that about their career choice?
4. The Relationships – It is not uncommon for meeting planners to build strong relationships with clients, vendors, suppliers, and other important people. These connections may prove to be a useful safety net as well as a source for future opportunities.

So you are an organized person who has a lot of contacts in the travel world as well as in businesses of all sizes. You have at least a two-year degree in business. You have decided, based on all this, to be an even planner. Whoa, Nellie! Don’t hang out your “open for business” sign just yet–take a look at this list of questions to see if it’s a good career choice for you.

Are you social and sociable as well?

If you love spending time with people–often in large groups–and enjoy talking with them, give yourself a point in favor of becoming an event planner. However, enjoying talking with people and being a good conversationalist are two different things–you have to be able to think on your feet, talk on your feet, solve problems on your feet, and sometimes sleep on your feet when you’re an event planner, all while staying personable.

Can you change one person’s concepts into an experience?

If you can listen to a client’s idea of what she wants in a meeting or conference and be able to form a whole event in your head, you may be right for the job. However, no matter how organized you are, if you can’t conceptualize an event without constant detailing from your client, all you’re going to do is make her mad. Turning words into pictures is key.

Are you organized?

If the answer is no, don’t even try to plan an event until you have good structure and habits in place. An offshoot of being organized is immediacy–if you are a procrastinator, work on that first.

Do you have good budgeting skills?

A business degree does not make a good planner. Make sure you can set up and execute a budget efficiently.

Can you read a contract?

Much of your job is going to involve contracts. Even if you can read a contract well, you may get one that leaves your head spinning around. In addition to having the basics down yourself, always make sure you have access to a good contract attorney–he will be worth his fees if it keeps you from making mistakes.

While these skills are not the be-all and end-all of even planning, they are deal breakers if you have continued and/or insurmountable difficulty with them. Make sure you can handle all the pressures of any career you choose and the result will be success.