Meeting Planner Careers

Many of these blog posts have been about the various meeting planner careers that are available to you. It doesn’t matter whether you want to plan events for nonprofits, weddings and honeymoons, corporate meetings, or incentive travel for top employees–there is a career to match your creative streak.

However, do you know what the job prospects are for your chosen profession? The Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook has many of the answers you’re looking for. Even with the recession and government frown in the direction of meetings and planners, it says that this profession is expected to grow faster than average between 2006 and 2016.

It also says that some of this will be due to natural attrition–some people will retire, some will move on to other professions, and some may switch professions within the planning category. That said, the handbook also tells us, “Unlike workers in some occupations, meeting and convention planners often can change industries relatively easily, so they often are able to move to different industries in response to the growth or declines in particular sectors of the economy.”

This is important to consider when choosing your specialty. Think about the days when you might want to switch, or pretend that you are only planning a five-year-long career. If you think about where you want to go, and it’s within the meetings profession, you can start planning for it while you’re working and training now.

Thinking ahead should be one of your strong points as a meeting planner–use it for yourself as well, and be on top of things when you need a change.

The overall success of an event or meeting can be dictated by the size and layout of a room. This may seem like a very obvious statement to many meeting and event planners, however, it’s a detail that can be easily overlooked when addressing the multitude of other items associated with event planning. If a space isn’t large enough or set up appropriately, it can cause problems with everything from the cost of the food and beverage to the comfort of the attendees. When selecting a room, ask yourself this simple question: What purpose does the meeting or event serve?

Movement is Critical
Corporate meetings can be set up in many different ways. If a meeting is presentation-based, a classroom or theater style set up should be utilized. However, if the meeting’s focus is interactive, small clusters or a U-shape might be incorporated. The most important aspect of setting these types of meetings up, though, is making sure that there is enough space for the attendees to move around comfortably. One rule-of-thumb is that a standard 20 by 20 inch chair should be placed two- to three-feet apart in order to allow attendees enough room to scoot back. Additionally, there should be about 48-inches between rows of chairs to allow people enough room to walk down an aisle.

Dining in the Round
If dinner is being served at your event, using round tables allows participants to talk with each other and creates a comfortable atmosphere. Standard banquets should be set up in rounds of 10, however, if you need more seats, 12 is acceptable. If you’re looking to fill up space, rounds of eight are suitable.

Bottoms Up, Where’s the Bar?
Avoiding bottlenecks at your event is key. Two of the prime areas for bottlenecks to occur are near the main entrance and the bathrooms. With this in mind, consider setting the bar up in the back of the room as far away from these two areas as possible. Another benefit of a bar in the back of the room is that it brings people further into the room, thus avoiding the tendency of people gathering near the main entrance.