Become an event planner that organizes corporate events, birthday parties or weddings by volunteering with other event planners and taking classes in marketing, accounting and sales. Network an event planning business by making a Web site and contacting local vendors with the help of this free video on job information from a career service specialist.
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.
Are you tired of the ordinary conference center or hotel event space? The world has some creative answers for you, and all you have to do is look around a little. Brussels is one example of a city where you can find all kinds of unusual settings for your conference or meeting.
Belgium is one of the countries where beer grew up. This means that there are breweries galore in every major city and at least one in lots of the smaller ones. Some of them have been turned into event centers. One of those is the Brussels Events Brewery. To check out their space for yourself, go to www.eventbrewery.com.
Some cities offer event space in their museums. The Van Buuren Museum is an example of this–many of the great masters are on exhibit there, and participants can use the lounge or garden for events.
Some other ideas are historical homes and mansions, old schools that have been turned into multi-use facilities, and office buildings that have been renovated for everything from weddings to educational seminars.
So how do you find these great venues? Sometimes you just need some experience in the field, which brings you connections through word of mouth. However, most of these will show up on internet searches as long as you know what to look for–and often all this requires is knowing a little about what the client wants and needs.
So you like planning events, and want to make a career of it. Congratulations! Most people have no idea what they would like to be doing a year from now, so you are a step ahead of the crowd. However, if you don’t like working with corporations there may be another avenue for you, even in the ruined economy: weddings.
Sure, we’ve all heard in the news that people are cutting way back on weddings, and even cutting out the planner if they can. Many have gone to a DIY format, even down to the cake. However, this is likely very stressful, and can put a big dent in a couple’s big day. If you are thinking of becoming a wedding planner, go ahead. Just try these simple ideas to get started as a wedding planner in a bad economy. Read more…
