EASYUNI Ultimate University Guide 2013 Issue 6 | Page 37

E XC L U S IVE F EAT U RE

What is an Event
Planner?
An event planner is the person
– or, sometimes, a group of
people – who professionally
organise an event, which
can be anything from a
wedding, stage performance,
prom or conference to major
worldwide events like the
Superbowl, a presidential
inauguration and festivities
in New York’s Times Square
during New Year’s Eve.
Basically, any occasion that
requires the gathering of
people, where every detail,
however minute, is taken
care of, be it invitation, food,
decoration, speech, and
everything else in between.

Nature of Work
As an event planner, you
need to keep everything
under control and be
extremely organised. An eye
for detail is fundamental,
as you need to be on top of
things. Depending on the
event, there can be a lot of
guests to call, decorations
to choose, food to taste,
and people to supervise. No
detail is too small for the
event planner. However,
if you hate routine, then
this is not a job for you,
as there is nothing routine
about event planning.

Qualifications
and Training
Though there are no
universal education
requirements, some basic
training is needed to
improve key skills. Event
planners can complete
any bachelor’s degree
programmes in hospitality,
communications and
public relations. Some
hospitality degree
programmes offer
concentrations in
event planning.

Among the classes you
need to attend would
be marketing, facilities
operations, media relations
and cost control strategies.
Once again, this is not
obligatory but it will sure
make an event planner stand
out from the rest.

Skills and Traits
First, event planners need
creativity as they have to
come up with lots of great
ideas, even ground-breaking
ones, sometimes even with
a small budget. Second,
organisation skills are
essential, so that everything
runs smoothly as planned.
Nothing can go unsupervised
– all within a given budget.
So, an event planner has

to know how to manage
a client’s money correctly
and responsibly. An event
planner has to be versatile
enough to work with what is
available at hand, and often
with a team. So, no egos
or class distinctions here.
Many times things will not
go as planned, so a planner
has to be flexible enough to
improvise on theoriginal plan
and fix any problem.
Although most event
planners usually have these
skill sets in them already, with
enough practice, anyone
can become a notable event
planner. Each successful
portfolio will only heighten
your status further, and lead
to more events to manage.

easyuni Guide 2015

Issue 6

35