Reasons to start your career in event management

Are you organised? Punctual? Love details? Outgoing? And enjoy a great gathering?

Then a career in event management may be the perfect career for you! Event managers spend their lives planning memorable events for their clients and ensuring that these special functions run perfectly on the day.

It can be an incredibly exciting, busy and fast-paced career. If this sounds like something you’d love, read on, for the reasons to start a career in event management!

The hard work is always worth it

There are very few feelings as good as seeing something you’ve poured your heart and soul into play out perfectly.

Whether it is a high-concept fashion show, a folk music festival, a fairy-tale wedding or a 60th anniversary party, you will never tire of the satisfaction you will get from watching a planned event unfold and seeing the delight on your client’s faces.

You can take it anywhere

Event management is a career that you can take anywhere in the world.

When you get itchy feet, you can pack up your career and take it with you on your travels.

New York, London, Paris, Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore – the world is your oyster with event management!

No two days are ever the same

Every event you plan will be different, and one thing you can expect from a career in the events industry, is that no two days will be the same.

One solution to a problem may work for one client, but it may not work for a different one.

You will always be reinventing the wheel, putting a new spin on things and using your creativity to think outside the box.

It’s full of variety

Variety is the spice of life for event managers. One day you may be planning a lavish beach-themed wedding, and the next day you could be coming up with ideas for the perfect office 1920s-style Christmas party.

Event managers can control how wide or how narrow they want to throw their professional net.

So, whether you want to focus solely on weddings, or christenings, or if you want to do it all (corporate events, team building days, parties, anniversaries, festivals, lunches, sales meetings, birthdays, weddings, cultural events, christenings, graduations, etc.) the choice is yours!

You can go freelance, join an agency or work in-house

As an event manager you have the choice of starting your own business, working for an event planning agency or seeking in-house employment at a company working on its yearly calendar of events.

Each career path will offer its own exciting possibilities. You may even find yourself swapping between freelance, agency and in-house work throughout your career!

Work in your pyjamas

You can do the bulk of your job from the comfort of your own couch! As long as you have a phone, a computer and internet connection, you can sort out most event details without leaving home.

Then you can travel to cafes and hotel lobbies to meet with clients, while inspecting venues, meeting suppliers and sampling wares. You can line all your appointments up to suit your schedule.

It keeps you on your toes

A career in event management will engage all of your skills and will always keep you mentally stimulated! You will need great social skills for interacting with clients, venues, guests and suppliers.

You will also need the knack for organising, a high level of attention to detail and a love of punctuality.

As an event manager you will also use your imagination to create unique and beautiful events; and you will need to be as gifted as houdini at problem solving — for those moments when a performer doesn’t show up on the day, or a client has a last-minute change of mind.