Convention Planning Job | Planning Conventions | Event Planner Jobs
Convention Planning Career - What is the Job of an Event Planner?
Conventions are essential to bringing people together in order to discuss common ideas. The first step of planning a successful convention meeting involves determining the goals and the plans that they want to communicate.
Convention planners help find the venue for these meeting sites, whether they be hotels, conference centers, or more formal settings. Meeting planners are also responsible for finding lodging, food and drinks, and any high tech needs, such as high speed Internet and projectors. Meeting and convention planners must also consider transportation, and make recommendations to the management of the corporation as to the best venue.
There is a large degree of business savvy involved in planning conventions, as organizers must offer the best deal for their clients, which means setting financial objectives, and negotiating contracts.
Meeting planners may also need to be well versed in marketing, as sometimes the goal of the event may be to garner press coverage.
Working Conditions for Meeting Planners - How is the Working Environment of Convention Planners Jobs?
Depending on the personality of the aspiring convention planner, a meeting planning job can be very fast paced and demanding, with many deadlines and high profile events.
Convention planners spend most of their day in an office making telephone calls and organizing various aspects of the convention. Event planners usually only have to travel when they are going to the event itself.
It is common for event planners work to last more than 40 hours a week, and there may be a need to work weekends if a large project is in the works. Very little physical activity is involved in convention planning, besides the ability to stand for long hours.
Meeting Planner Education - Train to Become a Convention Planner - How to Receive Your Education as a Meeting Planner
A bachelor’s degree in marketing, accounting, or some form of finance will go a long way to increasing your reputation with clients. A few universities offer majors in meetings management, which would teach you how to conduct and organize a successful convention. Some of these convention management programs require over 100 classroom hours and can last up to two years.
Of course, it is not necessary for one to have formal training in event planning. Entry level planners usually perform mundane tasks for more experienced meeting room planners, who were higher upon the food chain. Entry level meeting planning jobs usually involve planning small meetings, and moving one’s way up to medium scale, and then becoming a full partner in the planning organization or starting their own meeting planning business.
Other helpful meeting and planning skills include the ability to speak multiple languages, as some clients may be international, and having a natural skill with numbers in order to negotiate the best deals for one’s clients is helpful.
Convention Management Certification - How to Become Certified in a Meeting Planner Job
The most important factors in achieving a job as a convention planner involve drive and being successful in one’s on the job event planning experience. There are two major programs which offer certification to meeting planners, which include the Convention Industry Council, requiring at least three years of meeting experience and fulltime employment during that time, as well as the Society of Government Meeting Professionals, which requires a three day course and an exam.
Outlook of Meeting Planners - What is the Future of Conference Planning Employment?
The employment outlook of convention planners should grow about 20% over the next decade. With an economy that is increasingly global, the need to travel long distances and establish new relationships is only increasing with time. There is no substitute for personal contact in business transactions, and as such, in person convention or event meetings will always be popular.
One must keep in mind that the business cycles, which will impact event planner employment during a time when budgets are tight. Government meeting planning is the most secure of all planning jobs.
Conference Planning Pay Scale - How Much do Event Coordinators Earn?
The average earnings of convention planners in 2006 come to the amount of $42,180. The high 10% of meeting planners had earnings over $70,950. Those event planners working in government earned slightly lower than the average at $41,110.