Event Coordinator

 

An Event Coordinators Role

Event coordinators are also know as event planners. The increased growth of ambitious and complex events has created demand for qualified event planners. From business meetings to fashion shows to music festivals, everyone wants their event to be unique and memorable. Especially with everybody sharing pictures of the events on social media. This is where the event planner comes in. The assignments vary in accordance with the clients being worked for and the specific events. 

Event planners use creativity and organisation to plan and host large events. You’ll be in charge of every aspect of an event from planning to the clean up part. Everything from corporate meetings to more personal events such as weddings. Whichever the event, the client will be expecting the event coordinator to go above and beyond to put on an event that they will remember. The client will be leaving all of the stresses to the event planner.

However, the pressure pays off knowing that you’re helping put together an event that someone has been dreaming of. Also seeing it all come together will help make it worth all of the hours that you will put in. Especially for personal events such as birthdays or weddings.

An Event Coordinators Tasks

Most event planners have the difficult task of organising everything before the event starts. This is usually done the day before or even hours before the start of the event. Such skills as problem solving, being organised and focused come into play at this moment because this is when most issues will arise. Here is a list of the tasks an event coordinator will be faced with: 

• Addressing issues that may arise
• Answering attendee questions
• Communicating with vendors
• Organising the registration desk
• Checking on room set-ups
• Ensuring food & beverages are set
• Discuss events with their clients
• Determine budgets and manage bills
• Set the time and location of events
• Manage the event's activities
• Ensure client satisfaction
• Attending client meetings
• Preparing budgets
• Finding and booking venues
• Liaising with other professionals such as caterers, florists and DJ’s
• Monitoring teams
• Clearing the venue after events
• Conducting evaluations
  
  
  

What Skills Do You Need?

Organisation and communication skills are alpha and omega. You also need to be extremely outgoing and a firm disbeliever in the word ‘impossible’. It is a role where unpredictable working hours are the everyday norm, along with working in accordance with strict deadlines, tight budgets and demanding clients. You must be business-minded and have a strong grasp of how the industry in general works. To manage an event efficiently an event planner must have a certain skill set. Here are some of the skills that will help you become a successful event planner:

 

• Open to collaboration
• Willing to adapt
• Creative
• Focused
• Ability to multi-task
• Good with budgeting
• Strong communication skills
• Works well under pressure
• Negotiating skills
• Attention to detail
• Team player
• Flexibility
• Great people skills
• High level of customer service
• Logistics oriented
• Resourceful
• Problem solver

Educational Requirements

A degree is not necessary for a job as an event coordinator. However, it can help you learn skills that will make your profile stand out. Certain qualifications and certificates can help you get noticed and hired. There are plenty colleges and universities that offer degrees in related fields. These courses are taught by industry professionals who know the business from the inside out. Look for courses in marketing and public relations, and focus on event planning courses. In case you're considering branching out on your own as an event planner, a degree will definitely help you understand the business side of event coordination. Especially when it comes to branding and marketing your new business.

There are no educational requirements for launching your own event planning business. However, many event coordinators start by working part-time or volunteering at events to win experience. An internship may help provide hands-on experience planning events. Students in such programs may participate in internships for hands-on learning and/or take courses in subjects like:

• Communications
• Event promotion
• Event management
• Food preparation
• Finance
• Ceremonial management

Your Event Planning Portfolio

If you are planning an event planning career, know that a compelling portfolio will help you a great deal in getting gigs and clients. Experience in event planning is the most necessary thing you need to break into the field. Learning by doing is one of the best ways to develop your event planning skills. Experience will help you move into more demanding roles. A way to get your feet in the field is by looking for open positions with an event planning company. A gig as an assistant or a scheduler will get your foot in the door and teach you valuable skills about the business. Put emphasis on learning to communicate with customers to understand their vision for the event, connecting with vendors, and the way things manifest on the day of the event.

Connect with local photographers to stage events layouts for promotional photos that benefit your portfolio. Put your creativity on display with unique event photos. Make sure you take before and after photos to show your work. Photo galleries, blog posts, and videos is a great way to display your experience. Exceptional content provides better results.

You can also start a blog and write about what you do as a coordinator. Network with other planners and offer to write guest blog posts for their sites. Another trick to build a proper portfolio is to offer your services to charity events. Charitable organisations can use all help they can get for their charity events. Jump into it to gain experience you can add to your portfolio.

Don’t forget to gather testimonials from clients. Testimonials boost credibility, showing that you can perform as well as you claim. Embrace different portfolio formats. There is no one best portfolio format. Reach the right clients with a variety of options. 

The Salary

This is dependent on many factors such as the size of the event, the types of clients that you work with, the area that you work in and of course, how much experience you have. It’s very possible to earn more than the average once you’ve gained a good amount of experience. The average event planner salary in the United States is $67,500 as of February 25, 2022, but the range typically falls between $59,500 and $77,000.

Landing Your First Client

For many event coordinators, the first client is a friend of the family. However, you will need to go beyond your immediate network to build a client base and expand your skills. By this time, you should have a portfolio and an idea of the type of clients you hope to draw. Share your portfolio with your network, and clarify that you are open to referrals. Experience is key in this industry and in order to gain clients trust, you will need to have a decent track record of planning great events.

Growing and Developing Your Skills

Spend time working with an established business while you're building your network and portfolio. Take on additional roles and responsibilities whenever the occasion arises. As I mentioned before, you may decide to branch out on your own at some point, allowing you more control over your clients and event types. Once you have a lot of experience and a great portfolio, you are ready to go for larger or more specialised events.