Event Planning Courses – Are They Worth The Investment?

June 22, 2010 by Special Events Answers
Filed under Event Planning Courses

Event Planning Courses – Are They Worth The Money?

Event Planning Courses

Bianca wanted to start her own business in the event planning industry. She loved to party and loved being the center of attraction at the events and she thought it would be so cool to have fun and to get paid for it!

It sounds like the perfect job for anyone! Have fun and get paid at the same time! No wonder Bianca thought this would be a cool job.

So she jumped in with both feet, full of enthusiasm and excitement ready to start partying at her events and have a great life.

But Bianca soon found that her dream had become a nightmare. She soon discovered that she was working long hours getting shows ready and that she was often working weekends and on holidays while everyone else was having fun!

And that was only the beginning!

It often sounds like fun being an event planner and it can be, but if Bianca had taken event planning courses first, she would have been able to start with an idea of what she was getting into.

So back to the original question: Event Planning Courses – Are They Worth The Investment?

If Bianca had taken event planning courses, she would have known that she needed at least the following 5 qualities:

Love and care for the client & event

Ability to focus on details

Great organizational skills

Enjoy the process of event planning

Hard working ethics

Love and Care For The Client & Event

Bianca loved to party and while this is great, as an event planner your focus should not be on you having the great time. Your client should be the focus.

Your client is investing a lot of time and money into the event and has a specific reason for producing a special production.

They are looking for more sales or launching a new product or trying to create brand awareness or some other reason that is important to them and your focus should be on making this become a reality for the client.

People who work in this industry for fame and fortune do not last very long, but those who take the time to love their clients and go that extra mile are the ones who succeed.

Ability To Focus On Detail

An event is not just about drinks and food and a couple of bands, but a huge list of intricate details that weave together to make an event special.

Every detail both small and large must be planned in advance and delegated to the correct people in order for them to happen successfully.

It is often the small things that make the biggest impact both in everyday life as well as in the world of special events.

Clients will feel more confident about you handling the event, if from the moment of contact you pay special attention to their needs. Each client is different and you need to notice the things that they find important right from the outset.

Great Organizational Skills

Planning a special event is a bit like planning a war.

You must be a great “General” shifting your people and resources for the best results. If you are new to event planning then it maybe a good idea to have someone experienced in your team to help you as the flair for organizing events does come over time.

You will soon get to know how to put things into order, and it is imperative that you have regular meetings with your troops for brainstorming, updates and organizing.

Plan with plenty of time well ahead of your event as often one idea will lead to another with a domino effect and you need time to see the end result of your actions.

Enjoy The Process Of Event Planning

Almost never does an event happen overnight. It is normally a long process and depending on the size of the event can take a year or more to plan.

It is a bit like having a baby!

A small seed is planted as an idea and with love and care the event grows into a fully matured night out for the audience.

This is a process and you must enjoy the unfolding of the events and be excited about each new development and challenge of the show.

If you easily get bored after starting a project, then you need to hand over the event to your team who love the process and you oversee the project.

Hard Working Ethics

Event planners rarely get the limelight. Our job is to make others look good.

Rarely do we work Monday to Friday 9 to 5.

When everyone else is at the party having a good time, we are the ones working to put it all together.

You may have to say goodbye to weekends, Valentines Night, Christmas and New Year just to name a few.

Personally I love working these nights. For me making my audience happy is the biggest thrill you can get. Watching smiling happy faces with people having fun and forgetting their problems just for a moment is what it is all about.

Event planners are some of the hardest working people I know, but they weave it into their lives like a Director creating a movie so that we have wonderfully exotic lives surrounded by glamor, lights and action!

So is an event planning course worth the money?