Event Management
Event management falls broadly within the hospitality sector. Event managers are responsible for the organisation of events, which might include charity fundraising, exhibitions, fairs, conferences, concerts, weddings, musical festivals and product launches. Event managers might cover all of these types of events, or specialise in one specific area.
You might also be interested in careers within leisure, travel and tourism.
What does an event manager do, and where could I work?
Event managers liaise with clients, manage and coordinate suppliers and usually manage staff from the planning stage to the day of the event. This includes amongst other things, discussing with clients what they might need or want, agreeing and managing budgets, researching venues, negotiating deals with suppliers and contractors, supervising a team and marketing the event.
Event managers could work for:
- A specific venue, such as conference centres, museums, arenas
- Local authorities, charities, or other public institutions
- A specialist event management firm
- As a by-product of another job, in PR agencies, for instance
- Themselves, as freelance event managers, for example, wedding planners
Is it similar to public relations (PR) and marketing?
Events management and hospitality roles are careers in their own right, but there may also be overlap with PR and marketing.
Event management can be an important part of public relations and marketing, as a key tool for promotional and sales activity e.g. exhibitions and trade fairs, or to generate publicity. Events may also be linked to sponsorship deals, in which case PR professionals will manage image and reputation by the use of communications and gaining press interest in events their clients are involved with.
Marketing focuses on the positioning of a product or a company in the market and on the identification and advertising of the distinctive aspects of the product or service, so again, events can be a crucial element of the marketing plan.
Events managers will also need to understand PR and marketing techniques in order to ensure the target audience for their events are engaged and communicated with effectively.
How can I find work experience?
This is a competitive area, so getting work experience will be essential. The Power of Events website gives an overview of this industry, current sector news, podcasts and describes areas you could work in, so ideally research this first and consider possible areas you might like to gain work experience.
Ideas for experience could be at festivals, private business, wedding venues, sporting organisations, the charity sector etc. Research organisations in your region and consider time you can offer. As well as this, consider what you could do at university to gain experience, for example organising the end of term ball or a fundraiser for a university society.
The Power of Events website also has a list of events organisations so you could reach out and ask for work experience, plus advertised vacancies.
You could book a careers appointment with us to get help with identifying work experience opportunities.
Where do I look for vacancies?
What skills do I need to emphasise on my application?
Working with clients is key, so your communication and customer service skills are very important. You may wish to highlight skills in listening, problem-solving, negotiation and relationship management.
Events management also requires you to be highly organised, with excellent planning skills and attention to detail, time-management, and the ability to multi-task and work under pressure.
You will also be called upon to be an effective team-member, showing additional skills such as flexibility, tenacity, and problem-solving. Additional skills are resilience and a sense of humour to manage the ups and downs of orchestrating large scale events.