Tap to Read ➤

Event Management as a Career

Event managers are hired to organize social activities.
Janani Rajagopal
As the economy grows in leaps and bounds, there are various industries developing rapidly, and the event management industry is one of the most prominent. This involves the process of organizing a professional event for a selective target audience.
It includes visualizing concepts, planning, budgeting, and perfect execution of major events such as corporate seminars, exhibitions, product launch, or organizing personal programs such as wedding celebrations, theme parties, etc.

As a Career Option

Event management, the most aggressive form of advertising and marketing, is a glamorous profession and offers enormous scope. It is a good career option, which does not require much investment and offers a lot of independence and flexibility.
No formal degree or qualification is required, but the person should have a genuine passion for conducting programs, have very good organizing capabilities, and should be flexible to work for long hours; the events to be organized are at erratic times and would require a lot of networking, interacting, planning, and most importantly, flawless execution.
Every minute detail needs to be thought of and well taken care of, which requires perfection, systematic planning, and patience as well, as you deal with a variety of people during the course of your work.
As the nature of your work deals with the interaction with people from various domains, you need to be polite and tactful. It is also very important to hone your networking skills and maintain good public relations.
Event managers have to start working at least two months in advance as far as major programs or shows are concerned. Most companies approach the ones with a basic concept of the event and budget in mind. It is then entirely up to the latter to develop, visualize, improvise, and execute the idea into a concrete and successful event.
Becoming this professional can be very lucrative. At the same time, it requires a lot of hard work and efforts. Most of them work on a freelance basis as it allows them to be independent in making decisions while not requiring to share their remuneration.
Most companies prefer employing freelancers as it is cost-effective and much easier to access their services as and when required or when they actually plan an event.

The Process

  • Managing events is mainly all about coordination, right from the beginning.
  • You start off by pitching for an event, i.e, you have to gather orders for it.
  • Be it a small function or larger gatherings, every event manager/company has to submit a project report replete with the finances required for it, based on which assignment is given in favor of them.

Types

Global

The biggest events are those that are arranged at the global level. These international programs are mainly sports events hosted by different countries; for example, the Olympics. Typically, such large-scale functions also require Government involvement to meet expenses and to ensure safety and security of the delegates from the various countries.
While international sports is the mainstay of this category, other programs such as live performances by international artistes also come under it. There are also social and cultural events hosted internationally to create widespread awareness about varied global problems (for instance, global warming).
Hollywood stars and prominent celebrities from various fields travel across the globe, spreading awareness as part of the event.

Corporate

It refers to the ones hosted by the corporates for their employees, as well as for their clients and customers to build relations that serve as social for executives and managers to share varied aspects of their domain. The corporates also encourage staff to attend seminars, conferences, and conventions, in order to keep them abreast with the latest trends.
This industry is thus thriving and has developed rapidly, alluring the youth to take it as a career option, and offering the flexibility to work on a freelance basis that is a prime advantage not many other industries can offer.