If you want to become a professional event manager but don’t know where to start, we’re here to help.
To begin with, you need to acquire the right skills for the job. This is crucial whether you’re looking to manage spectacular celebratory events, like weddings, birthdays, trade shows, music and film festivals, or buttoned-up business meetings and conferences. The right event management skills can determine how much you’ll gain from the estimated $438.8 billion events industry.
Below, we’ve outlined what professional event management entails and highlighted the top courses you should consider to level up your career as an event manager or run your own event management business successfully.
What Is Event Management?
Event management is the intricate process of creating and hosting different public and private events. It involves handling all the moving parts of various events – from research to execution and post-event strategizing.
It’s different from event planning, which leans more towards developing relevant event ideas and activities that can take place during an event. As a professional event manager, your role extends beyond event planning and includes overseeing the event live to ensure all the plans are executed smoothly.
There are five major phases of successful event management:
- Research – where you understand a client’s objectives, personal desires, and vision for an event.
- Event design – with the client’s objectives in mind, this phase involves brainstorming possible concepts, themes, and flow of events.
- Planning – the event planning stage lays out the best way an event can take place to achieve a client’s desired outcome. In this phase, you’ll have to consider various event details, including the budget, venues, regulation checks, activities and timelines, etc.
- Event coordination and control – successful completion of an event requires seamless coordination when setting up for the event and during the event itself. You're in charge and must oversee or control various technical, creative, and logistical elements to ensure everything goes as planned.
- Evaluation – the post-event assessment phase involves reviewing the event data and return on investment (ROI) findings. Here, you compare the event’s input and output, considering the gap between the two, and how well you achieved the client’s objectives.
Many event managers consider this final phase difficult because it involves analyzing different data sets to evaluate the event accurately. However, there are event management platforms, like Perfect Venue, you can rely on to simplify your event assessments. The platform will help you capture all event data under one roof and has report features that make your analyses easier.
Overall, success in the event management profession requires several skills to execute each phase effectively and meet the profession’s demands. These skills include organizational, planning, communication, interpersonal, negotiation, technological, risk management, creative, and problem-solving skills. The ability to remain calm under pressure is another must-have skill for event managers.
Proper education and training are crucial to gaining all these skills and becoming a successful event manager.
The Importance of Education and Training in the Hospitality Industry
Proper education and training will give you an in-depth industry knowledge and the specialized skills you need to handle the challenges of the ever-evolving hospitality industry. Besides these it’ll also offer the following benefits:
- Professional credibility. Obtaining certification in event management shows how committed you are to your professional development. It adds to your profile and credibility within the industry.
- More job opportunities. Having an event management certificate increases your job prospects. It gives you a competitive edge in the highly competitive events industry. Employers and clients are more likely to hire you since you’ve undergone rigorous training and possess the necessary qualifications or credentials.
- Networking opportunities. Besides gaining knowledge, taking event management courses opens doors to essential networking opportunities in the hospitality industry. Many programs facilitate valuable interactions with industry professionals, allowing you to expand your professional network and establish your career on solid grounds.
- Entrepreneurial advantage. If your goal is to launch and run your event management business, pursuing the right course and earning a certificate in the field will get you halfway there. You’ll learn relevant event management practices and acquire the expertise to set up and grow your venture effectively.
Top Event Management Courses
Now that you understand how education and training influence your career growth in the events industry, here are some event management courses to consider.
Certificate in Events & Convention Management
The Certificate in Events & Convention Management program is a comprehensive course offered by the NYU School of Professional Studies. It provides a solid grasp of theoretical and practical knowledge on managing various events successfully, including design and production, venue selection, contracting, stakeholder, and risk management.
You’ll also learn the economic value of different types of meetings and gain the necessary skills to conduct these meetings in a way that produces specific outcomes. Once you complete this course, you’ll be well-prepared to organize and manage events of all magnitudes, from small corporate events to large seminars and other social events.
Event Management Graduate Certificate
Offered by UCF: the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management is an excellent event management program. It teaches the information and practical know-how you must have to efficiently manage events in the private, public, and third-sector contexts.
The certificate covers various topics, including event marketing, organization, and administration. You’ll learn techniques and strategies for budgeting, promotion, selling, ticketing, and concession. Also, this course is available in person or online, and open to local and international students.
Event Management and Design
The Event Management and Design course is a short online course by Florida International University. It focuses on the event design and planning phases of event management. Proper planning is the foundation of executing successful events.
Upon completion, you’ll have the skills to effortlessly design and plan for various event types, including special events. You’ll also learn all about budgeting, pricing, and the laws involved in event management as well as how to use social events as marketing tools. An advantage of this course worth noting is that it’s all online. You can take it at your own pace.
The Certificate of Completion (CCL) in Hospitality: Meeting and Event Management
This event management program, designed by Scottsdale Community College, prepares students for a successful career managing events within the for-profit and non-profit sectors. In this program, you’ll learn how to organize and manage special events from concept development through completion – from designing, planning, financing, marketing, coordinating, and managing risk.
You’ll also learn additional insightful ways of managing a business in the hospitality industry. These include professional service management techniques. They will help you create favorable guest experiences and integrate professional, legal, and ethical standards into your hospitality business practices.
Conclusion
If you are passionate about starting your event management business or pursuing a career in the industry, investing in an event management program is worth it. The specialized knowledge, practical experience, professional credibility, and networking opportunities different programs offer can enhance your chances of succeeding in the industry.
We’ve provided a few examples of courses to consider above, but you can register on various course platforms, like Coursera and Udemy, to access more event management course options. These are often self-paced programs. You can take two courses at a go, or one after another, to acquire the skills you need to thrive at different stages of your career as an event manager.
Consider starting with the free introduction to events management course on Coursera to understand the basics before scaling with other classes.
In addition to investing in your training and education, you may want to equip yourself with essential event management tools, such as Perfect Venue, to simplify your day-to-day operations. These tools will make it easier for you to meet the demands of the dynamic events industry. Book a free demo to see how Perfect Venue can help you.
