Event Management Skills

We all have our own event management skills. From arranging a birthday party to planning for your annual summer holiday, these all require some degree of planning and management.

Planning and organising a professional event with over 5000 attendees in less than a week does require its own set of event management skills.

We highlight the top 5 event management skills that will help you plan and run a successful event that will never be forgotten (in a good way!).

What is Event Management?

The definition of event management is the processes involved in the planning and running of an online or offline event. Event management is a project management profession which focusses on every aspect of events, from choosing a location to following up on attendee satisfaction.

What is an Event Manager?

According to Seek.com Event Managers are; professionals responsible for the development, coordination and organisation of occasions such as weddings, festivals, conventions, conferences, exhibitions, concerts and trade shows.

Event managers possess their own event manager skills and duties specific to their role of event manager.

The Duties and Responsibilities of an Event Manager Include:

Planning events from start to finish in line with requirements for the stakeholders, target audience and in line with project objectives.

Suggest ideas for events and build on these with creativity

Plan and prepare event budgets

Negotiate with suppliers, vendors and work closely with procurement team on event forecasts

Take charge and coordinate all the event operations

Liaise and work alongside marketing teams with promotional activities for the event

What type of events do Event Managers run?

• Conferences

• Seminars

• Meetings

• Team Building

• Trade Shows

• Business Dinners

• Press Conferences

• Networking Events

• Incentive Travel

• Opening Ceremonies

• Product Launches

• Theme Parties

• VIP Events

5 Event Management Skills You Need To Run a Successful Event

1. Communication

Event Managers communicate with a range of different on a day to day basis as part of their overall event management. From a brand sponsor to event attendee, they need to be able to communicate with people from all different backgrounds and walks of life.

One thing an employer may look out for in an Event Manager is strong people skills. Event manager skills include strong people skills which can be key to making sure event management is executed efficiently and an event is planned and run as smoothly as possible.

Other communication skills for event planners include excellent written and verbal language which conveys confidence, perspective and clarity. Event Managers are also required to be good listeners and be able to process information and communicate this with their wider team. These attributes can together complement each other and will make a well-rounded Event Planner.

2. Organisational Skills

Your organisational and time management skills will be a good insight into whether or not you would make a successful Event Manager and be able to excel in the event management industry.

A professional Event Manager will be able to prioritise their tasks to ensure maximum productivity from their time. Time is precious and should not be ignored when working in the event industry.

3. Budgeting

Event management skills don’t stop at written and verbal literature, they also reach out to the mathematician in you. Yes, we are talking about numbers and budgeting. An Event Planner or event manager will frequently be tasked with managing an event budget and ensuring costs are kept within scope. There are a number of really good tools out there that can help you with this including mybudget and calxa.

What Should Be Included In Your Event Budget?

For a simple business conference or seminar using Excel or Google Sheets will be sufficient. Start off by adding these headers into your budget;

• Area/Category

• Forecast Cost

• Actual Cost

• Comments/Details

From here you start filling in your event spreadsheet under Area/Category with all the costs associated with your event. For example: venue costs, presentation equipment, travel costs, marketing and promotional costs and catering.

4. Creativity/Eye for Detail

The devil is in the detail so they say. Do you have a keen eye for minor things? Then you may well possess the right event management skills to become a successful Event Manager.

A key event manager skill is for event planners to be able to spot when something is not quite right with the event and will easily pick up on issues and prevent things from turning into a bigger issue!

5. Technology Adopter

62% of marketers who use email marketing to promote their events use event management or event marketing software.

Using an event marketing automation software to promote your event streamlines the invitation and registration process and eases the pressure on the Event Manager. Most event managers have skills in using event automation software. A good Event Manager likes to be able to manage their attendees to make sure they do not miss anybody. An event management platform is ideal as they can store all your attendee data and attendee behaviour all in one place, no more manual paperwork!