Event Planning – A Huge Market Worldwide

The international market for event planning is huge. When you stop to think about it for a minute, events take place all around us all the time. They break down into two main categories: corporate and social. The corporate market includes charities and non-profit organisations. Companies will host trade shows, conventions, company days out for staff, meetings for board members and more, while charities hold receptions and gala fundraisers. 

The social market includes weddings, parties, children’s parties, reunions, birthdays, bar mitzvahs, and so on.

So why do people hire event planners? Why not just organise it themselves? Two main reasons really: first they don’t have enough time, and second they don’t have the expertise either. In order to produce an event that goes with a bang you need both of those things.  So the market is huge and there are plenty of opportunities if you want to become an event planner yourself. 

However, event planning is not a 9 – 5 job. A lot of events take place in the evenings and at weekends. Although the planning can be done during the working day, you need to be prepared to work odd hours, and often late into the night clearing up when all the guests have left. 

Planning an event falls under a number of headings, the first of which is research. You need to interview the client and ask a lot of questions, keeping a note of the answers. If it’s a large event you may need to carry out interviews or surveys to ascertain if there is enough demand. You also need to find suppliers for things like event décor hire, catering, bars, vendors manning stalls selling suitable goods, stalls providing games such as those at fairs, and a whole lot more, depending on the nature of the event. 

All of this – event décor hire, stalls, and everything else – has to fit into the venue so you need a good eye to work out what goes where. Once you have done the planning you need to put up a proposal to the client. When that is approved you need to organise all the event décor hire, hire vendors, tables, seating, waiting staff, and whatever else is required. Of course you also have to supervise the event when it is held.

So there is a lot of work involved in event planning, but it can be a profitable business.