I often ask myself, "What are the steps of becoming an events organizer? And how do I get started in the event industry?" I lack experience, although I used to work as an administrative and research assistant at University of Asia and the Pacific helping organize seminars and short course training. And I also helped some friends who are tattoo artists to organize their underground events but I believe those experiences will not suffice the demands of organizing my dream kind of events.
I firmly believe that research is the key, Isaac Asimov once said that "Self-Education is I firmly believe the only education there is". So I started reading literature online about events organization, planning , project management as well as time management. Which are crucial if you really want to be a key player in the industry.
I have to focus on one particular topic just like any other tasks it will be very difficult if you have a variety of work that needs to be accomplished. I told myself a lot of people are already in weddings, themed parties such as foam party and the like. So I concentrated on what will interest me and at the same time interest people that I know. My first as an events organizer (for those who follows my blog already knows that back in December I initiated a Vape Event) was into vaping, at first it is because someone close to me is into vaping but later on as I am starting to gather pieces of information met other people who are into vaping as well. It caught my interest as well. Determining my preferred event market is one of the challenges that I faced but identifying what is "IN"helped me in this phase of my journey as an events organizer.
But is is not an easy peasy lemon squeezy a lot of struggles came across my journey to events management and I would like to share them to you. An events planner should have a strong gasp of what are the role and responsibilities of an events planner. Strong skills on verbal and oral communication, organization and planning skills. Negotiation and budget management as well as marketing , creativity and public relations.
And these are among the skills that I may possess but have not been polished. It seems to me that I am a grade schooler, a mediocre when I am in the process of conceptualizing my first ever event. It is really difficult but I cannot be stopped by the mentality of a grade school student. I came out and prepared myself. How I overcome this struggle, I just researched, composed myself and with the guidance of some friends who are experienced events organizer I was able to manage.
This is a cliche' and I do not know if many of you are familiar with "It is not what you know, It is who you know!"? As a club promoter "networking" is the key to success and the same ingredient applies into events organizing. I learned that wherever you go, collect contact information from people that you think will be able a "feature reference" I never realized that a simple "nice meeting you" kind of note will bring me to a stronger business relationship.
Lastly, the who you know thing actually leads me to the challenge and struggles of securing sponsorship on my first ever event I admit it was a major flop and epic fail. A lot of factors contributed to that and I learned from those mistakes or wrong judgment call. Whatever you want to call it. There will always be a room for improvement and I cannot actually measure my efficiency and success in events organizing on my first ever event.
Some of the lessons I learned during the first event that I independently organized. Even the most reliable repeat client can cancel an event for random, unexpected reasons. If you’ve relied on that event and now it’s gone, you could be in trouble. Budget your time diligently and get a clear handle on how many sponsors, guests or exhibitors you will have , which will help determine what you should be charging. Otherwise, you don’t have a business—you have a hobby.
I am not on my second shot on this events organizing. Same event market "Vapers Night" and I would like to greatly appreciate the sponsors that help me make my dream come true. A huge and indescribable never ending thank you to Mr. Edgar Dizon to all of his friends Mr. Pierre and Rob Principe, Mr. Ian Santos and Mr. Flor Sweetspot Cruz to their circle of friends THANK YOU. I dedicate this article to them.
For feedback and comments email : mjrudio18@gmail.com
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