If you are wondering how to become a corporate events manager, below are tips and advice on training for and beginning careers in this area of advertising, as well as job prospects in the UK.
The Job Description
Events managers are responsible for organising and running any kind of promotional, social or corporate event. They control entire projects from the planning stage through to running them, making sure that every element comes together on time in order to allow a successful and enjoyable event.
Typical responsibilities:
Establishing the requirements of the client
– Having your own ideas for events
– Working out budgets for the client, as well as timescales
– Looking for venues, finding contacts and searching for suppliers
– Finding the best price for the client
– Organising catering, hiring security and supervising contractors
– Event management and marketing of the event
– Adhering to Health & Safety, following set insurance regulations.
You would often specialise in organising a particular type of event, such as parties and weddings, exhibitions and conferences, advertising product launches or fundraising events.
Person Specification
The key personal attributes of a good events manager include:
– Strong organisation and multi-tasking abilities
– Excellent communication skills and the ability to liaise with people at any level
– A customer friendly attitude
– Ability to solve problems when required
– A keen eye for detail
– Calmness in a highly pressurised environment, working to set targets and deadlines
– Excellent negotiating, sales and marketing abilities
– Good administration and Information Technology skills
– The ability to work alone or in a team with positivity, motivation and enthusiasm.
How to become a corporate events manager
You can come into events management various backgrounds and often dont need specific qualifications, as employers may seek relevant experience and transferable skills.
You may find a degree advantageous, alternatively a foundation degree, BTEC or events management HND / HNC. Courses often involve practical work experience. Other useful subject areas – hospitality, marketing, management, PR and business.
Whatever your qualifications, ideally you would have experience of organising events, which could be from related field such as conference / banqueting at hotels, travel or PR. You might have organised some events in a role elsewhere, perhaps as PA or HR assistant.
You could work your way up from a General Assistant or an Administrator role within a specialist event management organisation. Temping in a marketing department could provide you with relevant experience and the chance to progress. Daily duties could include organising small events and lead on to more corporate events.
You may already have some experience of event management, for example you may have done some voluntary work at events eg – as a steward. This would give you an insight on how events run, as youmay have been liaising / building rapport with various contacts.
Apprenticeships are a valuable way of getting into specific areas of work. It is worth looking within your local area at various industries and seeing what is available at the present time. Employers often look at the skills they need and send candidates on appropriate apprenticeships.
Training and Development
Most organisations would like you to train on site, although some companies may send you on external courses.
When you are working in the industry, relevant qualifications you could gain include:
NVQ in Events – Levels 2, 3 and 4 in
NVQ in Events (Temporary Structures) – Level 3
While you are working, you could study part-time courses including:
HNC in Event Management
Various qualifications from the CIM – Chartered Institute of Marketing
A professional organisation you could think about joining is the AEO – Association of Exhibition Organisers or the ACE – Association for Conferences and Events. This would help towards training and they provide various networking opportunities.
The Pay
To begin with the salary is generall – £16k – £20k per annum
If you have experience – £25k – £40k per annum
Salaries in Management roles are – £50k – £70k per annum depending on experience
Benefits could include commission and employers may have a bonus structure – depending on the job responsibilities.
Job Prospects
Working for various organisations within event management, for example – charities, hotels, conference companies, leisure facilities and exhibition venues. Local authorities, universities, schools or large companies may want in-house events to be organised.
To find candidates, employers may place advertisements in local or national newspapers, events publications, on websites or with recruitment agencies who deal with event management companies.
Once you have previous solid experience, you could handle larger events with bigger budgets, enabling you to progress either into management set yourself up doing freelance work in events.
Useful industry contact:
Association for Conferences and Events
ACE International
Riverside House
High Street
Huntingdon
Cambridgeshire PE18 6SG
Tel: 01480 457 595
https://www.aceinternational.org