Start New Career as Meeting and Convention Planner?

Answer 1

Every day in cities large and small around the world, meetings and conventions are taking place, thanks to the expertise and assistance of a meeting and convention planner. Although no formal education is required to begin a career as a meeting and convention planner, the prospective planner should be a creative and resourceful person who enjoys interacting with a variety of people and can juggle several balls in the air at once in the process of planning a meeting or convention. Patience, a good sense of humor, excellent communication and logistic skills and the ability to handle details are additional requirements for becoming a successful meeting and convention planner.

When a company or organization decides to host a meeting or convention, they hire a meeting and convention planner as much as 12 to 18 months ahead of the event in order to begin shaping the focus and details involved in every aspect of the meeting or convention. This might involve arranging for a location such as hotel ballroom or civic convention center, getting groups of room reservations booked at area hotels, arranging for guest speakers, having meeting programs and invitations designed, printed and mailed to invitees, along with ordering banquet menus, entertainment and other amenities that will help every aspect of the meeting or convention be executed very smoothly and seamlessly.

Meeting and convention planners may sometimes work out of an office and sometimes find themselves on the road, inspecting hotels and meeting sites or visiting with clients. This career is definitely not a 9 to 5 weekday job, with many long hours, early morning starts and night and weekend work sometimes required to get the job done.

A degree in hospitality or foodservice, or background in hotel management, catering or sales and marketing is very helpful for pursuing a meeting and convention planner career. No two days are ever the same in this profession and the field is expected to continue to offer employment growth through 2018. Entry level salaries start in the high 20s and more experienced planners can earn upwards of $50,000 annually, especially after certification is received, offered by various special event industry councils.

The special event industry has an ongoing need for creative, high energy meeting and convention planner candidates who work as part of a meeting planning organization or freelance as a consultant.