Every person on this planet has a dream job. For you, it might be the Event Coordinator job. If that is true, keep reading to find the skills and qualifications that you need to acquire to become an event coordinator.
BW Productions is an event management company based in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. Having 28 years of experience in this industry, we served many happy clients and big businesses like Knorr and Unilever. Look at our portfolio and hire us to turn your dream events into reality.
Who is an Event Coordinator?
An event coordinator is a person who plays the lead role in managing your events. This person is responsible for all the management teams and possesses excellent communication and problem-solving skills.
An event coordinator keeps his patience under any mishap, manages your budget, deals with vendors, and dutifully fulfills his responsibilities. At BW Productions, we have professional event coordinators on board. They take on all the event duties and assist with the other event-related teams, for example, photographers and caterers.
Skills and Qualities for the Event Coordinator Job
As a new event coordinator, you might not be in a position where you can restrict the type of events you will manage. From wedding receptions to corporate events and festivals, you have to deal with them all to gain an experience in the event coordinator job description. So, to manage these versatile events, you may need to acquire many skills and qualities. These are the following.
Communication and Collaboration Skills
As an event coordinator, the ability to communicate wins over all other qualities and skills needed for this job. It is because – as an event coordinator or manager, you have to fulfill many responsibilities and collaborate with different clients, dealers, and stakeholders.
For example, you need to supervise the teams, deal & negotiate with different vendors, write contracts & proposals, and talk to the event attendees. All such tasks are essential in the event management process and require excellent communication skills.
Creativity
Events are all about imagination. People hire event coordinators because they want their events to be perfect & unique. And it can only be done when you create and implement new ideas. So, if you put creative effort into the event management process, you can succeed more than your competitors.
Creativity helps you turn boring events into exciting and memorable moments. It can help you generate innovative ideas whenever something goes wrong at the event. In addition, creativity can assist you with thematic ideas for events – like an unconventional location for a wedding reception. So, creative skills are needed for this job role to make an event unique and to adapt to unexpected circumstances.
Attention to Detail
It is conventional for the events to have something problematic on board – just at the moment when everything is going well. These mishaps can occur due to the negligence of the event coordinator or due to other causes. Even if you ignore the smallest detail related to the event, it can put you in big trouble.
Thus, to avoid troubles at an event and manage it without hassle, it is requisite that you pay serious attention to detail. This skill also helps you solve problems with vendors and dealers because paying attention to detail means tracking every tiny element of the event.
Time Management
This skill is super important in the events coordinator job. Because when you get appointed to this position, you monitor every detail from event planning to execution. It includes so many minute details & tasks that if you do not manage them timely, your event may get ruined.
For example, in the event management process, you deal with various vendors & suppliers. Suppose they cause you a delay, but you have already kept a gap in the deadline, you would survive the situation & there will be no impact on the final event.
Organizational Skills
Managing events is all about organizing details & scheduling tasks. If things go as you planned them, the events can stand out in the crowd. Organization skills help you throughout the event coordinator job. Some tasks that depend on this skill set involve creating effective timelines, managing team schedules, and tracking all the necessary documents about the event.
Flexibility & Problem-Solving Skills
As a human being, you are always vulnerable to making mistakes. At events, mishaps usually occur due to missing details or neglectful event planning. Or, these can happen anyway. But what matters the most is the ability to cope with the trouble.
As an event coordinator, you take hold of everything about the events. So, when an inconvenience happens, everyone looks your way. So, it is essential that you can work under pressure – which means that you have to be flexible at this job to solve problems that may arise during an event.
Budget Management Skills
Everyone knows that hosting or organizing events is not easy on the pocket. Plus, every person might not have much interest in maintaining & recording the details for the event budget. It is why people hire event coordinators.
For this skill, you will need to learn cost management and cost-cutting strategies – for example, how to negotiate with the vendors and bring up cost-saving ideas. It demands creativity and proper education to deal with this skill set. So, make sure you get certifications related to cost management because it helps you a lot in this process.
Passion
Being passionate is super important in the events coordinator jobs. It brings your inner dedication and motivation. It helps you bring up such ideas that are unique & impress your clients.
Other than that, as a passionate worker, you can motivate other team members, seek & learn new opportunities, and be aware of the current industry trends. To summarize, you can do better at this job if you are passionate and put your heart and soul into it.
Staying Up to Date with the Trends
In the events management industry, you must keep up with the new & current industry trends. These trends include learning new technologies and proposing innovative solutions to problems.
This way, you can do better at other event-related tasks, such as problem-solving, communication with clients, meeting with vendors, and vice versa. Eventually, staying up-to-date makes you more successful than competitors and improves your relevance.
What qualifications do you need to be an Event Coordinator?
Although, this role values and prefers work experience more than a degree or certification. Nonetheless, there may be some places where you need to show your qualifications as a professional event coordinator.
You can acquire a Bachelor’s degree in event planning, communications, marketing, hospitality management, and business administration. In addition, you can enroll in short-term courses and certifications such as the Certified Special Events Professional (CSEP) and the Certified Meeting Professional (CMP).
What kinds of events will you manage as an event coordinator?
As an event coordinator, you will encounter all kinds of events and project management tasks. Some of the most common events are Corporate events, Government events, Festivals, Trade shows, Exhibitions, Social events, Non-Profit events, Sports events, and Educational events.
Events may be different, but their management process is identical. It needs creativity, flexibility, passion, and other qualitative skills to be a perfect event coordinator.
How can you become a Good Event Coordinator?
To reach perfection in this job, you need to gain a grip on some essential skills – communication, creativity, time management, and interpersonal skills. Overall, a good event coordinator patiently monitors every event situation, keeps the people engaged, manages the budget & time, and shows passion for his job.
How Do I Choose an Event Coordinator?
Selecting the best event coordinator is the first step toward hosting an event. Following are some of the tips that might help you in this regard.
- Look at their portfolio and previous experiences that are similar to your events.
- Read their customer reviews, and check their business rating and reputation.
- Communicate with them and put all your ideas forward. See how responsive and appreciative they are.
- Check their services catalog. Make sure that your requirements fit into their proposals.
- Ask them questions – to know if they are comfortable working with your vision and ideas.
- Get quotes from multiple event coordinators and select the most budgetary option.
Bottom-Line
On an ending note, we would say that an Event Coordinator job is a perfect role for those who enjoy working in public relations and event management. Furthermore, you should be able to multitask and learn new things as an event coordinator.
At BW Productions, our team pays great attention to detail and helps you with corporate branding, event management, and digital marketing. Stay in touch with us to ensure excellent event coordination for your upcoming events and functions.
Thank you for reading!
