Conference director vs event manager

The differences between conference directors and event managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a conference director and an event manager. Additionally, a conference director has an average salary of $64,405, which is higher than the $51,117 average annual salary of an event manager.

The top three skills for a conference director include conference logistics, sponsorship packages and event planning. The most important skills for an event manager are customer service, event logistics, and event planning.

Conference director vs event manager overview

	Conference Director	Event Manager
Yearly salary	$64,405	$51,117
Hourly rate	$30.96	$24.58
Growth rate	18%	18%
Number of jobs	5,250	8,230
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 78%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age	38	38
Years of experience	2	2

Conference director vs event manager salary

Conference directors and event managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Conference Director	Event Manager
Average salary	$64,405	$51,117
Salary range	Between $41,000 And $99,000	Between $33,000 And $77,000
Highest paying City	-	New York, NY
Highest paying state	-	New Jersey
Best paying company	-	VMware
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between conference director and event manager education

There are a few differences between a conference director and an event manager in terms of educational background:

	Conference Director	Event Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 78%	Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	San Diego State University	San Diego State University

Conference director vs event manager demographics

Here are the differences between conference directors' and event managers' demographics:

	Conference Director	Event Manager
Average age	38	38
Gender ratio	Male, 36.7% Female, 63.3%	Male, 36.2% Female, 63.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 5.8% White, 61.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 10.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% Asian, 6.0% White, 61.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	16%	16%

Differences between conference director and event manager duties and responsibilities

Conference director example responsibilities.

Manage development of all CRM communications and materials.
Provide wine education for hotel staff and sales presentations to food and beverage executives.
Cause marketing fundraising events including film screenings, concerts and private donor VIP dinners.
Enrich social media intranet with bulletins on giveaways, surveys, and upcoming events.
Develop banquet menus, pricing, special food offerings and theme party menus with culinary staff.
Collaborate with marketing department on client ad sweepstakes, giveaways, logo usage and client branding.

Event manager example responsibilities.

Manage FOH staff during the lunch rush - correctly handle any customer complaints or issues.
Manage successful closing of NYC block to control traffic flow and allow celebrity red carpet entrances.
Coordinate and manage maintenance, bartending, catering, schedules, calendars, and supervise staff.
Create BEO's and lead weekly team meetings for support team laying out the direction and objective of upcoming events.
Manage delivery schedules, outside vendor orders, and budget requirements for the sales, operations, and culinary staff.
Manage all logistics and communications from beginning to end with clients, including sending invitations, monitoring RSVP, and hosting.

Conference director vs event manager skills

Common conference director skills

Conference Logistics, 14%
Sponsorship Packages, 8%
Event Planning, 8%
Conference Planning, 6%
Content Development, 5%
Audio Visual, 5%

Common event manager skills

Customer Service, 15%
Event Logistics, 10%
Event Planning, 9%
Audio Visual, 6%
Onsite, 5%
PowerPoint, 4%