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The differences between directors of events and meeting planners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a director of events and a meeting planner. Additionally, a director of events has an average salary of $65,971, which is higher than the $56,257 average annual salary of a meeting planner.
The top three skills for a director of events include customer service, event management and customer satisfaction. The most important skills for a meeting planner are client facing, event planning, and powerpoint.
| Director Of Events | Meeting Planner | |
| Yearly salary | $65,971 | $56,257 |
| Hourly rate | $31.72 | $27.05 |
| Growth rate | 18% | 18% |
| Number of jobs | 8,520 | 17,112 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 77% | Bachelor's Degree, 78% |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
An event director or director of the event is responsible for organizing a successful execution of an event. This job is demanding and involves a varied range of tasks and obligations, from planning and overseeing the cast and crew recruited, supervise training for effective execution of the event. They manage how to effectively deal with people from staff and crew to sponsors, and talents, especially in tight schedules and difficult circumstances. Moreover, the event director is the representative of the event when dealing with the benefactors of the event, media group for promotion coverage, and people outside the industry.
A meeting planner makes professional decisions in all areas of meeting preparation and presentation. They plan meetings, establish meeting objectives, schedule meetings, budget expenses, inspect meeting sites, negotiate with suppliers, and create a speaker lineup. They also need to deal with travel arrangements and with technical equipment used in the course of the meeting.
Directors of events and meeting planners have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Director Of Events | Meeting Planner | |
| Average salary | $65,971 | $56,257 |
| Salary range | Between $38,000 And $112,000 | Between $40,000 And $77,000 |
| Highest paying City | Boston, MA | Newark, NJ |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | CrowdStrike | AbbVie |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Hospitality |
There are a few differences between a director of events and a meeting planner in terms of educational background:
| Director Of Events | Meeting Planner | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 77% | Bachelor's Degree, 78% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | San Diego State University | San Diego State University |
Here are the differences between directors of events' and meeting planners' demographics:
| Director Of Events | Meeting Planner | |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 34.1% Female, 65.9% | Male, 12.4% Female, 87.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 5.9% White, 61.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 5.9% White, 61.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 16% | 16% |