What does a director of special events do?
A director of special events spearheads and oversees the planning and execution of various events, ensuring everything runs smoothly and efficiently. They typically set goals and guidelines, manage schedules and timelines, outline plans and strategies, coordinate managers and different departments, and liaise with vendors and suppliers, building positive business relationships in the process. Moreover, as a director, it is essential to lead and encourage staff to reach goals while implementing and promoting the company's policies and regulations, including its vision and mission.
Director of special events responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real director of special events resumes:
- Manage the communications/special events budget to ensure ROI in accordance with the communication plan.
- Restructure the budget plan for the department, achieving significant cost reductions while increasing ROI.
- Organize, execute and manage all VIP hospitality and auxiliary celebrity events.
- Manage all aspects of these events and act as onsite manager to ensure meeting are delivered effectively and professionally.
- Develop a BEO form to promote effective communication between front of house and back of house.
- Collaborate with catering to create BEO s and assist clients with menu selection for meetings and events.
- Manage all aspects of these events and act as onsite manager to ensure meeting are delivered effectively and professionally.
- Develop new/maintain current donor relations with VIP corporate partners and individuals.
- Oversee planning and promotions for all Kontrol sponsor online contests, digital editorials, social media/digital promotions and giveaways
- Organize POS coordination and warehouse inventory for all local event activity.
Director of special events skills and personality traits
We calculated that 13% of Directors Of Special Events are proficient in Event Planning, Alumni, and Event Management. They’re also known for soft skills such as Leadership skills, Speaking skills, and Writing skills.
We break down the percentage of Directors Of Special Events that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Event Planning, 13%
Directed all aspects of event planning/production.
- Alumni, 11%
Developed Alumni and Parent Relations brand; employed mass-communication strategies; oversaw design and implementation of marketing materials.
- Event Management, 7%
Planned and executed high-level account management functions for a company that provides professional and event management services to a diverse clientele.
- Event Logistics, 6%
Coordinate event logistics, registrations, membership solicitations, renewals, and all participant and volunteer correspondence.
- Audio Visual, 4%
Coordinated logistics of group meetings, direct bill applications, menu selections, room diagrams, and audio visual equipment.
- Press Releases, 3%
Delivered press releases concerning upcoming research projects, compressing the highly technical research into easily readable, engaging material.
Common skills that a director of special events uses to do their job include "event planning," "alumni," and "event management." You can find details on the most important director of special events responsibilities below.
Leadership skills. The most essential soft skill for a director of special events to carry out their responsibilities is leadership skills. This skill is important for the role because "public relations and fundraising managers often lead large teams of specialists or fundraisers and must be able to guide their activities." Additionally, a director of special events resume shows how their duties depend on leadership skills: "prepared a wide variety of financial reports for leadership utilizing data from a variety of sources. "
Speaking skills. Another essential skill to perform director of special events duties is speaking skills. Directors of special events responsibilities require that "public relations and fundraising managers regularly speak on behalf of their organization." Directors of special events also use speaking skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "represented the aquarium on the ucsd special events council and externally at hospitality events, conferences and trade shows. "
Writing skills. This is an important skill for directors of special events to perform their duties. For an example of how director of special events responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "managers must be able to write well-organized and clear press releases and speeches." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a director of special events: "oversee public relations strategies including identifying innovative and newsworthy stories, writing press releases and pitching stories to the media. ".
Problem-solving skills. For certain director of special events responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "problem-solving skills." The day-to-day duties of a director of special events rely on this skill, as "managers sometimes must explain how the company or client is handling sensitive issues." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what directors of special events do: "managed event committee members and resolved any unexpected problems throughout organization and implementation of the events. "
Communication skills. A commonly-found skill in director of special events job descriptions, "communication skills" is essential to what directors of special events do. Director of special events responsibilities rely on this skill because "managers deal with the public regularly; therefore, they must be friendly enough to build a rapport with, and receive cooperation from, their media contacts and donors." You can also see how director of special events duties rely on communication skills in this resume example: "developed a beo form to promote effective communication between front of house and back of house. "
Organizational skills. Lastly, "organizational skills" is an important element of what a director of special events does. Director of special events responsibilities require this skill because "public relations and fundraising managers are often in charge of running several events at the same time, requiring superior organizational skills." This resume example highlights how director of special events duties rely on this skill: "brief executives, staff and vip guests on proper protocol to achieve organizational objectives. "
The three companies that hire the most director of special eventss are:
- San Jose State University7 directors of special events jobs
- Marriott International5 directors of special events jobs
- Hospital for Special Surgery4 directors of special events jobs
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Compare different directors of special events
Director of special events vs. Public relations manager
A public relations manager is responsible for monitoring the public relations department to boost its brand image and attract potential clients through press releases and media coverage. They work closely with the marketing team, developing marketing campaigns and promotional strategies for creating brand awareness. Public relations managers maintain the company's presence on various social media platforms, responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns regarding the company's goods and services. A public relations manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills, especially in identifying business opportunities to increase revenues and profitability.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between directors of special events and public relations manager. For instance, director of special events responsibilities require skills such as "alumni," "event logistics," "audio visual," and "corporate sponsors." Whereas a public relations manager is skilled in "web content," "pr campaigns," "marketing campaigns," and "digital marketing." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Public relations managers really shine in the technology industry with an average salary of $114,540. Comparatively, directors of special events tend to make the most money in the professional industry with an average salary of $67,284.The education levels that public relations managers earn slightly differ from directors of special events. In particular, public relations managers are 1.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a director of special events. Additionally, they're 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Director of special events vs. Promotion manager
A promotion manager plans and directs campaigns to promote products and services they are selling through contests, giveaways, or coupons. He/she is responsible for the development and implementation of promotion schedules to attract more customers by coordinating with finance, sales, legal, and marketing departments. Having strong project management and interpersonal skills and previous experience in sales promotion, he/she can increase short-term sales and improve their results through other marketing programs.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, director of special events responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "alumni," "event logistics," "audio visual," and "corporate sponsors." Meanwhile, a promotion manager has duties that require skills in areas such as "promotional campaigns," "pos," "payroll," and "promotional strategies." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Promotion managers earn a higher average salary than directors of special events. But promotion managers earn the highest pay in the pharmaceutical industry, with an average salary of $105,867. Additionally, directors of special events earn the highest salaries in the professional with average pay of $67,284 annually.promotion managers earn similar levels of education than directors of special events in general. They're 1.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.3% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Director of special events vs. Community development director
The job of a community development director is to manage and direct the management and planning initiatives for a community or city organization. Your duties will include collaborating with community partners in developing strategies to improve the community, architectural and economic initiatives, monitoring budgets for department initiatives, and participating in business development efforts. As a community development director, it is your responsibility to develop and maintain the community development department's short- and long-term developmental goals. It is also your duty to develop and coordinate marketing strategies for economic development.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, directors of special events are more likely to have skills like "event management," "event logistics," "audio visual," and "event budgets." But a community development director is more likely to have skills like "economic development," "oversight," "project management," and "program development."
Community development directors earn the highest salary when working in the manufacturing industry, where they receive an average salary of $92,043. Comparatively, directors of special events have the highest earning potential in the professional industry, with an average salary of $67,284.Most community development directors achieve a higher degree level compared to directors of special events. For example, they're 11.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Director of special events vs. Public relations director
A public relations director is an individual who is employed to design and implement marketing strategies that can cultivate the relationship between a company and the media. Public relations directors collaborate with the internal team to boost brand awareness and maximize brand consistency in all advertising efforts. They must arrange interviews and press releases so that they can promote their company and its products or services. They also maintain relationships with the media and should manage sensitive issues to maintain the company's good reputation.
Types of director of special events
Updated January 8, 2025
