What does an event planning manager do?
Event planning managers have responsibilities such as planning, organizing, promoting, and social events. They also perform tasks like booking venues, coordinating with clients and suppliers, managing invoices and budgets, and handling logistics. Managers negotiate sales agreements for room rentals, function space, food and beverage services, and coordinate room reservations and amenities. They also handle billing and accounting and present post-event reports. Planners must maintain contracts, permits, event management plans, and databases and spreadsheets with timelines and action plans.
Event planning manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real event planning manager resumes:
- Manage all aspects of these events and act as onsite manager to ensure meeting are delivered effectively and professionally.
- Prepare letters, proposals, BEO's, thank-you notes, etc.
- Create, review and revise rooming lists and VIP lists.
- Strengthen client base in local community by planning fundraisers and other VIP events.
- Develop agenda and itinerary, organize and procure all speaker biographies and materials and logistics for successful program execution.
- Develop agenda and itinerary, organize and procure all speaker biographies and materials and logistics for successful program execution.
Event planning manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 18% of Event Planning Managers are proficient in Event Management, Smooth Execution, and Event Sales. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Negotiation skills, and Organizational skills.
We break down the percentage of Event Planning Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Event Management, 18%
Followed and adhered to all Event Management and Sales business processes.
- Smooth Execution, 14%
Act as liaison between Meeting Planners and hotel staff for a smooth execution of events.
- Event Sales, 9%
Developed advertising campaigns to promote event sales.
- Booking, 9%
Prepared effective correspondence and negotiated rate agreements with clients and maintained internal booking reports.
- Audio Visual, 7%
Arranged meeting room set-ups, food service requirements, audio visual, ordering of training materials and scheduling facilitators.
- Reservations, 7%
Arranged for meeting space, hotel reservations, airline travel, food and beverage selection, and AV contracts.
"event management," "smooth execution," and "event sales" are among the most common skills that event planning managers use at work. You can find even more event planning manager responsibilities below, including:
Interpersonal skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an event planning manager to have is interpersonal skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "meeting, convention, and event planners must establish and maintain positive relationships with clients and suppliers." Event planning managers often use interpersonal skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "created leads, appointments and communicated product information through demonstration and excellent interpersonal skills"
Negotiation skills. Another essential skill to perform event planning manager duties is negotiation skills. Event planning managers responsibilities require that "meeting, convention, and event planners must be able to secure quality products and services at reasonable prices for their clients." Event planning managers also use negotiation skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "conduct site visits, selection and contract negotiation. "
Organizational skills. This is an important skill for event planning managers to perform their duties. For an example of how event planning manager responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "meeting, convention, and event planners must multitask, pay attention to details, and meet tight deadlines." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an event planning manager: "organize office operations and procedures ensuring organizational efficiency and safety. ".
Problem-solving skills. For certain event planning manager responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "problem-solving skills." The day-to-day duties of an event planning manager rely on this skill, as "meeting, convention, and event planners must be able to anticipate potential issues and prepare creative solutions that satisfy clients." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what event planning managers do: "identified and resolved event set-up and event close-out issues with custodians. "
Communication skills. Another crucial skill for an event planning manager to carry out their responsibilities is "communication skills." A big part of what event planning managers relies on this skill, since "meeting, convention, and event planners exchange information with clients, suppliers, and event staff." How this skill relates to event planning manager duties can be seen in an example from an event planning manager resume snippet: "lead communications and events manager for 3,500-employee customer services north america (csna) organization for philips healthcare. "
The three companies that hire the most event planning managers are:
- Hyatt Hotels42 event planning managers jobs
- Live Nation Entertainment3 event planning managers jobs
- Highgate Hotels3 event planning managers jobs
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Compare different event planning managers
Event planning manager vs. Director of events
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.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between event planning managers and director of events. For instance, event planning manager responsibilities require skills such as "smooth execution," "reservations," "sales agreements," and "meeting space." Whereas a director of events is skilled in "customer service," "customer satisfaction," "event planning," and "crm." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Directors of events tend to make the most money working in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $71,076. In contrast, event planning managers make the biggest average salary, $54,453, in the hospitality industry.On average, directors of events reach similar levels of education than event planning managers. Directors of events are 0.9% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.7% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Event planning manager vs. Manager and event coordinator
A site coordinator is responsible for organizing special events and programs based on a client's specifications or a business's needs. Site coordinators ensure that the plan will go well by monitoring their resources, coordinating with third-party services, researching the best settings, finalizing the list of attendees, and managing the budget goals. A site coordinator usually works with the marketing department of an organization for promotional strategies and addresses any concerns that an attendee might have.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real event planning manager resumes. While event planning manager responsibilities can utilize skills like "smooth execution," "booking," "audio visual," and "reservations," managers and event coordinator use skills like "customer service," "payroll," "event planning," and "event coordination."
In general, managers and event coordinator achieve similar levels of education than event planning managers. They're 3.3% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for event planning managers in the next 3-5 years?
Siddharth Mobar
Assistant Professor, Lasell University
Event planning manager vs. Party coordinator
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an event planning manager is likely to be skilled in "event management," "smooth execution," "event sales," and "booking," while a typical party coordinator is skilled in "kids," "cpr," "allergies," and "safety rules."
When it comes to education, party coordinators tend to earn similar degree levels compared to event planning managers. In fact, they're 4.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Event planning manager vs. Site coordinator
Types of event planning manager
Updated January 8, 2025
