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The differences between lead event specialists 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 lead event specialist and a meeting planner. Additionally, a meeting planner has an average salary of $56,257, which is higher than the $34,064 average annual salary of a lead event specialist.
The top three skills for a lead event specialist include customer service, food safety guidelines and facebook. The most important skills for a meeting planner are client facing, event planning, and powerpoint.
| Lead Event Specialist | Meeting Planner | |
| Yearly salary | $34,064 | $56,257 |
| Hourly rate | $16.38 | $27.05 |
| Growth rate | 18% | 18% |
| Number of jobs | 13,919 | 17,112 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | Bachelor's Degree, 78% |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A Lead event specialist is responsible for providing clients a proposal or a plan to make an event successful. Most of the time, they are the person who continually interacts with their clients to determine what they need, from the planning stage down to the implementation phase. Meaning this will also be how they can promote their brand or business and generate an income from it. Additionally, they are the ones who organize a promotional event and interacts with potential clients.
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.
Lead event specialists and meeting planners have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Event Specialist | Meeting Planner | |
| Average salary | $34,064 | $56,257 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $48,000 | Between $40,000 And $77,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Newark, NJ |
| Highest paying state | - | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | - | AbbVie |
| Best paying industry | - | Hospitality |
There are a few differences between a lead event specialist and a meeting planner in terms of educational background:
| Lead Event Specialist | Meeting Planner | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 58% | 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 lead event specialists' and meeting planners' demographics:
| Lead Event Specialist | Meeting Planner | |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 37.7% Female, 62.3% | Male, 12.4% Female, 87.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.5% Asian, 5.9% White, 61.4% 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% |