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About MeI started this site because nearly every day of my career, I have had at least one person ask, with breathless envy, “Your job sounds incredible! How in the world did you get started? How can I do this too?” I see the starry-eyed hopefuls asking for my magic advice that will instantaneously land them a job in this exciting industry. The bad news is, there’s a lot of competition. The good news? Unlike many other career paths, you don’t need additional schooling or tons of experience to break in. You just need to understand the structure of the industry, and some basic steps on how to get started. And so, this site was born. I had a few mentors point me in the right direction when I started out; and this is my chance to “pay it forward.” Understanding meetings and events is not brain surgery or rocket science; but there are a few things to learn, things that took me years by trial and error and just absorbing and learning. This site will clarify some of those initial lessons right away for you, so you can understand where you fit in and in which direction you should go. I have been in the event and meeting planning industry for over fifteen years. As with most people who started that long ago, I “fell into” this path quite by accident. During college I completed my journalism internship at a local non-profit organization, with the intention of writing their marketing material. When they were short-staffed and needed help with the special events department, I agreed to help out – and fell immediately in love with special event planning. We organized rubber duck races, golf tournaments, and fundraising concerts and galas. I had discovered a wonderful gem that I did not even know existed. I loved, after months of pre-planning, watching my event unfold in front of my eyes. I loved seeing how the different smaller elements all fit together to create one large event. But more than anything else, I loved to stand back and watch people having a great time at this event that I helped plan. By graduation, I had grown jaded with the media and journalism classes I took, and kept thinking of my incredible summer planning special events. So, my initial job search included anything that involved events. Luck was on my side (in addition to my experience of planning events for one summer); and my first job out of college was working with a small production company. We created the “live show” element of corporate events; the staging, entertainment, lighting, music, and videos. I loved the excitement, the butterflies, the adrenaline rush from the “live” factor of events. I had found my niche! However, after three years, my independent spirit needed to break free of the “9 to 5” routine. I had always had a burning desire to travel, to see the world, and to work for myself. And so, I decided to become an on-site event manager. I knew about OSEMs because, as a planner, I used to hire them. And so, I quit my job and became a freelance on-site event manager. It was not easy, at first. It takes time (in any industry) as a freelancer to build up a clientele and maintain steady work. I had to wait tables in the evenings while I spent my days calling companies, sending out my resume, and volunteering at various events for more experience. It took me over a year to land my first job; and there were plenty of times when I almost gave up. But suddenly, one day, I got a call. It was a person who was friends with someone I had volunteered with planning a local special event. That volunteer project had consisted of nothing more than calling people and trying to solicit donations for a silent auction for a large fundraiser. However, my colleague had noticed my positive attitude and willingness to learn, and so when her friend needed a freelance on-site event manager, she handed out my number. The next thing I knew, I was on a plane to Switzerland for two weeks. I did a great job and that client hired me again for an event in Chicago. While on that job, I made friends with other on-site event managers, and they eventually sent work my way. My contact base grew; slowly, but it grew. I was lucky enough to have built a good working relationship with the restaurant where I waited tables, and they were willing to work around my sporadic stints on the road. Within six months, I had a fairly decent schedule of work lined up and I was able to quit my job waiting tables. I was working as an OSEM full time. I was traveling the world and managing the on-site logistics of events. My career had begun! Fifteen years later, I have worked with countless clients both as a meeting and event planner and as an on-site event manager. I have traveled to nearly every state and twenty countries, and have worked some incredible events and meetings across the globe. Unfortunately, there is no “quick fix” to help you get a job tomorrow, unless you know someone or are very lucky. Even if you did get lucky, though, you still need to know what you are doing in order to keep the job; and so shortcuts are never as great as they seem. However, if you are willing to take the necessary steps, and put your time in now for a lifetime built on an exhilarating career, then you can easily become an event planner. The goal of this website is to educate you on some basic concepts that took me years to figure out. It’s not rocket science; but if you can take some time to read through all of these pages, it will give you insight to an ever-changing industry about which not much is known by the general public. This will put you ten steps ahead of anyone else who dreams of becoming an event planner. I hope you find the information in these pages to be helpful. I am excited for you for taking the right steps, doing your research, and knowing what you want to do! That is half the battle. Good luck and I hope to see you somewhere, some day, at some great event….that you helped plan. Life is short – do what you love!
“The biggest mistake people make in life is not making a living at doing what they most enjoy.”
~Malcom S. Forbes
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