I recently stumbled across an article regarding stressful jobs and I had some pretty specific thoughts about it. So I looked to technology and created this blog post!
USA Today posted Forbes’ list of the most stressful careers. Many of these careers involve elements of danger, or they feature long or irregular hours. Here’s what they came up with:
- Police or detective
- Military service member
- Firefighter
- Pilot
- Event coordinator
- Senior corporate executive
- Public relations executive
- Newspaper reporter
While I’m of the belief that much of the stress people complain about at work is self-induced, I’m also of the belief that certain positions will always and forever be stressful. In my opinion active military, law enforcement and fire fighters, emergency room doctors and most other personnel in the ER, members of the bomb squad, skyscraper window washers and bridge painters (Imagine being up that high!), school teachers and day care workers – that’s stress!
But an event planner?
Now, let me just say that I have friends who are event planners. I also have been involved in the planning of many events – business and personal. Yes, there is stress involved. No, it should not be on a list of most stressful jobs.
Let me explain.
Start to finish there are steps that need to be taken to pull off a successful event. These steps can be as simple or complex as you make them. Let’s talk about a few, and let’s keep focus on business events. Think speaker series, seminars, and networking mixers.
• Location: You know what “they” say… Location, location, location!
• Theme: This includes decorations, entertainment, speakers and / or panel, and even the food and beverage menu.
• Menu: There are so many options now that Pittsburgh has become a “foodie” city! Sit down dinner, buffet, waiter-passed appetizers? A lot of this depends on theme and budget.
• Guest list: Who is invited and…
• Promotion: How will you get them there, and keep track of who’s who?
• Follow up: How do you keep people coming to your events? How do you continue to entice new attendees to show up?
Every single bullet point has a technology component to it. Every. Single. One.
• Location: You’re going to use Google to find cool places to host this event right? You’ll be in business if you can take a virtual tour of venues.
• Theme: One word: Pinterest
• Menu: If a restaurant or caterer doesn’t have a website… well, you know.
• Guest list: You better have the contact information of every single company who you consider your audience and competition; and your current and potential clients. And you need to have it organized.
• Promotion: Online registration is key. Capture all the information when they register and use it for… you guessed it… follow up!
• Follow up: Send out a “Thank You” for attending email with a simple survey asking what they liked – and didn’t like – about your event. Start to finish. From the way you initially contacted them to invite them, to the venue, theme, food, others in attendance, and most importantly – what they would do to make the next event better. Then LISTEN to them. Or if all else fails, just use this app to gauge your audience’s facial expressions.
Sure, there are software packages out there that you can buy. Open the box and start plugging away. But if you’re a perfectionist like me, you’ll work much better with something personalized. A system that has all the bells and whistles that suit you, your company, and your goals. Guess what?
We have the people who can actually plan events for you, or create software – and even an app – for that.
Seriously? Yes, seriously. Give me a call or shoot me an email (Here’s where that crazy technology comes in handy, again!) and I’ll explain. Don’t be a statistic, be an event planning rock star and let technology (and 4C) help!
This post was originally written by Kelli Komondor, former 4CDesignWorks Social Outreach and Business Development Coordinator.