Original post by WILLIAMTHOMSON, Gallus Events
What skills do event organisers need to be super charged #eventprofs?
I’ve been organising events since 1996 and those events – as a whole – haven’t changed that much. Conferences, exhibitions, festivals, road-shows are much the same as they were twenty years ago. However a lot has changed around the edges and it’s time to review the skills for event organisers and look at the role of the rounded Event Organiser.
During the 1990’s most events businesses sliced and diced the role of the organiser. Specialisation was the key: if you shone in sales you were moved to sales: if marketing was your thing, marketing called and you answered. However as the industry moves from the idea of a ‘product’ and all the manufacturing terms like ‘conference producer’ to the idea of an event as a ‘service’ the rounded organiser is back in fashion. So what skills does an event organiser need now?
The rounded event organiser skills are making a comeback
Here’s Gallus Events’ view of the modern day event organiser top ten skills:
1. An understanding of logistics. This is and has always been a key skill for an organiser. Our rounded organiser has to understand room layouts, the proclivity of people when queuing and where the best stands are likely to be located on a floor-plan. They also need to consider sight lines, maximum room capacities and a thousand other things that no longer conveniently fall under the jurisdiction of ‘operations.’
2. Marketing. No one has the event so close to their heart as the event organiser. This is why an understanding of the discipline of marketing an event is a must have skill.
3. ‘Experience’ not event design. In order to ensure that our events are more than ‘people and logistics’ a deep understanding of meeting design is key for the reborn ‘Event Organiser’. It’s not just the learning environment that has to be considered but an understanding of the phycology of attendees which even filters down to their on-site food and beverage consumption.
4. Social Media. Understanding the role of Social Media in promoting and engaging attendees in our events is a recent but undeniably crucial weapon in our ‘rounded organisers’ arsenal.
5. Event Technology. With mobile apps, voting and engagement pads, gamification and all manner of gadgets and gizmos our organiser has to be ‘tech’ savvy like never before. This is why we run an event like Tech Fest.
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