What Are The Most Important Characteristics Of An Event Planner?

Event planners from a professional event company can be lifesavers when you need to plan for large scale or high profile events that you just can’t afford to mess up. However, what sets professional event planners apart from regular event planners? Today we will discuss what qualities event planners at a professional level must possess to thrive in such a fast paced and high stress environment known as professional event planning? 

The top 5 qualities any event planner worth their salt should have are:

1. Interpersonal skills
2. Patience
3. Passion
4. Creativity
5. Flexibility

Interpersonal skills

When planning for various types of events, a lot of key aspects like venue, food and beverages, entertainment, etc. rely on the hiring of other companies and their services. Having connections to many companies can help lessen the work needed to scout for companies which are both well received and affordable as you would already have experienced their work before. Being able to not only communicate well with external vendors but also with fellow team members, clients and other personnel will go a long way in organising an event and keeping everything smooth and flowing properly

Patience

There is a saying “Patience is a virtue” which refers to a person’s ability to wait without agitation which is an admirable quality. This rings especially true in the context of an event planner. Not only does an event planner have to coordinate a team and split work amongst them, an event planner must also liaise with clients demands which may change midway and with companies hired for services like food, emcees, transportation, etc. 

Passion

Needless to say, being passionate about what you are pouring countless hours into and being enthusiastic about your work will greatly affect your mindset and quality of work, even for an event planner. It is only when people are passionate and enthusiastic about their work can they excel in their chosen line of work. As a successful event planner, one must have passion and this is what allows a good event planner to be productive and overcome obstacles that you face while organising events; especially Special Events or Large-Scale events.

Creativity

Even though planning events are restricted by the type of event, it is also very important for an event planner to be creative and implement new and fun ideas to make for an interesting and memorable event. This also pertains to problem solving as most of the time those who can come up with creative solutions to problems conventional methods might not be able to are bound to become successful event planners. In today’s context, having a properly planned hybrid event (consisting of physical events, as well as online digital virtual events) is key. A solid and experienced event planner needs to let his or her creativity show when it comes to planning for a hybrid event.

Check out 1 of our recent Virtual Event video:

Flexibility

Most importantly, a key value any good event planner must possess is the ability to be flexible. With how many different factors and people at work during event planning, it is no surprise that there will always be at least a few hiccups or issues that require the event planner to make swift and decisive decisions to keep everything on course and make the event successful. This is especially true when it comes to large-scale Dinner & Dance events; where everything and absolutely anything can possibly happen and go wrong. The flexibility of a strong event company, with its core of support team and partners, must have the flexibility to ensure that the event carries on without any failure.

Conclusion

Even though these 5 qualities are essential in succeeding as an event planner like having good communication through interpersonal skills, passion to give it your all when planning, flexibility to deal with any situation, creativity in planning and problem solving and patience when dealing with any situation, there are also many other qualities that contribute to being a successful event planner in a professional event company.