It’s not all shining lights, canapés, and red carpets—the role of an event coordinator is meaningful, dynamic, and challenging at times.
Special occasion events require lots of different contractors and preparations that all need to line up correctly. Somebody needs to work behind the scenes to make sure the cake arrives or the guest of honor is able to relax and enjoy the day instead of managing the details.
In the next few minutes, we’ll cover:
- A broad description of the event coordinator’s role
- The difference between an event coordinator and an event planner
- Some of the responsibilities of an event coordinator in 2023
- The key characteristics of virtual events and what that means for coordinators
- How a Work Operating System like monday.com will help you plan, organize, and run events without a hitch
Get started First we’ll start with the basics.
What is an event coordinator?
An event coordinator has an eye for detail and makes sure everything goes smoothly, which allows hosts and guests alike to have a great time without having to worry about logistics.
An event coordinator makes sure that all of the planning is correctly executed. Most of their work is done on the day of the event. They’re less involved with design details and deal more with scheduling and directing event staff. They make sure that everything is well-coordinated and goes as smoothly as possible.
Some event coordinators work with individuals, while others plan large exhibitions and business-to-business events.
And it’s a great time to pivot your career; the job growth rate for the event industry is projected to grow to 10% by 2024, compared to the average growth rate of 7% for jobs in other fields.
In your search for resources on event coordinators, you may have come across the term event planner. Let’s explore each role and how they compare.
What are the differences between event coordinators and event planners?
Though distinct from one another, many confuse event coordinators for event planners and vice versa. Here’s the difference:
An event planner makes all of the individual decisions for an event and picks out the details. Think of a wedding planner that arranges catering, chooses a tablecloth, picks flower arrangements, and other details. They work with all of the contractors beforehand to get everything arranged.
To reiterate, an event coordinator focuses more on directing the flow of the event, problem solving, and ensuring all those pre-approved details meet the client’s needs.
With the above in mind, you’ll likely see multiple positions that could utilize your skills. Here’s an example of an events coordinator job description to get an idea of what companies look for:
“An Event Coordinator is responsible for overseeing particular tasks related to the event planning process. Their responsibilities include meeting with vendors at the venue to help with set-up, collecting (pre-agreed upon) supplies and decorations, and working with staff to ensure the completion of a successful event.”
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s dive into what you’ll need to start your journey as an event coordinator.
What skills and qualifications do you need as an event coordinator?
There is no official list of requirements to start your business as an event coordinator. You don’t need to pass a specific test or become licensed for this career path.
So how do you know if you’re an ideal candidate?
Below, we list some qualifications that will help to maximize your chance of success and better prepare you for the experience.
- 2+ years of employment experience with an event coordinator or event planner
- A Post-secondary education, such as a degree in Business, Communications, Public Relations, Marketing, or Hospitality Management
- A professional demeanor and ability to stay calm under pressure
- Experience with creating and maintaining budgets
- A proven track or aptitude for customer service
You’ll also need or be willing to work on the following skillsets:
- Ability to multitask
- Problem-solving
- Ability to meet deadlines
- Effective time management
- Attention to detail
- Soft skills such as empathy, active listening, critical thinking, problem solving, and more)
- Negotiation capabilities
At some point in your journey, you’ll likely use the above event coordinator skills and qualifications to tackle certain responsibilities within the role.
What are the responsibilities of an event coordinator?
Though this isn’t the complete list from A-Z, let’s take a quick look at the main event coordinator roles:
- Meeting with clients to discuss the event and what they’re looking for
- Creating an event proposal that fits the client’s requirement
- Sticking to a budget as laid out with the client
- Booking catering services, venue, and decor
- Scheduling employees for the event and working with catering and/or bar staff, venue staff, a DJ, religious officiant, and so on
- Ongoing communication with the client to keep them up to date on any changes
- Adjusting event accordingly based on guest concerns and feedback
- Serving as the main contact point for any and all problems that arise at the event
- Networking and creating future sales opportunities at the event
- Day-to-day administrative work such as issuing invoices and collecting payments
- Coordinating multiple events at once
It takes a highly organized individual to coordinate an event and remember every little last thing that needs to be done. Luckily, we don’t need to memorize a mile-long list or run around with a list that will (probably) end up lost along the way. There are tools out there that will make keeping track of details much easier and way more convenient.
Here’s an example run down of how an event coordinator’s responsibilities would look planned out. Event planners can always iterate on their to-dos, add notes, tag other vendors or assign staff to items, and best yet, pull it up whenever they need it. But more on essential tools later on.
We covered a basic list of responsibilities, but your tasks will vary depending on what kind of event it is. We’ll list a few examples of events where you can put your skills and roles the test.
What kinds of events will you run as an event coordinator?
The graphic below shows some of the events that an event coordinator can help with from product launches to music festivals.
You might choose to specialize in family-oriented events, or maybe you’d prefer to focus on corporate events. Either way, you’ll need to have the right tools in your toolbox to take on the job.
With the ongoing pandemic, events have looked pretty different these last few years. Though many celebratory functions moved online, event coordinators were (and continue to be) in demand. In fact, online, 73% of planners have been able to successfully run a virtual event.
Now that many events have gone virtual, we came up with a few things to keep in mind.
What should you keep in mind while coordinating online events?
Utilizing technology is crucial for running a successful virtual event. With in-person events, the face-to-face interaction is built-in and encouraged through happy hours, networking breakfasts, Q&As, and so on, but virtual events require more thought as to how you’ll get people to interact with each other.
For instance, during an online conference, an event coordinator may hire someone to oversee a live polling function or moderate a Q&A. Instead of booking a caterer, they may choose a hosting platform that allows attendees to seamlessly split up into groups for more intimate conversations. Maybe an event coordinator will oversee a virtual scavenger hunt, or an online quiz game to get guests involved.
Of course, virtual events have other challenges that require specific skillsets. Event coordinators need to understand the technological aspects of the event so that they can troubleshoot when needed. For instance, if there’s a lag during a quiz or if a speaker has trouble getting online, an event coordinator will need a backup plan. This may mean tapping another speaker in or keeping attendees informed of what’s going on.
Overall, virtual events rely on the right technology not only to organize all of big picture and finest details, but to keep guests engaged, and run a smooth event. Whether in-person or virtual, read on to see how monday.com can help plan your most successful event yet.
monday.com Work OS makes coordinating events easier
As we’ve covered, coordinating events requires handling a lot of moving parts. At monday.com, we know how crucial it is to stay organized and in-the-know on all the finer details. That’s why we created multiple boards to help you execute your event to perfection.
For instance, you can use the below board to centralize your planning according to event category.
Or, maybe you’d like to see your events in a timeline view as in the below board:
Though because we know not everyone wants to build their board from scratch, we’ve created an Event Management Template that will help you manage and plan all of your events in one space. With this template, you can also assign tasks, track statuses, and oversee deadlines for seamless event coordination. Here’s an example of how we used this template to plan a marketing campaign:
To maximize efficiency, monday.com’s automations allow you to do away with repetitive tasks. That means on the day of the event, you can automatically assign someone to handle a task when a shipment comes in, get real-time notifications when tasks are completed, and more. That way, you can focus on the work that needs your attention the most.
It also integrates seamlessly with many services that you already use such as Eventbrite, Google Calendar, OneDrive or Google Drive, Outlook, and Excel.
And monday.com is available on both iOS and Android, so you have it at your fingertips wherever you go.
This template doesn’t just make it easier to get started right away, it also provides event coordinators extra value. Here are some of the ways that this template can make the job easier.
- Visualize your entire planning process – Statuses help visually track every step of your planning process. This birds-eye view lets you stay on top of all of your work in a single glance.
- Streamline the RSVP process – This template allows you to instantly collect all RSVPs through a form. That way, you can keep track of your guest list, follow up with people who haven’t RSVP’d yet, or make last-minute adjustments if more people are coming than you’d expected.
- Measure success – High-level dashboards and big-picture reports allow you to track your most important metrics. That way, you can tell if an event performed as expected or not.
Release your inner event coordinator with monday.com
As an event coordinator, you keep events on schedule and makes sure that they’re executed as planned. As most of the work falls on the day of the event, you need to become an expert multitasker and problem solver.
Whether you’re an established event coordinator or just starting off, we can help; get started with monday.com and see how much easier our event planning & operations template can make your job.
