More random career scraping.

[kitchen_kink]

What do y'all know about what they call event planning, or special events, or event management, or whatever they call it?

I've planned a medium-sized conference and a week's worth of orientation activities, thrown a few parties I've designed that I'm proud of, and think it's one of my talents and one that feeds a very different part of my psyche than writing does (which is good; don't want to drain that energy).

How do I make money at it?

Is there a degree? Can one do it independently (be a party planner, rather than working for some huge convention center or something)? Thoughts? Help? Schmeh?

Comments

[dilletante.livejournal.com]

it is, also, a subcategory of project management, which will make you attractive for certain kinds of management jobs.

[dietrich.livejournal.com]

Me no speaka da corporate.

What is this "project management" of which you speak?

[dilletante.livejournal.com]

i owed you a reply to this for a while.

yah, "project management" is a corporate buzzword. but it means more or less what the two words would lead you to think: the skill of managing projects. where a project is distinguished from whatever-a-business-normally-does by being a one-time thing.

there are particular things about parties that aren't true of all projects. but in general, the organizational skills that you need to make sure the invitations go out with enough lead time and replies get tabulated and the decorators are done on time and the caterers have the right food for the right number of people and the band is hired and so on... are much the same as the skills involved in putting together a summer research trip or organizing subcontractors for the big dig.

at least, there's a level to which they can all be generalized; and "project management" is studied and taught at that level. there are textbooks and so forth. :)

something to keep in the back of your mind, anyway.