Event Coordinator: Why It’s One of the Most Stressful Jobs

Variety 

To be a good event coordinator or event planner, we have to perform lots of different roles. We have to be an accountant, a venue inspector, a health and safety manager, a catering supervisor, a PR manager, a social media guru… and many others.

These various roles encompass trillions of tiny tasks. As Verity Deaville, who runs her own event booking business under the name VerityVenue, tells us: “there are so many moving parts”. For example, she cites the problem of missing delegate name badges – “they’re like socks in a washing machine!” – and, at the other end of the scale, the nightmare of leaving a guest without a hotel room.

The key to good event coordination is juggling all these jobs and tasks and allocating sufficient time to each of them. An event coordinator will have to perform most, if not all, of these tasks every single day. And when we’re planning an event, we’ll have to switch from one to the other at a moment’s notice.

Tip: To manage the variety of the event coordination workload, make sure you delegate effectively: events professionals often fall into the trap of trying to do everything themselves. This inevitably causes a stress overload.

Also, keep various tasks clearly defined and distinguished. We’d recommend creating separate email folders for the various sub-tasks involved in your event. You can then switch between each one easily.

Investing in a time-management tool such as Myhours or Harvest allows you to break down your work into specific tasks and monitor the amount of resources you devote to each one, also time tracking apps could be helpful so tasks don’t take longer than expected. Consider using tools like Clockify or alternatives with similar features.

Deadlines

With some jobs, deadlines are a moveable feast. If you overshoot your original timeframe by a couple of days, no biggie. With event coordination and event planning, however, this doesn’t apply.

Once you’ve announced an event, you can’t simply move it back a day or two because there’s been a hold-up. Your attendees won’t care that your catering company has pulled out, that your brochures are still being printed or that the venue has thrown a last-minute spanner in the works: they will expect the event to go ahead as promised.

Being a good event coordinator means upholding these deadlines at all times, and taking any snags in your stride to deliver what you’ve promised.

Tip: Again, tools like email and Outlook are your friend. Make sure you set regular alerts, to remind you when all the constituent parts of your event (the promotional literature, the signage, the catering bookings) need to be completed.

And be proactive in your communication: if you’re worried that a supplier or a partner isn’t going to meet your timeframe, don’t wait. Send them a message.

Ensure you’ve considered as many potential problems as possible. As Verity Deaville says, “The key to eliminating event stress is to be prepared. Of course, it’s not always possible to anticipate every scenario, so a key skill is to be able to think on your feet and quickly find alternative solutions”.

Responsibility

When we organise an event, we take responsibility for the safety and wellbeing of all those who attend. And that means a whole host of factors to consider.

In addition to basic health and safety regulations, we may also have to think about the specific risks of the venue we’re hiring, access to essential facilities like toilets and potential allergies arising from the catering. Our target audience may also have specific needs and circumstances to keep in mind.

Tip: Don’t be afraid to ask an expert if you’re not sure. A quick LinkedIn search will bring up a list of health and safety and building regulations experts, many of whom will be more than happy to connect and offer advice if you need it.

Technology

Today’s event coordinator has to negotiate a labyrinthine web of interlocking digital technologies, from the financial packages we use for making online payments to the headless CMS software for publishing blog posts. What’s more, event organisers have to be conversant with a full suite of social media tools, and able to adapt a message to each one.

This level of technological nouse may not come naturally: many of us become an event coordinator or an event planner having studied degrees such as English, History or Psychology. These didn’t necessarily equip us with the technological skills we need for our new vocation.

Plus, digital technology is advancing at such a furious pace that an event team’s day-to-day toolkit changes all the time. Even gadgets like the Blackberry, which were only invented a few years ago, are now being rendered obsolete.

All this means that to organise events effectively, we have to upskill all the time and learn new technologies on the job.

Tip: Look for tutorials on YouTube that will help you master the latest technologies – they’re usually very user-friendly. And there are plenty of specialist sites that offer blog posts and webinars on specific technologies, like Social Tables for social media).

Everyone is handling the stress of this year in their own way. But one thing that may help is to consider this as an opportunity to improve your skills. Master the art of virtual event coordination, create your first hybrid event or try out a new venue layout to make things safer.

Also, we recommend finding a shared office outside your home, where you can meet like-minded people and build your network. After all, that’s what events professionals are good at, right?

Featured image: Surfer via unsplash

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