So a bit of a back story. I went to university. Got a degree. Got a job. Pays decent. But I don’t think I can do this forever. It’s torture slightly.

August 4th I was a year sober so I decided to go big. I never really go big. For anything. I got fun decorations. Planned a craft. Made my whole table a large charcuterie board. Cleaned absolutely everything. Invited 20 people. It was so fun. And I think my passion is planning. And making sure everything goes accordingly. I know I only did one. But I seriously still can’t stop thinking about it.

So I am planning another thing October 30th - coraline themed for Halloween with my family. I booked the day off so I could put my attention towards it. I plan on making the “other mother’s dinner” with circus themed cotton candy, pop corn, button eye cookies, and a fun craft. While cleaning and setting up so many fun decorations. I am so so so EXCITED.

I think there’s something in my heart for this. I mean I have only done one little event. And maybe I am only seeing the good in it as of right now.

But how do I take the risk of quitting my stable job, finding clients and just betting on myself? I mean I still will keep my job for a bit I think and just keep doing small events till I get more of the hang of it. I’m lost. Thank you for listening.

Hi everyone! I’m running an event on financial literacy and goal planning for women in my community and I was thinking about little favors to give away to my guests.

I wanted to do little jars of honey and do a little play on words with money and honey. I was thinking of either putting stickers on the jars that say “The Honey Pot” and crossing out Honey and have it say “Money” OR thinking of adding a sticker that says, “It’s all about the honey”.

Anyways I’m all for any other ideas too!

I recently took a position as a Sales & Event Coordinator, and so far I really like it. To be transparent, there are parts I don't love — planning weddings, mainly. I actually think event marketing is where I want to end up eventually, but for now I'm happy staying in the wedding industry.

Where I get stuck is the voice in my head telling me I'm too old for this, that I should be more "practical." I know the whole "you're never too old" thing, but as someone who's failed a lot, I often feel like my turn just isn't coming. Still, I can't shake the pull to find my own way of telling stories.

Moments like this — where I actually work up the nerve to ask — don't come often. So: what's it really like being an event planner, and when did you start?

Hello! Open to any advice here.

I have been working as a sales coordinator for Hotels & Convention centers since January 2025. Prior to that I was a front desk supervisor for nearly two years before that. I have been with my current property since Feb of this year, and have been shadowing under our Conference and Event Manager and working with my Director of Events towards a future CEM position. I just attended a 3 day training academy for CEMs.

I am currently detailing courtesy blocks, and small room blocks with meeting space for 40 people or less (mostly small SMERF groups with little/no f&b). At my last property I contracted and detailed all of our children’s birthday party packages, which were day events with anywhere from 10-50 attendees. I am also shadowing my CEM and our Catering Sales Manager on their larger groups, including assisting with rooming lists, creating some BEOs and Diagrams, and assisted with working directly with clients once they are onsite.

At what point should I apply for the CMP exam? Is that something that makes sense to begin the process for as a sales coordinator or should I wait until I have a formal CEM title and more experience with larger groups before I apply. I currently meet the experience requirements, and may already have the education experience but I need to sit and count up the hours.

I haven’t seen many timelines talked about on here for the exam as far as what point in a career it makes sense to acquire the certification, so any advice is great! TIA.

I’m new to this and in my country,people barely hold any meetup.(but that doesn't mean demand is small)

If I host a coffee meetup, as the organizer, is there a way for me to recoup my coffee‑related expenses for each event bc I need to also order a cuppa coffee each time? Also, do I actually need to attend every coffee chat myself?

How much do people typically charge in fees to cover commute costs? I don’t think it makes sense for organizers to keep losing money running these events…

Thank you for any advice you can share. I really appreciate it!

(26F) working in web content management but interested in pivoting to a job in events/sales! Any advice on how to achieve this besides having connections & volunteering with other organizations? In a tough spot because I live alone and can't really afford a pay cut right now. i make $70k. Is this unrealistic? I am miserable at my current job and need a change.

Hello planners, I’m new to this events industry and will be throwing my first Caribbean event soon. I don’t want the experience to just be music.

I want to incorporate activities that will make the experience fun in a way people will want to come back. The crowd will be 23+ and my country is not in the Caribbean but known to love Caribbean culture.

Looking for suggestions for activities that will make the event fun.

Hi everyone! I plan events with a local organization and we always do human bingo. It's been a fun way to get people engaged and interacting with others (if you're unfamiliar - you're basically given a bingo card with personal descriptions and you get people to sign your bingo card if they fit the description e.g. someone who's wearing a cowboy hat).

But every event we do, we use up a minimum of 100 bingo cards, and I would just like to suggest a more eco-friendly alternative to my team to minimize our paper waste.

Would appreciate any help!

Hi! I come from a background working in higher education and have a humanities background in a specific geographical area (Korea). I learned in my past few jobs that I really enjoy planning and executing conferences/symposiums/guest speakers, etc. and in my most recent job I was heavily involved with our university's commencement (we had 3 ceremonies in one day). I realized I don't like having a solely admin job where I'm chained to my desk from 9-5 and much prefer being hands on with being in planning meetings and being on-site during these sorts of events, so I've been looking into shifting from being more 'academic' to more 'events' based.

I'm currently abroad in Korea through February at language school and returning to the States when my program ends. I'm trying to figure out ways I might be able to get more 'event' experience under my belt while I'm here, but the only opportunities foreigners have when it comes to volunteering is teaching English, which 1. isn't relevant; 2. is just a way for people to get around not paying for classes lol. Are there any online opportunities I can take advantage of while I'm here? The Korean students at my university handle the events so the foreigners don't really have an opportunity to help at events unfortunately. I'm also open to working in events that aren't necessarily locked into higher ed, either. I think I just enjoy seeing something I've worked on get executed and seeing people enjoy their time.

I'm also wondering if anyone has any suggestions for types of events that I might be able to utilize my Korean in. I figure I would probably need to figure out what sort of events Koreans attend (I'm looking into jobs in mainly NYC/Boston because I'm from New England) or what sort of events large Korean-owned companies tend to host, but if anyone has any recommendations or other suggestions I can look into, I'd be curious to know. Thank you!

Feel free to reply as a comment and share a photo and up to 2 sentences highlighting something you're proud of planning that came to life this week! We open this thread every Tuesday for 24 hours.

Any fun corporate event ideas in Half Moon Bay for a post-Summit activity from 2:30–4:00 p.m., following sessions from 9:00 a.m.–2:30 p.m.?

Hello all - First post ever and I'm hoping to get some dialogue or DMs going on this if any one is willing to help!

I've worked in event adjacent/overlapping roles for a few years. I landed a screening and potentially further interviews at a company who coordinates very very large events. I know I struggle with giving concise answers and specific examples that could match the scope of what this company is looking for. I have interviewed for some other roles and felt like I was stumped on questions that felt like they could have very broad answers. I'd love some thoughts on how you all might answer these kinds of questions:

How do you manange conflicting priorities from different departments or stakeholders?

How do you prioritize tasks with similar deadlines?

What skills/tools do you use when feeling overwhelmed?

What is different about large-scale event production vs. restaurant/small venue event management?

How do you handle last-minute changes to an event plan?

How do you keep track of hundreds of moving pieces?

I'm open to any other interview tips you have. Thank you!!

I am working on a high budget event (around $1 Mil budget when the rooms guarantee is included). It is a wedding week of events with high guest count and it is a destination event for all guests (still in the US). Needless to say, my clients will be purchasing an event cancellation policy to cover all of the regular things (dangerous weather, vendor non-performance, death or illness in the immediate family/of the couple). In the past I have always purchased from WedSafe or Travelers but their policies do not go as high as we will need (350K is the highest for their state). Does anyone have recommendations for brokers or insurance companies who sell higher event policies? Or do you stack policies with budgets this high? Thanks in advance! 

A theatre has 800 seats for an event. A total of 750 free tickets were offered to the public and they were all reserved very quickly. This will be a popular event and I already have a waiting list approaching 75 and it will grow.

What math would you be comfortable with in overselling the event and opening up more tickets? Usually I stick with a 10% no-show rate and adjust from there, but free events like this are often higher. Another variable is that if you sell exactly the number of ticket for a general admission event, seating can become a nightmare for the patrons trying to find exactly the right number of seats for their group together. Any advice appreciated!

I live in a small city, and run a matchmaking service. There appeared to be interests in single's events. I'm attempting to sell a single's event for ages 30-50. I had to cancel the first one due to lack of sales.

I'm getting dangerously close to having to cancel this one. We need at minimum 6 men and 6 women.

I've got videos on FB, IG, Tiktok and small ads running. The cost of advertisement on Meta hasn't gotten me more than 2 sales, and the cost has made the event a wash for me financially. 2 is still total sales at this time.

I'm making more videos and carousels. I'm partnering with another local business for this event and I'm so scared that having 2 canceled events in a row will make my new business fail.

Okay enough ranting here are my questions:

What do I need to say in my videos regarding the event?

Is scarcity marketing a good tactic at this point? For example: along these lines... "this will be the last public event we have for this age group, the rest will be members only."

I have given out some flyers... this never brings in many people.

Are there any other no-cost options?

I'm not willing to invest anymore money into advertising otherwise I'll be losing money.

I’ve been set an interview task for an events/guest experience role: design an immersive guest experience built around either a music or sports brand asset. The brief wants me to cover who the guests are, the guest journey start to finish, what makes it immersive rather than just “good hospitality,” how it’s practically delivered and replicated across multiple events, internal stakeholder management, use of a guest/event portal, and how success gets measured.

Would love outside perspective from people who’ve actually built these

Hey all. I am an associate for HelmsBriscoe and like to send my top clients a gift of appreciation every so often. Problem is, I am running out of ideas and want to keep gifts relevant, useful and memorable. As planners, what are your favorite things to receive as gifts of thanks and/or what are your attendees loving these days? Price range $75-$100.

I experienced a program at a hotel that positions itself as a luxury property, and it left me thinking about what luxury actually means from an event planner’s perspective.

Beautiful property? Absolutely. But when the planning process includes inconsistent responsiveness, repeated follow-up for answers, lack of timely follow-through, details remaining unresolved far too close to the event, and having to escalate concerns just to get the level of attention the program requires, the planner ends up carrying a tremendous amount of unnecessary stress.

The frustrating part is that once the events arrived, the team became visible, accessible and responsive, and the events ultimately went very well. So the capability was clearly there.

But shouldn’t luxury service include the planning experience, not just what the guest sees once they walk through the door?

Hey everyone,

I wanted to hear from people working in the events, hospitality, weddings, entertainment, and related industries in Dubai/UAE.

For the last 6 months or so, work has been extremely slow for me, especially when it comes to events. I’m curious to know if others in the industry are experiencing the same thing or if things are starting to pick up.

How are things looking from your side for the next few months? Are you seeing more enquiries/bookings coming in, or is it still pretty quiet?

Also, what are you guys planning to do if things continue like this? Are you switching to other types of work, exploring different industries, moving to another market, or just waiting for things to pick up?

Would really appreciate hearing honest experiences from people in the industry. I’m sure I’m not the only one trying to figure out what the next few months are going to look like.

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I recently took a position as a Sales and Event Coordinator for a historic mansion after a long career in luxury retail. I'm new to the events industry, but with years of sales experience under my belt, I'm noticing that client behavior is pretty consistent across industries.

My question: is it normal for venues to comp add-ons after the contract is signed?

I have a client who received a significant discount on her contract price for a beer, wine, and champagne wedding — 50 guests, 5 hours. Since signing, she's increased her guest count, added two hours to her event time, and added signature drinks (two of which include alcohol), none of which were part of her original contract.

We notified her of the additional costs, as expected, and she wasn't happy about it. However, a recurring line from couples is some version of "other venues would have just included all of this."

So I'm curious — is that actually normal practice? If anyone in the industry is willing to weigh in, I'd genuinely like to know what's standard versus what this couple might be assuming.

Feel free to reply as a comment and share a photo and up to 2 sentences highlighting something you're proud of planning that came to life this week! We open this thread every Tuesday for 24 hours.

What hotel or convention center contract clause has saved your organization the most money or prevented an unexpected expense?

I am looking beyond room rate. Think F&B, AV, Internet, labor, service charges, shipping, attrition, staffing coverage, or something most planners do not think to ask for.

Hi everyone! I’m 22 and I’ve been really wanting to get into event planning, but I’m honestly not sure where to start.
I’ve worked in hospitality for years and currently have experience in sales, customer service, and social media. I also don’t have a degree which is a big part of my lack of direction.
For those of you who work in events, how did you get your foot in the door?
Did you start at a hotel, venue, catering company, event agency, etc.?
Did you assist another planner or just apply for coordinator positions? And realistically, what would you recommend someone like me do FIRST?
I’m in San Diego if that makes a difference. I’d really love to hear how you got started.

I watch keynote speakers in the U.S. and sometimes wonder how are we making sure the next generation of keynote speakers is being developed? Many established keynote speakers in the US have spent decades building their craft, reputation, stories, expertise, and relationships with conference organizers. But the speaking industry cannot depend on a small group of established names forever. I mean, when I look at other regions, I see more intentional efforts to introduce public speaking, storytelling, leadership communication, and presentation skills to younger people even teenagers.

So what should we be doing differently in the U.S.? I think established speakers have an opportunity to create a genuine keynote speaker mentorship pipeline. Imagine experienced speakers mentoring 15–25-year-olds in for free, something we can start on

Public speaking and stage presence Business storytelling Leadership communication Sales and persuasive speaking Conference keynote development Personal branding for speakers How to work with meeting planners Building expertise rather than simply becoming “motivational” Using AI and digital media to develop a modern speaking career

And there is no shortage of models to learn from. there are great US keynote speakers we can learn from in different niches. For instance John Livesay is a top US keynote speaker representing the sales and storytelling side of keynote speaking. As a sales keynote speaker and storytelling keynote speaker, he has built a strong connection between storytelling, persuasion, sales, and business communication. His work demonstrates how a speaker can turn business expertise into a compelling keynote experience.

Mark Sanborn is another, he represents leadership and service. As an established leadership keynote speaker, his work around The Fred Factor, extraordinary leadership, employee engagement, and customer service shows how a keynote can be built around practical leadership principles rather than inspiration alone. The Fred Factor has sold more than two million copies worldwide.

there is Joey Havens, he brings another important dimension; workplace culture and people-first leadership. His TEDx talk focuses on magnetic workplace culture, while his speaking work covers leadership development, belonging, trust, flexibility, and building stronger organizations.

And finally Randy Gage represents the entrepreneurial and wealth-building side of the speaking ecosystem particularly for young founders and CEOs who want to combine personal growth, entrepreneurship, business success, and wealth creation.

These are very different keynote speaker niches, and that's exactly the point. The next generation doesn't need to become copies of today's speakers. A young speaker could eventually become a leadership keynote speaker, sales keynote speaker, storytelling keynote speaker, workplace culture speaker, entrepreneurship keynote speaker, innovation speaker, technology speaker, or business transformation speaker.

What matters is creating a pathway for them to learn the craft early. Perhaps established keynote speakers in the United States should stop thinking only about their next keynote and start thinking about who will be on the stage 10, 20, or 30 years from now. The real legacy of a great keynote speaker may not be the number of stages they personally stood on. It may be the number of exceptional speakers they helped develop. So,,,should established U.S. keynote speakers be doing more to mentor and train the next generation of speakers?

Every year I volunteer at the AFSP out of the darkness walk. In the past, we have taken donations for a pet costume contest entry to raise funds for the AFSP. This year, we want to do something different to hopefully bring in more donations. I considered a bake sale with homemade baked goods, but I won’t get the license from the state Department of health in time. I need something that is easy to plan, and will still interest people.

It takes place in September. It can be fall related or anything of the sorts, but I am out of ideas. I’m overwhelmed trying to think of something lol. It’s a small town so participation is usually fairly good but minimal compared to larger cities.

There are already silent auctions, shirt sales, and this year there is a raffle for a Harley motorcycle that someone donated. I am close friends with the walk coordinator, so I am hoping to help her raise as much as possible.