Whether you’ve hosted events or attended them, you might have heard of the terms “event management” and “event planning”. Well, here is a comparative guide that’s going to help understand what each role is. Most things are planned and started by event planners like choosing the venue and event tent rentals.

The Differences Between Event Planning And Event Management

What Is What?

The execution of an event starts with the idea in mind. The planning part of any event is the responsibility of an event planner.

Event Planning

Event planning is the process of hitting the drawing board, coming up with an idea, pouring in creativity, and aligning it with the vision of the company or corporate business. Every event starts with planning. Whether it’s a corporate event, a networking event, or even a simple home event like birthdays or dinners, they need to be well thought out, before they can be executed.

This is all the work of an event planner. People hire event planners when they want a certain appeal to the event and want the idea to come to life, as it is. This is why event planners work from start to finish, until the date of the event, to ensure that the client is satisfied with the work.

Event Management

As far as event management is concerned, it’s all of the labor-intensive work that involves overlooking the operations, making sure that everything is going according to schedule, and that there are no hiccups along the way.

You could say that an event manager is the technical worker of an event. They ensure that everything is on track, by regularly meeting with clients, getting reports, and fixing any mistakes that there might be, before the actual execution.

Responsibilities

Now that you know what an event planner and event manager is, it’s also a good thing to have an insight into the responsibilities they have on their shoulders.

Event Planning

Event planning includes:

• Scouting out the perfect venue for the event
• Picking and personalizing a theme, if there’s any
• Setting a budget, after a meeting with the client
• Envisioning the event in the perfect light
• Setting and deciding the menu
• Coming up with the flow of the event
• The time and day of the event
• Making invitations for the guest
• Hiring the best of the best workers for the event
• Finalizing the speakers/special guests for the event

Event Management

As for event management, the responsibilities of the front-working personnel will include:

• Getting the vendors on the same page for the event after the date has been finalized
• Getting the venue reserved for the date
• Coming with plans B, C, and D, in case something goes wrong
• Monitoring the progress from start to finish
• Execution of the event
• Ensuring that the event is in line with the codes of health, safety, and other important, non-negotiable measures
• Mediating difficult situations on the spot

Event – At Face Value

You might think, after having a look at the responsibilities of both the event planner and event manager, that most of the burden falls on the shoulders of the manager and that the planner has it easy. Well, that’s far from the fact.

In truth, both event managers and event planners need each other to plan and execute a successful event that will be remembered by people forever. The event planner has to come up with a stellar idea, otherwise, it won’t see the light of day and the event manager won’t be able to start work unless they get the proposed plan.

So, it’s a synchronized channel that turns the wheels for months and years, and an event of a few hours is finally ready to be executed.

Overlooking The Staff

Speaking of responsibilities, you might also think about how event planners and managers work with the staff and how much one-to-one interaction is necessary to make the event a success.

Event Planning

Event planning has pretty little interaction with the staff, to begin with. They’re more responsible for finding the best services out there and narrowing the options down to a couple before they can find something that fits the client’s budget. You may think that it’s an easy job, but it’s a pretty daunting task to find the best services that will be able to negotiate with the given budget.

Event Management

Members of the event management team are involved in the nitty-gritty of the event. They are not involved in the hiring process of the caterers, vendors, and corporate tent rentals Rockland NY, but after that’s done, they receive a set of instructions from the event planner and now it’s the job of an event manager to communicate what the client wants from the staff.

From the time of serving, the quality control and even the way servers will present themselves is all the work of an event manager. Event managers are more involved when things are getting done as the date of the event is getting closer and closer.

Interaction With Client

Event Planning

Event planning demands a lot of interaction with the client. If a company wants to host an event, then it’s up to the event planner to set up meetings with the client and have a long and productive talk, about the way they want the event to go, what will be the highlights of the event, how many people will be coming, whether there’s a specific theme or not, etc.

Interaction of an event planner with the client is the be-all end-all, because if the event planner fails to grasp the vision and idea of the client, then everything will go down the drain.

Event Management

The client interaction isn’t as tedious in event management. However, event managers still need to be in direct contact with the client, especially on the day of the event, so that they can get the rundown of how things are going. An event manager is also responsible for meeting up with the client after the event to gather necessary feedback.

Work Environment

You might be wondering how the job environment of event planning and event management varies.

Event Planning

Event planning is a very sedentary job, in which the key event planner sits in an office and makes calls with clients, catering services, vendors, and decorations, negotiates the terms, and even offers suggestions, as per the client’s requirements and satisfaction.

An event planner needs to be a good marketer and master of persuasion. Event planning can also be done remotely because everything can pretty much be done via calls and virtual meetings.

Event Management

The job of event management requires a bit of traveling because an event manager usually works on-site. The job of an event manager is hardly remote and he/she needs to be present at the venue of the event, to observe real-time operations and prepare reports of progress.

An event manager needs to have a technical mind and the qualities of a mediator because in on-site jobs, things can get out of hand and it’s up to the event manager to take care of everything while keeping things on track and ensure that the event goes smoothly.

Conclusion

At first glance, event management and event planning might seem the same, but now you know exactly the key differences between the roles. They may overlap in some things, but things are concepted and vendors like event rentals Rockland NY are hired by planners.