 They say being an event planner is one of the most stressful jobs in the world. So how do you know if you have what it takes to make it as an event planner? Welcome to The Pantry. We're talking about event planners and some of the soft skills that they need to possess in order to be a successful event planner. Now, most of us older planners didn't have post-secondary education to lean on and learn some of the skills that are required to being an event planner. We probably took some certifications after our post-secondary education and are constantly keeping up to date on some of the newer certifications in the industry. Some of the millennial students now have education and degrees, diploma and certificate programs that they can lean on to kind of get a head start in the industry. But there's still some soft skills and characteristics that every event manager needs to possess. In order to be successful. We're going to talk about those today. First and foremost, what an event manager needs to be in order to be successful is organized. Now, whether they organize their information via an online database or CRM, paper copies in a notebook or journal, they are extremely and highly organized individuals. In fact, it might be one of the reasons that I am not a full-time event planner anymore is I lack a few organizational skills and that was probably one of the most stressful parts of my day. Now, don't get me wrong, I think I'm a highly organized person but you need to be an exceptionally organized person in order to excel as an event planner. Characteristic number two is energy. Now, this one I did okay with. Energy, you need to have a ton of energy if you want to be an event planner, especially on event days. So, you're getting a proper amount of sleep, you're having a healthy diet, you're even getting exercise, all of those are going to feed into your energy levels so that when it's go time, you are on. And it's okay to have those cups of coffee and tea to kind of keep you going and keep your energy levels high but an event planner needs to find energy from somewhere and channel it into his or her event. Characteristic number three is being strategic. Now, this is the characteristic that's going to separate the good planners from the great planners because I strongly believe that everyone can be a good event planner if they have some organizational skills and some energy. But the great planners, those are the ones that are being strategic and really analyzing the meeting or the event that they are planning and finding ways of doing it better or getting more ROI, not just for them as a planner but getting more ROI for the meeting delegates. So they're really digging into the format, they're really digging into the content, they're really looking at all facets of the meeting from beginning to end and designing something that's going to be impactful for their delegates rather than just throwing something together and making sure that all the pieces fit. Characteristic number four is a strong work ethic. Again, I find it difficult for event planners to go through a day, a week, a month without pouring their all into their meeting in order to be successful. And again, one of those things that I think separates the good from the great is having a strong work ethic, always looking to better the program, getting up early in the morning and perhaps going to bed late at night and always thinking about the meeting and what you can do to make it a better event. Characteristic number five being a problem solver. Now every great meeting planner will tell you that their meetings did not go off without a hitch and there were constantly things that needed to be adjusted on the fly and that's what makes a great event planner, is that they're able to solve those problems on the fly, make changes accordingly and see the event as a success in the end. Characteristic number six, strong communication skills. I plan on talking about communication skills in the months ahead here on the pantry and I did do a blog post about email tips and tricks that you can find here but having strong communication skills be it email, telephone, in person and be it with your suppliers, your team members, your clients, your meeting delegates, all of it needs to be top notch and best in class in order to pull off a successful event. So all great event planners have great communication skills. Characteristic number seven and this goes along with the strong work ethic and with being strategic is loving to learn. Great planners love to learn new skills. So perhaps they're reading periodicals about the industry, they're attending association meetings and getting professional development or maybe they're even learning about their clients and the different needs and wants of their particular client set but they're always learning. They're always the cutting their teeth on something new and they're trying to infuse that into their future meetings. So all great meeting planners they love to learn. Characteristic number eight and I saved the best for last is fun. Meeting planners love to have fun. They have to have fun, they have to be energetic, they have to be passionate about their meeting and passionate about the components of the meeting. There's a time to learn, there's a time to network and there's a time to have fun. So meeting planners they also like to have fun and that's why they got into this profession. It is a ton of work and as you know now it is a ton of stress but being a meeting manager is also a lot of fun. If you are currently a meeting planner perhaps some of these characteristics resonated with you above and remember you don't have to be extremely strong in all of these areas of characteristics of being a great planner. You can always build a team around you with people that compliment you and your strengths and some of the characteristics that you possess. So if you're finding you're not as strong in one area just make sure you partner with someone who is strong in that area and now you have a well-rounded and well-balanced event team. If you are looking to learn more about being a meeting and event planner I would recommend checking out some of the professional associations where the event planners hang out. I've put some links to those associations in the description for this video below. Check them out and see which one resonates best with you. As always I'll be posting lots of tips and tricks for event planners over on my blog at productivitypantry.com There you can sign up for my weekly newsletter which will bring those meeting planning posts right to your email every week. To all my amazing event planners out there I salute you. It's a lot of work, it's a lot of stress but it's such a rewarding career. I wish you all the best this event planning season and I will see you next time. Bye for now.