blog.propared.com: These days, to be a successful event planner, you need to have a pretty broad set of skills. You need to be creative and strategic. You must understand how to manage logistics and analyze data. You create unique experiences that are memorable and engaging but must still be able to measure their impact when they end.
8 comments:
Loved this article! I am very interested in event management and the theatricality outside of just the world of theatre. I love how broad the topics of these books are. There are books that look very business oriented such as Setting The Table, but then there are books such as Creativity Inc. which seem to be at the other end of the spectrum. I think that's what I find so interesting about event management; you have the opportunity to fuse "stuffy" business principles with art and creative people. The precipitant from that is something very incredible and unique. I like seeing opportunities, such as entertainment technology fields and event management, that advocate and encourage both sides of work. I'm not much of a reader but I love reading non fiction. I will definitely be looking into these books, and trying to expand my perspective on event management, planning and the art of doing business.
I think this is a useful article. I probably will never actually open any of the books listed, because I find in that in the times when they would be a helpful resource, reading a book is not normally something that can be scheduled into the day. When their is time available to read through a book, a planning and organization guide if probably not my first choice. Any lecture, class, info, even online help I find that all the tips on organization methods for life and group events are all the generic and I rarely find anything unique that could help. Most of the information is just about finding balance between work and personal life and health. My one complaint about this list, is it is all written by men, I would be interested in seeing similar works by women. I do agree that event planning is a lot of skills that are good general management and organizational skills, so a book dedicated to event planning may not be as resourceful as a more open topic book.
Shout out to Marisa for recommending this article to me! I don't see myself going into event planning, business, or management, but I still think a lot of these books will be useful. I often hear complaints that high schools and colleges no longer teach enough practical skills. A lot of the books mentioned contain advice that would fill these educational gaps and benefit students and professionals across all fields. Organization, communication, and creative problem solving are skills that are so crucial in theatre and entertainment specifically but would give anyone no matter their area of expertise an advantage. I'm especially interested in Creativity Inc., written by one of the co-founders of Pixar, because it discusses event/business planning methods but all with the creative process and high artistic standards in mind. If I take away anything from this article it's that management practices require a lot of study to master but it's something everyone should consider looking in to.
It's interesting to think about all of the different facets of creativity and organization that go into event planning. I had never really considered how many different kinds of approaches there could be to learning how to better yourself at event planning, and I think the variety of books here illustrates just that. Obviously some people are better at certain skills than others, however, I think I had always assumed that event planners were just pros about taking their resources and turning them into the best possible event. I think an alternative way of looking at it is how you can build creative solutions into the development of an event to enhance your resources in a way that allows you to receive an even higher payoff in the success of the event at the conclusion of your hard work. That perspective is far more interesting than simply using your resources. I'll definitely be looking into picking up a couple of these books, particularly those that focused on using creativity to produce better results in your events.
This is a really cool article! Who knew there were such a wide range of books about event planning. As someone who is very interested in maybe going into event/wedding planning if I someday somehow grow weary of stage and production management, it is very nice to see that there are so many varieties of resources out there. I especially like the books that mention creativity. Creativity, Inc. seems like something that would be extremely helpful for theatre. It discusses the importance of placing trust in a creative team, and though it is written about Pixar, those ideas can definitely be related to the theatrical process. The other creative book, Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater Creativity, seems to have a very interesting take on event planning, saying that the planner themselves should have a creative mind. This probably does not relate to theatre management quite as much as the other one, since a manager generally does not have to be particularly creative, just open to creativity in others.
Event management is one of the things that I had no idea I would enjoy doing before I got to CMU. Now that I am here though, after being a part of the Spring Carnival Committee for 4 years, I now find the entire field fascinating and love the challenges that go along with it. Logistical problems have become some of my favorite to solve, those questions like "How do we get 26 trucks through here in 2 hours without blocking the road?" and "How can we organize the parking lot so people can leave efficiently after the event?" are really interesting and engaging. This article made me realize that their are probably some good books on the subject that I had never considered might exist. From this list, Judy Allen's "Event Planning" and "Creativity Inc.", both sound like books I'd be interested in reading. I may have to pick up a copy.
I think there is something to be learned from event management whether one intends to go into the field or not - and I certainly don't. I think of a couple of very particular books mentioned here when I say that managing one's day to day life and artistic process has an element of event management that cannot be ignored. Whether it's planning out your day, designating hours to the people and the work you love most, or just cleaning out your workspace and your mind, life is an event which without proper management cannot function. Remembering this can also serve to help us appreciate and work with those managers and planners in our lives, professional or otherwise. Knowing how someone who has to juggle a whole bunch of other someones at all times thinks and works is pivotal to our understanding how best to work with them, and can lead to the cultivation of relationships and work environments far more productive than one in which the planning and thought are left on one side of the table. In order to manage a life which intersects with the lives of others, we must also remember how others manage theirs.
I was surprised to discover how many of these books I had already read over my tenure here at Carnegie Mellon (both for classes and of my own initiative). I would agree that Creativity, Inc. was one of the most influential books on creative management that I have ever read. The benefit of reading these types of event management books is that it gives you a different perspective other than your own to think through problem-solving alternatives and ways of approaching creative processes. Not all teams need the same type of management and diversifying you knowledge base can help you be a better manager of creative endeavors. I do have to say that I would never have thought about reading a book on how to run a meeting. It is something that I talk about a lot and think about even more, but the fact that there are entire books on meeting etiquette and how to structure meetings for effective communication justifies all of that effort. I definitely will be investigating those two books and would encourage all creative types to do so that they have a better understanding of what to bring up in a meeting and what would be better addressed in a smaller setting (or better yet – an email). There are always exceptions to these ideas, depending on the needs of the team and how they communicate most effectively, but this would give everyone baseline knowledge.
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