An Event Coordinator Is One Busy Person


We’ve all been to events and have had a great time networking, enjoying a cocktail while nibbling on some great food. Well chances are that you didn’t even see the person who was responsible for making sure you had such a good time. That person would be the event coordinator. An event coordinator has a very demanding job – often a thankless job. There’s a saying in the meetings and events industry – “the only time you would see an event coordinator is usually when things go wrong”.

An Event Coordinator’s Job Begins Long before the Event Itself

It’s when the date and time has been decided for an event that the job of an event coordinator gets going. The initial job description for an event coordinator is to get all of the various suppliers going on their various tasks required. And getting suppliers all on the same track is no easy feat in itself. Quite often there are many suppliers involved with the one event. The venue itself, the caterer,  entertainment, AV people (audiovisual) and sometimes transportation companies are samples of the various suppliers that an event coordinator is responsible for. Each supplier may have a different task for the event itself. But it’s the event coordinators responsibility to make sure that each of those separate tasks are woven together to make one seamless event. And within each of those suppliers there are many items that they alone need to complete for their part of the event.

So it’s easy to understand why an event coordinator becomes very busy even in the planning stages of the event.

During the Event the Event Coordinator Acts like a Stage Director

If you think that the event coordinator can relax once the event begins, think again. As if their job wasn’t busy enough planning the event itself, it can be even more stressful for the event coordinator during the event. Think of a stage director’s responsibility for theater production during a live performance. They have to make sure everybody is on their mark behind the scene, or backstage, so that the performance on stage goes ahead seamlessly. That’s a very similar description to what an event coordinator is doing during the event. Their job is to make sure that all of the suppliers are on their mark and that the clients standards are being achieved if not exceed it. Just one small piece of the puzzle going bad can have a devastating effect on the event itself. What if the caterer ran out of food for example. Do you really think that the attendees would complement on the food that was there and how great it was? Not really. Pretty safe to say that most attendees will walk away from that event remembering that they ran out of food. That would not a good impression to say the least.

So the next time you’re at an event, take a moment to look at the people working. Chances are, if you look for them, you will see the event coordinator working diligently. Go up to them and let them know how you appreciate all the hard work they have done. You never know, the next event coordinator may just be yourself putting together your own event.

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