Event Planning Courses: Then and Now

Event management has changed a lot in the past 100 years. It has only fairly recently come to be recognized as a distinct profession requiring specialized training, i.e., event planning courses.

There were no event planner courses per se in the past. This is an emerging profession, one whose market share is said to be steadily growing.

In spite of the obvious challenges posed by the ongoing financial downturn, the outlook is still positive for graduates of event management courses.

Many of the events for which we now habitually turn to graduates of event planning courses - especially weddings - were once organized on a less formal basis, often for free, by family members.

If your event planner courses include a historical component, they may teach that Prince Charles and Lady Di are said to have transformed the wedding planning industry, and as a result, the event management industry as a whole, by increasing our expectations.

Perhaps all graduates of event planning courses owe a debt to this short-lived but unforgettable union...

Ever since the international TV broadcast of this fairy tale wedding, demand for the kind of services now regularly provided by graduates of event planning courses is said to have grown exponentially.

Quite simply, today's consumers expect more from their events. They expect weddings to look like the ones featured in magazines. They expect brides to look like celebs. To respond to the demand, community colleges around the world have introduced event planner courses.

Now, the graduates of these event planning courses find themselves co-ordinating a wide variety of events, not just weddings.

Event planning courses prepare students to organize:

• corporate events


• academic events


• fundraising events


• virtual events


• children's birthday parties


• baby showers


• bridal showers


• stag and doe parties


• etc.

Today's event planners have a variety of considerations that wouldn't have been an issue in the past. Sustainability, for instance, is a fairly recent addition to event planner courses.

Graduates of event planner courses may find themselves purchasing carbon offset credits for a children's birthday party, arranging for a compost bucket to be provided at a green technology expo, or arranging virtual events so that attendees don't need to engage in emissions-heavy air or car travel. As you can see, modern event management demands flexibility and creativity - a responsiveness to the issues of the day.

And event organizers in the past obviously did not have to contend with social media. Now, a strong social media strategy is a core requirement for almost any project embarked upon by a graduate of event planning courses. Some industry experts credit social media with revolutionizing the industry. First there was Prince Charles and Lady Di, then there was the new Twitter platform...

One wonders what the next thirty or forty years hold for this industry. What will be the talk of event planning courses in 2052?