Here at TCG, our team understands the need for some humor to make it through day-to-day craziness. Our friends at Leading Authorities created this video as a tribute to meeting planners around the world. As fellow event planners, we can attest to having said most everything in this video. As you watch this, remember fondly the events you planned this year and the crazy extremes that we event planners go to in order to make it happen.
Sometime during the 80’s, “Event Planner” became a real job title. Hollywood can be thanked for the real tipping point of marketing event planning as a profession. Meg Ryan appeared as an event planner in the film, Hanging Up.
Then, Jennifer Lopez made wedding planning look glamorous in The Wedding Planner. The opening scene had J-Lo’s character carrying an emergency kit strapped to her body while she prevents a wedding nightmare: a disappearing priest and a father of the bride meltdown. (Our “kit” is a two layer toolbox with wheels – definitely not fitting under a suit jacket.)
Then the pinnacle moment for the event industry came on The Sopranos (All Due Respect episode), when AJ said he wanted to become an event planner. Tony and Carmela banter in confusion about the exact nature of the job. Shortly after that, event planners started popping on reality shows like The Hills, The Apprentice and The Bachelor.
Now entire television shows are devoted to the behind the scenes world of event planning. There are already “celebrity” event planners such as Preston Bailey, David Tutera, and Colin Cowie.
The downside of this media recognition is that a well-planned event doesn’t make for great TV. Many event planners on television are portrayed as unorganized, flighty individuals who flit around in great shoes while attending the party they halfway planned. This television personality provides a nonsensical view of the job under the guise of “reality”.
Unfortunately the unrealistic view distorts the consumer’s experience as well. Television shows use product placement to lower costs. Many times when the cost of the event is flashed on the screen, it isn’t including the sponsorships. Great events can certainly be done for $20,000, but consumers’ reality turns to fiction when shows claim to have a party for 200 people with a full bar, heavy hors, decor, floral, specialty rentals AND entertainment for $20,000.
In real life, planning an event requires an enormous amount of paperwork, devotion to detail, and attention to logistics. Most event planners (including some of our own!) are smart control freaks who crave adrenaline rather than fame.
Each semester we invite a new group of interns to join us at TCG Events. We go through numerous resumes and interviews before choosing two to three unique individuals to join our team.
We begin the process by scanning resumes for a couple of key elements. Are you a current student or looking to enter the job force to gain experience as a graduate? Do you have any event experience or skills that can relate to the production of events? Our key to successfully hiring interns is to immediately interview candidates whose resumes interest us.
Each interview begins with one very important question – what do you think about event planning? An answer of, “I think event planning is glamorous!” in any form, is the kiss of death for even a favored candidate. We simply dread this response because our job is far from glamorous and this unrealistic perception sets everyone up to be disappointed. We want to ensure the interns we choose are ready to become apart of our team – we are looking for hard work, determination, and creativity.
You will go through new and unique experiences, possibly even taking a pig on a walk. Seriously.
Being an intern at TCG will help you decide if this event planning career path is for you. It will become very apparent if this is what you want to do or if it’s just not your cup of tea. An internship can open doors to a career either within the company or connections you make along the way!
Want to start your event adventures with us as an intern? Check out this page.
TCG Events is a trusted partner in the planning, design, and execution of events that demand lasting impact.
