91吃瓜网

Whether it was the wedding boom of 2022 or Swifties crashing Ticketmaster to purchase more than a record-breaking 2 million concert tickets in a 24-hour span, the demand for events is back in a big way.

So it鈥檚 no surprise that 91吃瓜网鈥檚 world-renowned Rosen College聽of Hospitality Management is leading the change to help meet聽this demand by equipping professionals with the proper tools and聽knowledge to handle it.

In Fall 2022, the college 鈥� which has long ranked among the聽top five in the world by ShanghaiRanking 鈥� launched its event聽leadership online master鈥檚 program, the first of its kind in Florida聽and the second in the U.S.

鈥淭he events industry is dynamic, exciting and complex,鈥澛爏ays Associate Professor Jeannie Hahm 鈥�04MS 鈥�12PhD, who聽collaborated with lecturer Michelle Holm 鈥�09MS 鈥�16PhD and聽Professor Deborah Breiter Terry to develop the new program.聽鈥淓vents come in all shapes and sizes. It is one of the most resilient聽and evolving industries, which was proven during the pandemic.聽This program provides a global perspective, strategic thinking and聽critical thinking skills to use in event planning by combining current聽industry issues and academic research.鈥�

Students enrolled in the program鈥檚 first cohort are mainly event聽professionals with three to five years鈥� experience who are looking to聽set themselves apart.

鈥淭his has become like a lot of industries where an undergraduate聽degree is no longer enough for leadership positions,鈥� Hahm says,聽鈥渂ut right now employers can only ask for an MBA. We鈥檙e going to聽change that.鈥�

Hahm and Holm offer some key pointers that everyday event聽planners can learn from to really knock planning out of the park.

Step 1: Set your goals

Every event has goals and objectives. So the聽first step is really to figure out what you or聽your client鈥檚 needs are, and use that as a聽guidepost for your planning.

Step 2: Do your research

Get quotes from at least three vendors聽of a similar nature.

Step 3: Prioritize your budget

List all of your expected expenses and rank聽each one in order of importance. 鈥淥ne is聽I absolutely need to have it. Two is it鈥檇 be聽nice to have. Three is it would really make my聽event look or feel great if I had it,鈥� Holm says.聽This will help you figure out where potential聽savings may lie if you need to cut costs.

Step 4: Plan your timeline

Holm says a common hiccup for novice event聽planners is not allocating the proper time聽for each activity in their event. 鈥淚 always ask聽vendors the question, 鈥楬ow long will it take聽to complete this activity?鈥� And then when聽you build your schedule, you need to build聽in buffer time to allow for issues to happen,聽because issues will happen. There is never聽a flawless event,鈥� she says.

Step 5: Be prepared for anything

Thinking ahead of time about the potential聽risks that could happen at your event will聽help you be prepared in the moment.聽If a speaker cancels or the bride is stuck in聽traffic, what are you going to do when people聽are waiting for this event to start? 鈥淭alk聽to the venue and make sure that they can聽provide some food and drink to help keep聽people occupied,鈥� Holm says.