So you dream about booking venues and creating event experiences that people will remember forever.
That can only mean one thing: You’ve received the ‘event organizer calling.’
What is an event organizer? Oh, you know, just the most important job in the world.
How do we know this? Because we’re Eventbrite — the event tool that gives event organizers around the globe access to AI-powered tools, email and social media marketing tools, and a 90-million consumer audience reach.
In this article, we’ll specify what an event organizer is, give you some real-world examples of what the job looks like, and break down the typical responsibilities involved.
Jump ahead to find out what an event organizer does
What is an event organizer?
Breaking down the role of an event organizer
Essential skills that’ll help with event organizer responsibilities
What is an event organizer?
While there isn’t a strict definition of an event organizer, we’d define them as the one-stop shop for event planning, management, and marketing.
As an event organizer, your responsibilities differ depending on the type and size of the event and whether you’re creating an event for their brand or someone else’s.
However, there are some commonalities in every event organizer job description, such as:
- Selecting venues
- Handling permits and licenses
- Building promotional strategies
- Writing event listings and descriptions
- Selecting performers
- Working on budget management
- Organizing event teams
While the role of an event organizer is often associated with other functions in the event management industry, such as event planning or coordination, these roles differ in some respects.
What’s the difference between an event organizer and an event planner?
While there’s definitely overlap between the role of an event organizer and an event planner, we’d say that the main difference lies in their job duties and clientele.
An event planner is usually hired by a third party to provide services for a single event. Their work often falls into smaller event categories: weddings, birthday parties, and private events. An event planner’s scope extends only to what they’ve been paid for: bringing their clients’ vision to life. Anything related to marketing, promotion, or event brand-building is outside of their job description.
On the other hand, as an event organizer, you usually create events for your own brand and have a full event production schedule throughout the year. You’re usually responsible for everything from choosing the event idea to getting attendees through the door, and your earnings come from ticket sales and merch.
Some types of event organizers include:
- Event creators: Organize their own events across different venues, such as Stay Silent.
- Venue owners: Host events to promote their facility and increase drink and food sales, like Revel Atlanta nightclub.
- Nonprofits: Create fundraising events to raise money and awareness about a good cause, such as Ollie Angels Animal Rescue.
- Businesses or institutions: Develop networking and corporate events, like seminars and conferences, to generate new leads and engage with their community, like the Nevada Association for the Education of Young Children.
To give you a clear picture of your day-to-day work as an event organizer, we listed exactly what you should expect before, during, and after an event.
Breaking down the role of an event organizer
When you enter the world of events, you must be prepared for unpredictability. As an event organizer, you’re responsible for bringing an incredible event idea to life that sells tickets and blows attendees away. However, there are some core event organizer responsibilities you should be aware of.
Pre-event
We hope you like planning because an event organizer is responsible for everything from devising unique event ideas and logistical planning to budget management. Everything from devising a unique event idea to logistical planning will be on your shoulders.
Event ideation and research
Your first responsibility as an event organizer is conducting research on your target audience, market trends, and competitors. This will help you identify gaps in the market and find ways to make sure your event stands out from the crowd.
The research process includes examining:
- Target audience demographics, interests, and values
- Specific techniques that similar events are using
- Data from previous events to understand what’s popular with attendees
- Event trends impacting sales and attendees’ expectations
- Gaps in the market that may appeal to attendees
- Discount offers that competitors are offering
💡Pro tip: To find competitors, use Eventbrite’s discovery platform. As the world’s largest event directory, Eventbrite allows you to find local events in your area simply by searching for specific keywords. For instance, if you’re looking to host a party event in Charlotte, an event organizer like The Social Club would be a good competitor to look into.
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Financial planning and budget creation
As an event organizer, you’re responsible for developing an in-depth financial plan to prioritize spending and identify areas where you can maximize your profit margin.
Event financial planning includes:
- Researching sponsorship deals and exploring funding options
- Producing financial reports and tracking expenses throughout the event’s lifecycle
- Budgeting for projected expenses, such as permit fees, ticket registration software, catering, or equipment rentals
- Estimating the ROI (return on investment) of the event
- Setting clear and measurable financial goals that align with brand objectives
💡Pro tip: Use a pre-made event budget template to ensure you’re covering easy-to-miss spending, such as tax and insurance.
Logistical planning
One of the most integral roles you have as an event organizer is preparing every aspect of the event. Think of it as the glue that keeps everything together and helps troubleshoot problems before they arise.
Logistical planning means:
- Researching, selecting, and booking venues and equipment
- Setting up an event registration page and managing ticket sales
- Obtaining necessary permits, licenses, and insurance policies
- Building an event agenda for attendees for single or multi-day events
- Developing an event timeline and schedule for the event team
💡Pro tip: Automate time-consuming and repetitive parts of the process by using Eventbrite’s AI writing tool. This lets you create event registration pages, email campaigns, and social media ads 30% faster compared to manual writing and save previous event information so you don’t have to fill it out every time.
Event promotion and brand building
Event organizers are also responsible for event branding and marketing to attract new attendees and entice previous guests.
Event promotion and marketing include:
- Designing SEO-friendly event websites
- Implementing a social media campaign, optimizing daily ad spend, and increasing click-through and conversion rates
- Generating excitement by promoting different event ticket types, like early-bird or VIP tickets
- Developing email campaigns and newsletters with exclusive offers
- Collaborating with influencers, industry experts, and brand ambassadors for cross-promotion opportunities
- Boosting media coverage with event press releases
- Posting the event on highly-targeted event listing platforms, like Eventbrite
💡Pro tip: Create a unique tracking pixel with Eventbrite and monitor where your website traffic and conversions are coming from.
During the event
Once an event organizer has implemented all that planning, they’re also responsible for the success of the event on the day.
Monitor event registration and sign-in
Event organizers focus on getting attendees through the door efficiently and make the most of tools to use this as a window to capture data.
During check-in, event organizers:
- Ensure a smooth check-in process by minimizing wait times and overcrowding
- Utilize event management software to monitor event registrations and at-the-door ticket sales
- Address attendee inquiries and provide assistance with any complaints
- Set up necessary equipment, such as QR code scanners and ticket printers
- Appoint or hire event staff to manage check-in stations
💡Pro tip: Invest in end-to-end event management software, like Eventbrite’s organizer check-in app, to help streamline the check-in process, provide real-time event updates, and facilitate on-site purchases.
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Coordination and compliance
A commonly overlooked aspect of the event organizer job description is that you’re in charge of managing everyone, from vendors to event staff.
Event organizers are responsible for:
- Operations, like setting up vendors, signage placement, and ensuring performers arrive on time
- Last-minute schedule changes or ‘disasters,’ such as weather changes
- Pre-event briefings with event staff and volunteers
- Acting as the last point of contact for all team members and attendees
💡Pro tip: Another crucial aspect of event organizer responsibilities is remaining compliant with local laws and regulations throughout the event. For instance, adhering to fire safety regulations and the US Food Safety System for food handling and sanitation. Many event organizers hire a security and compliance officer to avoid the financial and legal risk of noncompliance.
Post-event
As an event organizer, your work doesn’t stop once you’ve packed up the venue. To build event resilience and create a community of recurring attendees, event organizers spend time evaluating the event’s success and identifying areas for improvement.
Evaluate the event’s performance
The first step is to dig through your event data to discover the event’s turnout, audience demographics, and financial results. An event management platform like Eventbrite lets you filter attendance rates and ticket sales into easy-to-understand graphs or charts to spot trends and insights.
Some key event performance metrics include:
- Total number of tickets sold
- New vs recurring attendee rates
- Income generated from promotional sponsorships and partnerships
- Event website traffic, such as the number of visits and unique visitors
- Email opening and click-through rates
- Percentage of registered attendees who showed up
💡Pro tip: Event organizers often send thank-you emails to attendees with a post-event survey to gauge attendee satisfaction and demonstrate that they value their opinion.
Build relationships with first-time attendees
Building a community around your event brand strengthens its impact and reduces marketing costs. Rather than promoting your event to ‘cold traffic’ and solely relying on new leads, you’re appealing to ‘warm traffic’ you’ve nurtured over months of brand exposure.
How event organizers build relationships with first-time attendees:
- Send personalized post-event thank-you emails
- Offer special discounts for future events
- Use photos and videos to promote their event brand on social media
💡Pro tip: Event organizers can also set up Facebook Dynamic Ads to drive merch sales and extend brand awareness for months after the event. For instance, House of Yes could promote their range of t-shirts and jumpers.
Skills that help manage event organizer responsibilities
We believe that all great event organizers are made, not born. To succeed in the event biz, you need both soft and hard skills beyond basic event coordination and planning.
Hard skills
Hard skills are specific, teachable abilities that can be quantified and measured. Every event organizer needs to nail down a few technical skills to throw and promote a successful event.
- Financial management: Event organizers need to manage budgets, negotiate contracts, and ensure financial transparency to maximize profitability and minimize risks.
- Ability to interpret data and analytics: You’ll need to interpret data like attendee demographics and engagement metrics to make informed decisions.
- Social media marketing: Event organizers must understand how to create paid ads and organic content on social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
💡Pro tip: If you’re looking to develop your technical skills, enrolling in a structured training program, like the Event Management Course or HubSpot’s social media training, are great resources.
Soft skills
Soft skills are non-quantifiable interpersonal attributes that enable you to effectively interact with others and thrive in your environment. To become a strong team leader and maintain long-term relationships within the event industry, you’ll also need several soft skills.
- Empathy: From the excitement of buying a ticket to creating FOMO for an event, every aspect, from planning to marketing, relies on your ability to put yourself in your audience’s shoes.
- Creativity: To distinguish yourself from other events, you’ll need to think of innovative event themes and creative solutions to make your event stand out.
- Negotiation: Mastering this art will help you secure favorable deals with catering and venue companies, as well as sponsors and influencers.
- Communication: Having clear and professional communication skills is essential for conducting meetings and rundowns with your event team.
- Networking: You must be able to form meaningful relationships with stakeholders, other event organizers, sponsors, and attendees.
💡Pro tip: Listen to the advice of event legends on online podcasts and classes. For instance, in one of our RECONVENE sessions, Morgan Jappe from Brewery Running Series discusses the importance of communicating with new partners and keeping your event brand consistent.
Your event organizer journey starts here
You’re ready to become the event organizer you’ve always wanted to be—you truly understand the responsibilities of an event organizer.
Now, it’s time to take the next step in your event organizer journey: creating an event page where people can learn about your events and buy tickets!
Eventbrite exists to make your event creation, planning, and management as easy as possible so you can focus your attention on creating memorable experiences and meaningful connections with your attendees.
