Believe it or not, event professionals have one of the most stressful jobs. In fact, one recent study found that event coordinators endure more stress than taxi drivers, PR managers, and even senior executives. Event planner burnout is real.
We know better than anyone that event managers have a lot on their plates. As the next wave of in-person events arrives — alongside an uptick in hybrid events and the continued popularity of virtual events — there is more on the line than ever before. With so much at stake, it can be easy for event professionals to feel stressed, burned out, and lose sleep over all kinds of things.
In this article, you’ll find some of the most common reasons event planners lose sleep and why there is always a better way.
1. Juggling Too Many Event-Related Duties
From coming up with an event concept and finding the right venue to building an event website and attracting the right speakers, event organizers have many responsibilities. In many cases, event planners have tons of other duties outside of planning significant events.
Just because your job title might be “event planner” doesn’t mean you have to tackle every aspect of the event on your own. To avoid burning out or feeling overwhelmed, you need to delegate tasks to team members and let them take care of some responsibilities for you. If you don’t have the team members to get the job done, don’t hesitate to hire a few freelancers or vendors to bring your vision to life.
Not sure where to find the right people? Chances are your event management software partner has a few ideas up their sleeve, so don’t hesitate to ask for recommendations for partners, vendors, and other suppliers.
2. Worrying About Getting Messaging Right
The pressure of crafting the best messaging possible keeps many event planners up at night. To attract people to your event, you need to have a great concept, an exciting theme, and talented speakers.
But that’s only half the battle. You also need to create persuasive messaging that attracts prospective attendees and encourages them to sign up for your event via your event site, email, ads, social media posts, or another channel.
Luckily, there’s an easy fix: You can lean on attendee personas to create personalized messaging for different attendee segments (e.g., marketers, salespeople, C-suite). Then, use event marketing tools to A/B test your messaging to see which version resonates the most with your audience.
With the right event tech in place, you can continuously optimize your messaging, making it incrementally better over time while converting more and more prospective attendees into registered participants.
3. Going Above (and Beyond) the Budget
Every event planner we’ve ever met has stressed about their event budget. After all, unless you’re planning a royal wedding, chances are you don’t have an endless budget.
Although you can’t predict the future, you can decrease the likelihood you go over budget. The most budget-conscious event planners pay attention to detail, overcommunicate with stakeholders, and stay on top of the latest events and event technology trends. Here are a few other tips:
- Create a request for proposal (RFP).
- Create a contingency plan with must-haves and nice-to-haves.
- Get quotes from multiple vendors.
- Evaluate budget creep at past events.
- Don’t be afraid to negotiate.
- Work with more event sponsors.
- Do more with less by using intelligent event software.
You can also take your event hybrid or virtual, which can help you increase revenue by casting a wider net to a larger audience while lowering costs on travel, in-person speaker fees, and other expenses.
4. Keeping the Team Aligned and On Track
As event planners know all too well, it can be challenging to keep the team aligned in the months and weeks leading up to the event. It can become even more challenging to ensure everyone — speakers included — is in the right place at the right time during the event, too.
The key to success? Strong communication skills. Overcommunicating before, during, and after the event increases the likelihood of a successful event — and technology can be particularly helpful.
For starters, tools like Slack and Notion can help your team stay connected in real time, productively collaborate on projects, and stay on the same page. At the same time, using a purpose-built event management solution like Bizzabo can help your team stay aligned before, during, and after events, with all critical event data stored in one place.
5. Ensuring Events Are Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive
As an event planner, your goal is to put on the best events you can by appealing to as many people as possible. In an age where employees want to work for organizations that prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I), it follows that they want to attend events that are also diverse and inclusive.
The days of homogenous panels are over, and event planners embrace this reality. But many still worry about what they can do to build events that are genuinely DE&I-driven. For example, ensuring the right balance of speakers from across the spectrum of race, gender, religion, socioeconomic status, and geography keeps many event professionals up at night.
How can you deliver a speaker lineup that reflects your audience? How can you secure with diverse vendors and partners? What about creating an accessible and equitable event experience?
If this sounds like you, don’t sweat it. We’ve got you covered! Read “How To Build a Diverse Speaker Lineup for Your Event” and “7 Ways To Ensure Your Event Champions Diversity and Inclusion.”
6. Capturing the Right (or Enough) Event Data
These days, event professionals want to work smarter, not harder — this is where event data comes in, letting you measure and optimize every aspect of your event. Event managers who rely on outdated tech and manual processes often struggle to collect and analyze the data needed to choose the best way forward.
Knowing the questions to ask and having the best tool for the job can make all the difference. For example, the Bizzabo Event Experience OS helps you to collect valuable data — from initial event site visits to registration to engagement to the post-event survey. The more data you have, the better you can plan for future events and deliver the experience your attendees need and want.
Want to know the right questions to ask before, during, and after your next event? Check out “51 Event Survey Questions To Ask for the Best Insights.”
7. Having the Right Training To Get the Job Done
Lastly, event professionals are busy enough without trying to research professional development opportunities. With so many innovative virtual and hybrid technologies on the market, it’s more important than ever for event professionals to stay on top of the skills needed to stand out and get the job done.
Luckily, there are many certificates and certifications to help keep you on track and advance your career. Whether you are trying to refine your hybrid event planning skills or want to become more skilled as a global event and travel professional, we’ve got you covered. Continue sharpening your event planning skills by exploring these articles:
- "Top 12 Event Planning Certifications You Need To Propel Your Career"
- "The Best Virtual and Hybrid Event Planning Certificates and Certifications"
Add it all up, and — with the right mindset, strategy, and tools — you can avoid burnout, enjoy your career even more, and start sleeping better.
