Meeting Mentor Magazine

March 2024

A Day in the Life of a (Real) Event Planner

The event app/meeting engagement specialists at Quickmobile recently conducted a survey to get an inside look into their customers’ busy lives. Their goal was to create a snapshot of the typical day for an event planner (realizing, of course, that there is no such thing). Following are a few fun facts from this endeavor.

• Survey respondents plan five to nine events on average per year. These events can take from two days to an entire month to plan, depending on their size.

• Planners are tech-savvy. When asked how many technologies they use in planning a single event: 29 percent said one to three; 64 percent said four to seven; and 7 percent said more than 10. Topping the list were event management software and web CMS (content management systems) applications. The vast majority — 63 percent—reported challenges pertaining to bandwidth and cost.

• During crunch time, more than 42 percent of planners work 15 to 20 hours per day, and 51 percent only get five to six hours of sleep.

• Meeting planners have many job titles. Among them: event organizer, conference planner, meeting coordinator, event specialist, event designer, senior event planner, director of meetings and more. 


• When it comes to choosing a meeting venue, 47 percent of planners listed cost as the most important criteria, while 43 percent cited location. Those are pretty obvious deciding factors, but the survey also found that a vast majority — 74 percent — also consider diverse culinary offerings to be important.

• Planners’ biggest challenge when planning meetings is increasing costs.

• 48 percent of planners include a team-building activity in their events, and 47 percent include golf.

• A single event planner is responsible for juggling anywhere from five to 10 vendors at their events.


• The most highly requested hotel amenity is free Wi-Fi.

• The top international destination used by U.S. meeting planners is Canada.

• Among the most bizarre client requests reported were a red carpet for an outdoor event in a city where it rains all the time, broadcasting a football game in the middle of the Arizona desert, and a catered dinner with insects as the featured food!

• During their downtime when the meeting ends, here are planners’ favorite activities: 48 percent unwind with room service and a movie, 39 percent relax at the beach, and 20 percent take a staycation or have a spa day.

For more, visit the quickmobile blog.

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About ConferenceDirect
ConferenceDirect is a global meetings solutions company offering site selection/contract negotiation, conference management, housing & registration services, mobile app technology and strategic meetings management solutions. It provides expertise to 4,400+ associations, corporations, and sporting authorities through our 400+ global associates. www.conferencedirect.com

About MeetingMentor
MeetingMentor, is a business journal for senior meeting planners that is distributed in print and digital editions to the clients, prospects, and associates of ConferenceDirect, which handles over 13,000 worldwide meetings, conventions, and incentives annually. www.meetingmentormag.com

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