Gifts for event professionals can be hard to choose. What should you get the event prof in your life that has it all? When picking gifts for event professionals keep in mind these individuals are busy, stressed, and usually have a refined taste. We are taking the stress out of gift-giving by providing you the must-have gifts for the year! We’ve hand-selected our favorite gifts for event professionals so that you can be certain your gift to them something they will love to have!
Before we get into it, we also want to remind you to keep in mind these are our favorites. The best gifts are well thought out and customized to the recipient. We never recommend picking something on the list without giving it thought. For more on this check out our episode of #EventIcons with John Ruhlin, the author of Giftology.
Gifts for Event Professionals: The Techie
It’s no secret we like tech at Endless Events. I mean we are the home of the Event Tech Podcast after all! These tech gifts were designed to make life easier, from amazing noise-canceling headphones to simplifying your gear these gifts for event professionals are sure to impress and delight.
A Great Pair of Headphones
The best gift for event profs is one they will use over and over. And what’s better than a fantastic pair of headphones? Event profs are constantly on the go traveling, at venues, and in hotels. Give them the gift of noise-canceling headphones with killer sound. This way they can zone out or work anywhere without the distraction of outside noises. Our audio aficionado and Cheif Event Einstein, Will Curran, swears by the Sony Noise Cancelling Headphones WH1000XM3 for crystal clear sound and noise reduction! If you prefer earbuds check out the Sony WF-1000XM3.
One Dongle to Rule them All
The AUKEY 8 in 1 Type-C Hub is such a useful gift for event profs who use computers with USB-C ports. If you have a newer MacBook surely you have been affected by the change from USB to USB-C. I personally can never find the right adapter for whatever I need, and get annoyed looking through so many cords. Not anymore! With an Amazon rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars and glowing reviews like “Really great USB hub device. It has almost everything needed for laptop connectivity – lightweight, portable, multiple high speed USB ports, HDMI, USB3.1 which bring lot of speed to data transfer.” This gift will save your favorite event profs a lot of headaches!
Better Smartphone Audio
With video becoming more important than ever in marketing and events give a tool that will help an event prof become more successful! Oftentimes event profs “go live” from events and so much more, but phone audio quality just is not great. This Rode VideoMic is a small, affordable and powerful tool that will elevate the quality of any videos your favorite event prof takes. Whether its a live stream of an event, a Facebook live chat, a testimonial and more they will have great audio with this tool!
Event Professional Gifts: The World Traveler
Eventprofs are constantly on the go running from event to event. These gifts are designed with that in mind giving them comfort on the go.
Scratch of Map of the World
This is a fun gift for any travel aficionado! A scratch of map of the world is the perfect way to display their love of travel and the places they have been on their wall. It’s a meaningful and unexpected gift that any sentimental event prof would love.
Fantastic Luggage
When you travel a lot you need lightweight and durable luggage. There is nothing worse than your bag breaking midway through traveling. Don’t let this happen, invest in reliable luggage that will stand the test of time. We love the Samsonite Freeform lineup. This stylish hard-sided luggage comes in an array of colors and sizes. The FreeForm line “combines scratch-resistant textures with the lightest construction, ensuring your luggage looks as great on the 100th trip as it does on the first. Extremely light and visually impactful, this collection takes travel design to the next level.”
Comfortable Shoes
Event profs are on their feet for hours on end. Their choice of footwear can really make or break comfort at events. If an event prof isn’t comfortable performing their job on the go can become a real challenge or at minimum slow them down. A great pair of shoes is a gift any event professional would appreciate. Our current favorites are Tieks, the more affordable Lucky Brand Ballet Flats, or comfortable sneakers.
Ember Travel Mug
Constantly pulled in a thousand directions, by the time event professionals actually find time to drink their coffee it’s cold. An Ember Travel Mug will help keep their favorite coffee or tea at a perfect temperate for hours on end, it can be set anywhere from 120-145 degrees Fahrenheit and is designed to stay at that temperature until you are done. Bonus, it’s leak-proof. With a variety of colors and styles, you will be sure to find on your favorite event prof loves!
A Great Travel Bag
Event profs are always heading to an event, the airport or a meeting it’s important to have a great bag. Currently, we are loving the Peak Design Travel Backpack 45L, it is a versatile, durable, and beautiful carry-on travel backpack driven by a simple truth: no two trips are the same. Features top, side, front and rear access via intuitively placed weatherproof zips. Meets international carry-on size requirements.
Not a fan of backpacks? No problem. The Dagne Dover Signature Tote is truly a perfect bag. They say it’s the bag for “made for the 7 am-10 pm lifestyle” and if those hours don’t scream event prof at an event or conference I don’t know what does! This stylish and timeless tote is complete with a padded compartment for an iPad for laptop, and tons of little pockets to stay organized on the go. With 10 colors and three sizes, you are sure to find the perfect style for your favorite event prof!
Event Professional Gifts: The Health Conscious
Smart Watch
Help your health-minded friend stay reach their health and fitness goals! What better than a smartwatch that can track all your data? Karmen Jericevic, our amazing event guru swears by the Fitbit Versa 2. She loves leading an active lifestyle and her Fitbit helps her stay motivated, organized and on track with healthy habits. She thinks it’s an ideal gadget to have to keep yourself motivated and accountable with your health and fitness goals.
A Work Out on the Go with a Peloton Digital Membership
Before you roll your eyes, no you don’t need a bike but I promise that would be an impressive gift!. If you aren’t wanting to shell out thousands of dollars for a stationary bike or treadmill you can still get in on the Peloton magic. Peloton offers streaming group fitness workouts with their app. You can stream classes anytime, anywhere through an all-access pass to thousands of classes both live and on-demand. For $20 a month, Peloton offers a variety of workouts including running, strength, toning, cycling, yoga, meditation, and outdoor workouts.
Yoga Classes
Event planners have stressful jobs. And it’s been proven over and over again that exercise is great for us and reduces stress. Give the gift of yoga to reduce stress and enhance your favorite event profs well being. A study of 131 people showed that 10 weeks of yoga helped reduce stress and anxiety. Yoga also helps lower blood sugar, improve circulation, and so much more. This is the perfect gift of a stressed event prof that will allow them to pause all the busyness in their mind and focus on their wellbeing.
Subscription Based Gifts
Give a gift that keeps on giving and leaves them feeling loved all year long! There are thousands of subscriptions you can give. Try to think about what your recipient really enjoys and tailor the subscription to that! Who doesn’t love a treat delivered right to their doorstep every month? It’s always fun to see what’s inside! Below are a few of our favorites.
A Year of Their Favorite Productivity Tool
We’ve talked about productivity and project management tools a lot on our blog. We are a remote team and find these tools absolutely essential to our team’s functioning. But these tools aren’t cheap! Help event profs live their best life and put their best business foot forward by giving them a subscription to a project management platform or tool they’ve been interested in help them design their graphics with Canva, achieve inbox zero Sanebox, or improve their conference calls with Zoom!
FabFitFun
FabFitFun is a quarterly subscription box. It would be a fun and unexpected gift. Every season FabFitFun will send you a box full of seasonal trending items related to fashion, beauty, and fitness. The box is $49 per quarter and valued over $200. You will often find popular brands like Living Proof, Tarte and BB Dakota in these fun filled boxes.
A Book Subscription
A book subscription is a perfect gift for event professionals who love the read. You can download the books or audiobooks straight to your phone and listen or read anytime, anywhere. From fiction to help them escape and unwind, to business books which can help them grow their empire this is the perfect gift for just about anyone! If you are looking for a gift for an event professional who doesn’t want audiobooks but likes to read check out Scribd this is personally my new favorite. Scribd doesn’t limit the amount of books you can access per month, it’s cheaper at $8.99/month and offers both digital and audiobooks so they can choose to listen or read! If you are looking for something tried and true Audible has the world’s largest selection of audiobooks. There is something for everyone! Starting at $14.95/month it’s an inexpensive gift sure to be appreciated each time they use it and learn.
Graze
This subscription box is packed with healthy and tasty snacks. When you get your subscription Graze sends you a series of questions about your taste and dietary needs and has a taste expert select your snacks. Each box includes eight different snacks for 11.99. You can have Graze delivered as frequently as once a week, monthly etc!
Event Professional Gifts: Relaxation
Event professionals have some of the most stressful jobs on the planet. CareerCast.com recently listed event coordinator as the fifth most stressful job. Only a few jobs ranked higher for stress including military personnel, airline pilots, police officers, and firefighters.
Headspace Meditation App
Most people in our industry are stressed. Help them out by gifting a meditation tool like Headspace. Meditation is proven to help reduce stress. It’s been shown time and time again that taking time out of your day to shut down and meditate greatly benefits our bodies and minds. Through guided meditations Headspace allows you to learn to meditate and live mindfully. They have hundreds of sessions to choose from helping with sleep to reducing stress, and even increasing focus. There is a meditation tool for everyone within this app. At 69.99/year this is a great gift for any event professional.
Aromatherapy
Some studies have shown that aromatherapy might have health benefits, including relief from anxiety and depression, improved quality of life, and improved sleep. Lavender and bergamot are scrents often used to reduce stress and aid in sleep. Scents of the citrus variety can elevate moods. An aromatherapy starter kit would be an appreciated gift that will boost any event profs mood!
A Weighted Blanket
Weighted blankets can reduce anxiety, improve sleep and provide comfort. How does it work? The weight of the blanket acts as a deep pressure touch (DPT) which studies have shown can alleviate anxiety, and provide beneficial calming effects. For maximum benefit, it is recommended to find a weighted blanket at 5-10% of your body weight. Weighted blankets are growing in popularity and can now be found at major retailers such as Target.
Spa treatments
Event planners have one of the most stressful jobs on the planet, if you are curious you can read more about that here. Because of that, what better gift for a stressed-out event prof than the gift of relaxation? This is one of our favorite gifts for event professionals. Treat them to a relaxing massage, facial or manicure! If you want to splurge gift them a day at the spa where they can unplug and focus on themselves for a change!
Event Professional Gifts: Stocking Stuffers
A Disposable Camera
If you get our emails you are no stranger to Sarah Christl our brilliant Director of the Marketing Lab. In a industry so inundated with tech suggestion for event prof gifts her suggest was SO refreshing. Sarah chimed in, “the best gift I got this year was a disposable camera. It let me focus on capturing a few of the really important moments, I can’t delete any that people think they “look bad” in, and is actually really fun to get them developed and see what you captured over the course of a couple months.” Personally, I couldn’t love this idea more!
Airpod Case
Lindsay Martin-Bilbery suggests a leather AirPods case that clips right to your bag. “I received these from a vendor recently and it was fantastic, I’m always losing my airpod holder and this lets me clip it to my travel bag,” she said.
Gear Ties
Give the gift of organization! Event profs are always on the go, these 3-inch reusable twist ties will allow them to wrap long cords and avoid massive tangles! A dream.
Blue Light Blocking Glasses
I tend to do my writing at night and use these blue-light-blocking glasses. I was skeptical at first but let me tell you, they were a GAME CHANGER. Almost immediately I no longer battled with falling asleep and eye fatigue! These are stylish enough that you can wear them on the go anywhere you need to and affordable enough for everyone’s budget! If those aren’t your style our fearless leader Will Curran swears by this stylish pair from Gunnar Optics.
Conclusion
There you have it! We’ve shared our favorite gifts for event professionals. It’s time to pick your favorite and treat the special event professionals in your life! Pair it with a nice handwritten card to really give it meaning!
Editors Note: This article was originally published in December 21, 2017 and has been completely revamped for accuracy and current trends.
