Do you consider yourself an entrepreneur? Todayโs iconic guest, Deanna Nwosu, thinks that all event and meeting planners should nurture an entrepreneurial spirit. She joins Sarah to talk about her vast experience in the events industry, what the future holds for event organizers, and the importance of community engagement.
For almost 20 years, Deanna has worked on fundraisers, conferences, trade shows, and other events ranging in size from 10 to 20,000 attendees. Creating an ideal attendee experience is almost second nature to her. As an event strategist, Deanna now focuses more on facilitating the front-of-house experience for attendees through moderating emceeing and public speaking, while providing clients some limited behind-the-scenes logistics support as well. Welcome to #EventIcons, Deanna!
A Holistic Professional With An Entrepreneurial Spirit
First off, Deanna talks about how she ended up in the events industry and the experience she gained along the way. โHow did you incorporate that entrepreneurial spirit throughout your career,โ Sarah asks.
โI have been in events since 2007 and in hospitality since 2000. When I was in college, I started volunteering with a few extracurricular activities that involve some event-related work. I was a business major, so I decided early on that this was the path I wanted to take. Right out of school, I worked for an association for a few years as their meeting coordinator, working on some smaller events and supporting our large annual meeting and educational conference in conjunction with a large trade show.โ
โFast forward to 2015, I was in the corporate space. I was working on B2B events with a UK-based group, organizing about 10 to 12 large conferences a year for them. Most recently, I was with a construction software firm and I was their in-house planner working on their conferences, but also coordinating third party events,โ she says.
Deanna is a truly holistic event professional; sheโs done everything from conferences to trade shows. Additionally, she worked for a hotel in high school, so she knows the venue side of event planning. โIโve also worked on the vendor side for a florist and event decorator,โ she adds.
Entrepreneurial Spirit: What Does It Mean?
Onto the next question. โWhat does that entrepreneurial spirit mean to you and how is that different from the way event planners do their jobs right now?โ
โMost people just assume that entrepreneurial spirit means starting your own business, being a freelancer, or side hustling and finding new ways of revenue,โ Deanna says. โBut I donโt necessarily equate that with an entrepreneurial spirit. To me, an entrepreneurial spirit is really about thriving wherever youโre placed. Whether that be in a full-time position for a company, you have a side hustle and you find ways of exploring your talents in other ways, or if itโs starting your own company. So I see an entrepreneurial spirit as identifying opportunities and making the most of them.โ
Itโs also about bouncing back from setbacks. โ2020 was just one giant setback for everyone. If you are in a full-time role, donโt let that limit your opportunities. Raise your hand for opportunities that will help you develop the skill set you desire. If itโs outside your position, do it in volunteer capacities, networking opportunities with industry organizations, or maybe through a side job or a hobby. Itโs about not letting your environment dictate what you do with your career,โ she adds.
New Normal, New Roles
Next up, Sarah asks Deanna to talk about her take on the future of work. โWhat skill set will event planners need to stay successful and ahead of the curve?โ
โItโs going to take looking outside the traditional roles and titles that weโve had in our industry,โ Deanna says. โAs a baby meeting coordinator, the vision for my career looked like taking steps to bigger events, events with more logistics, more complex details. And then eventually to the point where Iโm an event director, I have a team under me that is working on the different tasks and Iโm spearheading the charge. And through the course of my career journey, I realized that sometimes things arenโt necessarily linear.โ
โEspecially in light of the pandemic โ I feel like thatโs really shifted the skill sets required for event professionals,โ Deanna continues. โWe are traditionally generalists and in the last 18 months, we were all expected to be virtual experts. Thatโs just not the reality, though. We must find ways to look at roles that might be a little different than what weโre used to as opposed to the standard event manager and event producer roles, and they still exist.โ
Event Planning Trends: From Field Marketing To Community Engagement
โIt is exciting to think about what these roles are going to transition into,โ replies Sarah. โWhat do you think the event planner role might develop into if itโs not this producer-type role that weโre used to seeing?โ
โThe events industry, in terms of a meeting or event planner position, is relatively new. A lot of our predecessors fell into event coordination. They were administrative people or they were in content and education. And those event duties became an add-on to their roles. From there, we can look to the tech space. Theyโve done a great job of creating positions that are on the newer end of the spectrum that have event-related work, but theyโre not as general as a traditional event role โ field marketing and demand gen, for example.โ
โThose roles are very sales lead focused, but they have event-related work to it. Events are a back seat to that skill set. You can look in the education space and those who are working on curriculum design and training. Sometimes, theyโve had to take on logistical work as well because theyโre planning conferences or workshops,โ she says. โThen, thereโs community management. Those roles are popping up every day. Theyโre focused on social media and customer service, keeping that relationship with your customers and your loyalists, those who are going to be the evangelist for your brand, and creating events out of that community.โ
โNow that weโre shifting into this hybrid model, those who are in the TV and film space definitely have a leg up on the rest of us who are logistics first. If youโre looking for hybrid roles, look for executive producers on news shows and TV shows.โ
Advice For Hiring Managers & Jobseekers
Sarah asks: โWhat can companies do to try to hire for some of these roles or what you can do if youโre already in the event space and you want to get more specialized within your role?โ
โFrom a hiring perspective, companies need to evaluate what their business needs are today. Events have changed a lot in terms of the demand, depending on what industry youโre in. Certain industries are back to in-person events and others are going to be slower to come back to a full in-person meeting. In the interim, what is the role that you really need?
โA lot of times, event planners are glorified order-takers. And the other assigned duties can be a catch-all bucket for a lot of random junk. Hiring managers need to be really fine-tuned and detail-oriented. When you are posting descriptions, think about what does your business need today. Because what you needed five years ago when you hired an event planner may be totally different than today.
โIn terms of those who are in the job market first, I want to say my heart and prayers go out to you because itโs hard. Everyoneโs talking about the labor shortage. That doesnโt mean itโs necessarily easy to just go and get a job.โ
โIf you are in the job market and interviewing, you need to have certain conversations upfront. Sometimes as candidates, we are fearful of rocking the boat because we just want to get the job. We donโt want to offend, we donโt want to reduce our chances of getting hired, but honestly, if you donโt have that conversation upfront and everyoneโs on the same page before youโre on board, then you donโt have a leg to stand on a year from now, when you realize that your job duties are too wide and varied. Youโve got to nip it in the bud.โ
All Roads Lead To Customization
And what does the future hold in Deannaโs opinion? โThe rise of communities. User and client-driven experiences,โ she says.
โThings are going to be created based on direct demand from your community. Members are going to be more involved in the content and agenda creation, designing the experience. Thatโs the key to customization: allowing your user to be a part of the creation,โ she adds.
โA similar thing you would see in the food business is Lays. They used to do their annual flavor competition. People would submit all the flavors and then vote on them, but eventually, products were created based on this process.โ
โAssociations have been on the lead of this. Thereโs a lot of member involvement with selecting speakers and creating agendas. But youโll see it more in the corporate space that users and clients have much more of a hand in selecting the experience that they end up consuming.โ
Entrepreneurial Spirit Is About Controlling The Narrative!
Deannaโs last piece of advice for event planners circles back to that entrepreneurial spirit theyโve started the conversation with. โYour career is your own and itโs what you make of it,โ she says. โDonโt allow your job, your family, location, or anything to dictate what your career is. If thereโs anything that you feel is missing and you want to explore, find a way to do that regardless of your circumstance. Itโs key that we take ownership of the things that we can control and release the things that we canโt.โ
โIf there are skill sets that you want to develop and actual work that you want, itโs up to you to go out and find it,โ she adds. โWhen your name comes up in the industry, what are you known for? And if itโs not something you want to be known for, change it in terms of what youโre an expert at, what your personality is, what your brand is. Do that research to find out whatโs currently out there about you and control that narrative.โ
And with that powerful advice, Deanna and Sarah wrap up todayโs #EventIcons episode. Hopefully, todayโs conversation awakened your inner entrepreneur!