CEO of JDC Events and author Jennifer Collins leads a Fireside Chat during the Equipped Leadership Summit for first responders. Courtesy of Jennifer Collins / JDC Events

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of meeting, convention and event planners is projected to grow 8% from 2023 to 2032. That is faster than the average for all occupations. It is, without doubt, a growing industry. Education is critical to help planners recognize the changing environment and develop strategies to move forward.

Corporate meeting planners across the country know this well. Regardless of where they are in their career, they know their time as a student isn’t over yet. On the contrary; they are embracing new and innovative ways for educational opportunities to enhance their careers and to continually learn how to bring the events and meetings they plan to the next level.

From meeting planning seminars to online leadership sessions to team-building classes, today’s educational programs are far more learner centered, innovative and relevant than ever before. And they are providing corporate planners to embrace the “never stop learning” adage that will only deeper their career opportunities.

As Jennifer Collins, author of “Events Spark Change: A Guide to Designing Powerful and Engaging Events” and CEO of JDC Events, explained, over the span of her career, she’s worked with corporate clients from all over the world to build stronger brands and design impactful events no matter the obstacles.

In her role as author, Collins has the opportunity to educate other meeting planners at seminars, conferences and other gatherings of professional corporate meetings. Recently, Collins spoke of the power of nurturing strong networks and she attended the National Minority Supplier Development Council annual conference, which is an organization that accelerates minority business growth and advances economic equity.

“I believe it is a ‘must’ to keep learning,” said Collins. “As we’ve seen over the past few years, the world is changing fast, new technologies such as AI are emerging, generational differences are in play and ways of ‘doing’ are not the same. So, we have no choice but to keep learning to remain relevant and effective.”

Collins sees that educational options for corporate meeting planners have evolved to include a wide range of formats, delivery methods and content areas. Whether in-person conferences and events, educational webinars, online courses, industry organization programs, and networking online or in-person, she pointed out that there are a myriad of ways to keep learning with varying price points that make it more accessible for planners.

“The opportunities are quite expansive from a conference featuring topical sessions, site visits, hands-on demonstrations, topical activations, virtual webinars, seminars, in-person tradeshows among so much more,” said Collins, who mostly attends industry events and conferences — locally and around the country. It’s at these events that she meets new connections and reconnects with those that she has met at other events. This has positioned Collins to gain new business, connect with new vendors and learn creative insights and perspectives that enhance her business operations.

For planners who may think they don’t have the time to participate in educational opportunities, Collins said she is of the mindset that she cannot afford not to participate in education.

“However, I do understand that can be quite expensive and difficult to get away. But I would start with the local chapters of the industry organizations and get involved,” Collins said. “This would be less costly and could expedite the opportunity to meet new people, and for them to get to know you. I live by the ethic that the receiving is in the giving. The more you extend yourself to helping others, the more it will return to you.”

Tom Pasha, president of Contact Planning, often presents his well-received Meeting Planning MasterMind Training, a highly interactive, thorough and extensive look into the inner workings of hotels and convention centers. Pasha trains meeting planners “from the inside,” on operations, finances, negotiating and contracts, with fun and challenging strategy sessions to help planners become more effective.

From Pasha’s perspective, there are many reasons why meeting planners should embrace a lifelong learning approach to their careers. For example, keeping up with technology, which includes understanding trends in communications, registration, contracts, electronic BEOs and hundreds of other meeting applications.

“Many junior event managers were raised in a high-tech environment and many senior planners need to become as tech-savvy as their junior staffers,” Pasha said. “Also, as we saw as COVID started to dissipate, many hotels and venues have tightened up their contracts and booking parameters, and added new fees and other expenses to attempt to offset the losses experienced during COVID. Education is critical to help planners develop strategies to deal with it.”

Pasha explained that professional societies like ASAE, MPI, PCMA and others have always been valuable sources of training to the planning industry. There are more specialized groups that also offer training, including the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals, Insurance Conference Planners, Medical Meeting Planners, Incentive Planners and other groups have developed their own specialized training, and some even offer certification programs.

“Live training is returning to the live tradeshows, such as CONNECT Meetings and others. Even the local chapters of MPI and PCMA have added training sessions in many events, to help attendees develop their skills and impart value to attending events,” Pasha said. Virtual programs are returning to live events, since many planners may have suffered a Teams/Zoom event overload during COVID.

Some groups have added break-out sessions addressing specific parts of the meeting planner’s job including site selection, negotiating, contracts and others. A number of associations have added programs for their tradeshow sponsors, who are typically corporate attendees. As Pasha pointed out, these might include techniques on working a tradeshow booth, developing relationships with clients and other topics that impart value.

“Corporate planners need to take advantage of these programs, especially if they are approved for Continuing Education credit towards a CMP or other designation,” said Pasha, who began his career in hotels, specifically Hyatt Hotels, which is known for some of the best in-house training in the hotel business.

All the major chains now have in-house training programs that cross-train managers in multiple specialties and reward completion with accelerated raises and promotions. As a director of sales, one of Pasha’s job was to recruit and develop talent from both in-house departments and from competitive hotels.

Now, in addition to working as a planner and site-selection partner for corporations, Pasha presents a training session called the Meeting Planning Mastermind, where planners learn “Meeting Planning, from the Hotel Side.”

“Once planners learn how hotels and venues operate, they learn negotiating and contracting techniques to maximize their ROI. We have a segment where we have the meeting planners set a banquet room from the furniture to the water glasses so they can see what’s involved in turning a meeting room,” Pasha said. “We have other programs when we have the planners work with the culinary team to make dessert or appetizers for the group, as many planners have never worked in a commercial kitchen.”

To help corporate planners focus on their educational goals, Pasha recommends they start by writing down a one-, three- and five-year plan. In all those plans, there will most likely be a list of promotions, raises, increased responsibility and other goals. To achieve any of these goals, it’s critical for planners to improve their resume in a competitive market.

“That should be enough motivation to have planners seek out training opportunities,” Pasha said. “For every corporate meeting planner in the business, there are hundreds of aspiring planners who want to move into their spots.”

That said, it’s important for planners not to overthink the issue, just make a commitment to get some training as a regular part of their job. As Pasha explained, training doesn’t have to be time consuming. Local MPI and PCMA chapters offer training at their regular luncheons and meetings, so a planner has to make the time to attend.

“An easy training example is a meeting planner I know looked up ‘Event Planning’ on YouTube and found literally dozens of videos on all aspects of the business,” Pasha said.

Other Avenues of Learning

Outside of more formal education and training opportunities, corporate meeting planners should also recognize that they can learn from each other in informal gatherings or through online meeting planning groups found on sites such as LinkedIn.

Typical e-learning approaches — live Webcasts, online self-paced tutorials and instructor-led learning, as well as podcasts and blogs — are changing the way meeting planning industry experts transfer knowledge and information to others.

E-learning offers planners the opportunity to schedule their training and learning approaches as it is convenient for them. Online educational programs also allow planners to be proactive and determine the courseware or programs that are relevant and meaningful to their particular job functions or skill set — at the moment they need it, not at a time when the knowledge can’t be applied.

Many indicators point to the popularity of e-learning approaches among corporate meeting planners including rapid obsolescence of knowledge, the need for just-in-time delivery, the need for cost-effective ways of reaching a global audience, as well as the need for more flexible training tools.

Personally, Collins meets other connections for tea, lunch, dinner or even virtually. She believes it is important to nurture relationships for mutual sharing of information, serving as a sounding board, and developing meaningful friendships.

Indeed, most planners receive dozens of invitations to attend lunches, webinars, fam trips, ribbon cuttings, ground breakings and other industry events. As such, Pasha suggests that planners should take advantage of these networking opportunities to meet new suppliers, buyers and industry professionals.

“I encourage my managers to attend at least two events per month with the goal of meeting new industry contacts,” Pasha said.

Also, there are many social media pages that service the meetings industry, so corporate planners should be sure to contribute to those. If a planner has an issue or question, putting your name out in the market adds credibility to you as a professional.

“One of the best training programs I’d completed was a golf class; there were some great contacts that I made there, and in the years that followed, I paid for my staffers to also attend golf classes,” Pasha said. “If golf is not your preferred sport, try a culinary class, a wine tasting or other groups. The idea is to meet and network in a market and learn what you can in a dynamic environment.”

Lifelong Learning

Corporate meeting planners have embraced the notion of “knowledge” as an asset to be worked with and to be enlarged. The bottom line is that increasing their knowledge and performance within the meetings and events industry is a competitive weapon. This, if anything, defines the knowledge economy and accounts for expressions like “lifelong learning.”

Looking ahead, Collins said that, as professionals, meeting planners will need to acquire new skills and knowledge throughout their careers to stay competitive and relevant. This means that corporate meetings and training sessions will continue to play a crucial role in facilitating ongoing education.

“Those companies that are adaptable to the changing needs of business and understand the power of developing more sustainable communities through your events will be better positioned to attract and retain top talent, drive innovation, and remain competitive,” Collins said.

As the corporate meetings and events industry continues to evolve, it goes without saying that planners will add more technological skills to their toolbox. And as everything in the meeting business is picking up the pace again, hotels and venues are using the new pace to introduce new systems and technologies — from registration and check-in, to food and AV packaging.

“Many planners need to embrace the changes and learn how to maximize their results. In addition to industry group meetings, planners should consider taking some on-line courses in Excel, Word and other software,” concluded Pasha.

“There are continuing education classes at colleges and even universities that would be valuable to planners. Finally, the networking aspect of meeting planning will take the place of formal training, so planners should join and participate in industry events. I can see training becoming less structured but more results driven, so planners should focus on adding new skills from a variety of sources.” C&IT