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In the ever-evolving world of event management, women are increasingly taking the reins and positively transforming the landscape. Whether it’s planning corporate events, board-of-directors retreats, conferences, conventions, or investor meetings, women in the industry are making their mark, bringing fresh perspectives and a collaborative approach to the forefront.

Historically, the events industry — like many — was male dominated. But with the advent of women entering the overall workforce (the Bureau of Labor Statistics states that in 2020, women represented 56.2% of the total college-educated labor force), it was perhaps inevitable they’d begin an ascendancy in the meetings arena, as well. Yet, according to a recent research report, “Women make up 70% of the global events industry workforce but hold only 16% of the top management positions.”

Before we turn our attention to the potential disparity of equity in the C-suites (as noted in the report), let’s look at why the presence of women in leadership positions shouldn’t just be a matter of inclusion, but a strategic imperative.

Empathy & Inclusion

One key advantage to having women in leadership roles is that they often approach problem solving and decision making through a lens that draws from a range of experiences and perspectives, while encouraging others to do the same.

Women also display a greater degree of empathy towards the struggles and obstacles others are trying to overcome, and an inherent understanding of the juggling many women do to achieve a tenable work-life balance. This struggle is even more noticeable in the events industry as it requires working lots of overtime hours, traveling to various venues, dealing with erratic schedules, and being called upon to troubleshoot at a moment’s notice.

Tonya Bouley, DES, is the director of conferences for the Investment Company Institute (ICI) in Washington, D.C., and coordinates events such as their Leadership Summit. As Bouley notes, “I always want each attendee to feel that I personally thought of them and their needs, especially if they have a dietary request or need an ADA accommodation. So, being inclusive and having empathy are great strengths (to have) when planning an event.”

Leslie McKee, vice president and general manager for the Edward Jones account at Maritz in Fenton, MO, extends that ethos to her internal team.

“We want everyone to feel comfortable bringing their authentic selves to their roles, and to have a balanced work and personal life. With that in mind, we strive to foster a work culture that puts people first, prioritizes well-being and unleashes an individual’s potential.”

Fresh Perspectives & Flexibility

As more women enter the field, including those from other countries, cultural backgrounds, educational experiences and age brackets, it’s a natural progression for fresh ideas and perspectives to become part of the picture. Women are generally more open to change and transformation while simultaneously being more risk-averse, which sets a good balance for new ideas or untested strategies. Remaining flexible is also key to working within an organization, as well as with a variety of external partners; in other words, it’s important that a leader knows how to ‘play nice’ in the proverbial sandbox.

“We contract approximately 6,900 events a year and can handle all aspects,” says McKee, “but we also work in tandem with members of a company’s internal team. Many financial clients will have us plan and execute their events from start-to-finish, but plenty of others will request singular solutions,” which translates to remaining flexible when it comes to each client’s individual needs, expectations and involvement at each stage of the game.

Notes Bouley, “One thing I learned early on as an event planner is to expect the unexpected. One of the biggest challenges for any event planner is ‘a known unknown’ such as weather. It has the potential to change all your best-laid plans at the very last minute. Having a plan in place to execute any late changes, while remaining calm, is crucial for the success of any event.”

Collaboration & Teambuilding

Recent research by Business Insider showed that women are perceived as “better and more capable leaders” when compared to their male counterparts. Perhaps it’s because they have an inherent ability to multitask, or they can adjust to new roles more quickly and implement changes with less resistance. But in the end, it’s simply viewed as being more collaborative.

Grip, an AI-powered event, matchmaking and networking platform, which boasts almost half of its leadership team being female, recently asked several women from the global events industry to comment on their perspectives and contributions.

“The number of women leading events management companies has increased 40% in the past three years,” their website states, while Grip’s COO, Maria Martin, shares the following: “As the COO, it is my responsibility to continue to build a cultural environment where women feel heard, valued and (that) their individuality is understood. Our management culture is one where we encourage and credit the right work, mentoring, and supporting our team members through visibility, new opportunities, and the sharing of accomplishments.”

“Women are known to play several roles throughout their lives with strength, leadership and versatility,” states Shruti Shah at Eventcombo, an events management platform and custom website builder. “Everyone desires a leader who relates to the team, is empathetic and listens. A fostering environment gets teams on the same page, enabling easy implementation of new cultures and seamless change management with less resistance. The passion and enthusiasm a woman can bring to the table are not blatantly authoritative, but more cooperative.”

Back to that report…

According to findings expressed in “Advancing Women in Business Events,” released jointly by the PCMA Foundation and Business Events Sydney (BESydney) at Convening Leaders 2024 in San Diego, CA, “Less than one-third of respondents said there are opportunities for formal networking provided by their organizations, and only 6% said they have access to formal sponsorship programs.” Additionally, the report states that career support and development opportunities for women are “limited in the business events industry.”

It’s important to point out that the survey was conducted in tandem with Business Events Sydney, an Australian organization. Also, the respondents were chosen from a global field, so the possibility exists that some of them are from heavily male dominated countries and hence their opportunities are more restrictive than in others.

In the Grip survey, one respondent (Lori Hoinkes, chief growth officer with the Montgomery Group, in the UK) noted that “entering events after approximately two decades of experience in various other sectors has offered a unique vantage point on how the events sector contracts with other industries.”

“As an engineer,” she continues, “I often found myself navigating predominantly male-centric environments, so it’s been genuinely invigorating to witness the significant number of women propelling the events industry forward. While parity at the highest echelons of leadership and board levels may not have been fully realized, I’m optimistic. I sense a genuine commitment from many companies as they implement DEI initiatives.”

In the world of finance and other monetary-driven industries (where numbers often ‘reign supreme’), achieving equality is critical not only for driving leadership growth and fostering inclusivity, but addressing gender disparities. Empowering women to fully participate in the industry isn’t just a matter of fairness, it’s essential for meaningful social change and unlocking potential.

The Importance of Education

Taste Catering in San Francisco, CA, is spearheaded by several women including Janet Griggs, owner and CFO, who notes that her company has a fairly even distribution of male and female employees. As the owner of a highly successful events’ industry vendor, she feels that what’s really helped her advance in her career towards leadership is education. “Having an MBA gave me an education in business, which gave me a step up with any jobs I held.”

Adds McKee, “I encourage anyone getting started in the events industry to develop a robust professional network, look for an internship, apply for scholarships at industry associations and join professional associations.”

Aimee Corsiglia is currently a senior marketing manager for a large global assets management firm, where she’s worked for the past 18 years — eight of which were in the U.S. and the last 10 in Australia. Originally, she worked with the events management team supporting conferences where the company was a major sponsor, or smaller client events (50 attendees or less).

“Finance is still a very male-dominated industry,” says Corsiglia, “with men holding a majority of the client-facing and investment-related roles, and women holding roles in marketing, client services or support, HR, event coordination or office administration. I think women are in these types of roles because they involve a lot of skills and mentalities that can come more naturally to females, such as project management, multi-tasking, creative thinking, being more detail-oriented, etc.

“I’ll admit that does play into some stereotypes, and it isn’t true across the board, but I do believe one reason for the imbalance is because traditionally, females have degrees, work experience or training that feed into these types of roles. Similarly, men have educational degrees and work experience preparing them for more client-facing, data analytics and investment management roles. It’s going to take some time for women to deviate from those perceived ‘norms’ of what career path or field of study to follow, but that will allow them to advance to roles of leadership or senior-level positions.”

Corsiglia advises obtaining a project management certification as its vital to any successful event to have a meticulous plan in place. The other area she suggests taking a deeper dive into is learning how to utilize digital tools or platforms. As the industry moves into more technical aspects of event organization, it’s important to not only stay ahead of the game, but to stand out in a crowded playing field. “Understanding and having familiarity with these types of tools will help differentiate and prepare you for what’s becoming more-and-more the operational norm,” she says.

Mentorships & Opportunities

As mentioned, one of the biggest gaps identified in the survey was the lack of mentoring and other opportunities available to survey respondents. (Less than one-third of respondents said there are opportunities for formal networking provided by their organizations, and only 6% said that they have access to formal sponsorship programs.)

Speaking anonymously, one event planner who works with several well-known insurance providers, relayed that, in her experience, there’s been an overwhelming amount of support and opportunities for advancement — all of which have led to her success as a seasoned industry veteran.

“I’ve had some amazing allies and champions, both male and female,” she says. “One of my former managers, who is male, was the one that inspired my getting involved in industry organizations, which helped me develop my leadership experience and networks, which was invaluable to my career journey. I’m a big advocate of leveraging industry organizations for leadership experience and have found both male and female mentors there.”

Griggs favors the learn-while-you-work path. As she explains, “When you work for someone in your desired field, whether that’s starting out as an assistant to the company event planner for a financial institution or working for a larger event planning team with ties to the industry, they’re paying you to learn. And as you rise through the ranks, gaining more and more experience, you’ll also be better positioned to start your own company.”

Speaking from the perspective of a potential mentor, Bouley says, “I have the privilege of serving as a leader on ICI’s event team, and am relied on for communication, collaboration and vision, but also to anticipate the unexpected and have a plan in place for an unexpected scenario. Being the ‘go-to’ person for advice and input from my colleagues not only reflects well on the individual capabilities I’ve honed over the years, but reinforces my role and responsibility as a leader.”

What will the future hold?

“Advancements into leadership roles managing events can be a bit of a numbers game in favor of males since the industry is still mostly men,” says Corsiglia. “There are instances where a leadership role overseeing events is given to someone in a semi-related role such as sales, account management or client services, since events are typically a small part of a financial company’s business, so the responsibility to oversee an event often gets ‘tacked onto’ whatever someone already manages. Additionally, the person coordinating an event might typically have to wear a few hats, making it hard to be in a leadership position simply to manage events.”

Corsiglia also notes that, in her experience, event planning tends to focus on industry conferences and client events, and that with smaller firms, they might only need a junior or mid-level coordinator to run them as they often follow a standard template.

That said, there’s no reason not to focus on your future within the industry and what you believe it holds. There is no one path to success, be it entering the C-suite of an existing company or owning your own business and becoming its CEO. But we can all agree the journey has to start somewhere.

“Non-profits need to raise money; they have no choice,” notes Griggs, “and they are likely to do so by having an annual event. Becoming part of their event planning committee imparts valuable experience, and the larger the overall organization, the more intricate and educational the planning will be.” Adds Corsiglia, “A keen attention to detail is something that was driven into me from the start of my career, and that hasn’t left me when I’m overseeing or supervising others, making it a large contributor to successful outcomes in my present position.”

Empowering women entrepreneurs, small business owners and employees with access to capital and financial knowledge can unleash their potential, create jobs and stimulate local economies. Moreover, investing in educational and sponsorship programs for those just starting out can help lay a firm foundation for the next generation of female leaders.

“As a woman, I am encouraged by the diversity I have seen evolve in the financial industry in recent years and am inspired by the female leadership that is continually emerging,” says Bouley. “I play a big part in choosing some of our keynote speakers, so as we grow our conference audiences, it’s important for everyone to see speakers and panelists who are a reflection of themselves in all aspects.”

A concerted effort is needed across all industries to pave the way for gender equality, but within the events industry both men and women are driving positive transformation, and actively supporting and advocating for women in leadership positions. I&FMM.