Fact: I don’t have any formal education in the events industry
Fact: I did do my post-graduation in management (from MDI, Gurgaon)
Fact: I have been working in the events industry since early 2010
Guess: I must have done more than 100 events in the last 6 years
Fact: I once taught at EMDI, Mumbai
Fact: At multiple times, I have contemplated starting an events training institute
Guess: There must be a thousand event companies in India. Someone may actually fact-check this by looking at membership numbers of EEMA
Fact: My experience as an event manager has only been in corporate events space
So, after all the facts and guesses and myths, let me come to the point. Someone asked me lately, is it worth undertaking formal education in event management to be able to become a great event manager? This blogpost is in response to the question.
The answer
The simple answer is no. Rather, you work on live events and you learn on the job. Need an opportunity? We at C4E are always looking for people. Mail me at sg@c4e.in.
The longish answer is, may be.
Even though I have a great deal of respect for formal education, my answer will NEVER be yes.
Let me explain.
In the events business, there are two kinds of profiles — general management and technical. General management involves roles such as conceptualising, strategising, client servicing, liaison, business development, sales etc. The technical profiles are planning, sounds, video, structures, technicals, production etc. Then there are some profiles that need a good mix of general management skills and technical. Say, a conceptualiser. More on these in some other post.
For general management (most people, if they grow, will end up in one of the roles from general management), you do NOT need a degree or a diploma. All you need is common sense. That is it! Nothing more, nothing less. Of course, you can’t “teach” common sense and thus it’s useless to go for a course.
For technical roles, I would recommend you go through some sort of formal training. And if not formal training, you HAVE to get an apprenticeship with some master of the craft that excites you.
Come to think of it, the best sound engineer and DJ I know of (DS), he went to SAE but never completed his diploma. He’s 28-ish and has been in the industry for well over 12 years. And he knows more about events than most other people I know. Then there is SJ — the best technical person I know of. He was a runner at an agency and through sheer hard-work and curiosity, now leads technicals for an agency that does business worth over 100 crores each year. And the guy knows everything about everything. Ask him about clients, ideas, AV equipment, lighting, generators, carpentry, trusses, weights, entertainment — he’s a one-man army.
The point, ladies and gents is, you are either cut out for this industry or not. The day you get in, you know if you’d last here.
And as you go along, whether you come in with a formal education or you’ve grown up while working, you are the same. And, at the cost scaring you, you are as good as your last event!
The point, ergo is, it does not matter where you come from. It does not matter if you have a degree. You better have a keen eye, you better put attention to detail and you better work hard. Everything else, including this question, is useless.
Now, back to work. Thank you for reading. Do let me know if you want to work with us.
