pixie36 Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 My daughter wants to go into Event Planning specifically planning Weddings at Disney World! Of course working at Disney World would be the ultimate dream job, and she is only starting 9th grade this year so we will see if this lasts. I work full time so what I need is either an online class or a curriculum that she can pretty much do on her own. This would be for an elective this year, it can be either a one semester class or full year. Any help or ideas on where I might find this type of class would be very helpful. thanks so much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 What an interesting idea for a course! I've no experience with event planning but I found some interesting books on Amazon. Perhaps you can have her read a number of them and plan out an imaginary event. This one looks like a fun read: Adventures of a Gala Guru: Saving the Planet One Party at a Time and this looks more serious while still being approachable: The Everything Guide to Being an Event Planner: Insider Advice on Turning Your Creative Energy into a Rewarding Career Best wishes! Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldberry Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 :bigear: My dd would love an elective like this also... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixie36 Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 I will take a look at these books. Thanks for your help. We are lucky we have a a college near us that has a Tourism and Hospitality degree. So I am going to start researching what things they require for this degree. If anyone else has any ideas please continue to post! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candid Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 (edited) Might I suggest you expand this a bit? She's young and I'm not convinced she is aware of other forms of event planning. I used to run large fund raisers and those are also the province of event planners. Even better for you, those folks always need help so she might be able to intern with them. The real trick maybe getting her to them during the day if you work, so you may wish to have her do this later when she has a driver's licence. An event planner doesn't always have to have a college degree, but it depends on where she ends up. Development Directors supervise event planners and they would generally be expected to have a college degree (although in the last 2 years I came within inches of hiring one who did not, so experience counts). It also helps to get to know people. Event planner have large contact lists to help them get things done; that's where interning could help. Even if she doesn't end up in your current area, she'll still see how to develop contacts and maintain them. Given that background, I'd also have her read some productivity and project management books. I love this book: http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343244118&sr=8-1&keywords=getting+things+done It includes informal project planning which is enough for any beginning event planner. Project Managers often use mind maps so you might let her work through this book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Mind-Map-Book-Potential/dp/0452273226/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1343244271&sr=8-3&keywords=mind+maps It can help with studying too. She'll also want to be able to use all the parts of Microsoft Office with some skill level so she could design invites in Publisher, track funds in Excel, give a Power Point, etc. Full Fledged Project Management is much more than event management, but she could read a couple of books to help her. Two I found in my GTD sources were: http://www.amazon.com/No-Surprises-Project-Management-Warning/dp/1882939042/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343244433&sr=1-1&keywords=No+Surprise+Project+Management http://www.amazon.com/Managing-Multiple-Projects-Michael-Tobis/dp/0071388966/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343244408&sr=1-1&keywords=Managing+Multiple+Projects Here's a simpler one I found: http://www.amazon.com/One-Page-Project-Manager-Communicate-Manage/dp/0470052376/ref=sr_1_9?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343244155&sr=1-9&keywords=project+management Edited July 25, 2012 by Candid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixie36 Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 Candid, thank you so much for the detailed reply! I agree she will need to learn a bunch of project management skills. She taught herself how to do power point just becuase she likes making presentations!! Though she will have to take classes on how to use the other office products. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillfarm Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 I have a degree in Public Relations and Spanish and did quite a bit of work as an event coordinator, also some as a project manager. I would think that a company like Disney would like to have many of their employees who interact directly with guests to have PR skills. If your dd is dead set on weddings at Disney, then it might also help to find out what other languages are most commonly spoken by their wedding parties, so your dd could target those for an extra boost on her application. Perhaps even bone up on wedding customs in those countries. Although not specific to weddings, some training in visual media would be very helpful for general event planning. I had to rely heavily on tv ads, print ads, and also on-air interviews to publicize my events. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Oh a study of wedding traditions around the world would be so interesting.ni do not know if you can make it a class... But fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 I used to be an event planner, and personally I would lean toward not making it a class. Event planning is a skill that is wonderfully suited to hands-on learning, and it's easy to practice with almost any group or extra-curricular activity, because almost all of them have events beyond routine meetings: training sessions, parties, fundraisers, and so on. If your home school group, for example, has a few events through the year, offering to serve on a committee or help out in general is a great way to get started. There are quite a few resources on the internet to get one started, and I think reading some books is a great idea (altho' I'd try the library first, b/c there are so so many and some just won't 'click'). She might also browse some forums; I know Getting Things Done had one at some point, and there are some informal ones as well. Task and time management is the heart of event planning. She should keep a portfolio of every event she works on: purpose, scale, her role, etc. As she gets older, there can be great volunteer opportunities, but the truly cool events are just as selective as if they were paying you :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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