Event technology might sound like it’s something just for the tech-savvy, but the reality is that a lot of non-technical people have the skills needed to excel in this field.
When it comes to event technology, people skills can be just as – if not more important – than the technical ones. I see technically-inclined individuals from education, healthcare, customer service, and project managers from all industries become outstanding event tech pros.
So, if you are organized, fast on your feet, love problem-solving, and a bit geeky you could have a home in event tech.
Strong communication skills
Pulling off a seamless event requires a village – and it’s a village of diverse stakeholders with varying amounts of time, understanding of events, and technical prowess.
This means strong, clear communications is job #1 for event technology professionals. You need to be able to:
- Meet your stakeholders where they are at in terms of their understanding to quickly get to a solution
- Align the team in a clear direction. As I have been telling my teams for over a decade: we succeed or we fail as a team
- Clearly articulate problems and solutions
- Follow up in a firm but polite way to keep the team on track
- Be able to communicate calmly and clearly, even when under pressure
Think in “Yes, and…”
The best events are the ones the push the envelope – at least a little – event over event. Events people are ideas people.
This means that new ideas will come in at all phases of the project. Even when it will be impossible to implement.
Being able to adopt the “yes, and…” improv mindset lets the client feel heard and keeps the conversation going to explore alternative feasible solutions that get us close to the goal and/or get it on the roadmap for a future event.
Organization above all
With so many moving parts—schedules, equipment, teams, and attendees—organization is the backbone of successful event execution. And even if organization is not your personal strong suit, being willing to use organizational tools like ClickUp, Asana, Monday.com or even a good, old-fashioned spreadsheet is essential.
As I type this, I have 14 events in the next 3 months and there is no way I could keep this all in my head. I live and die by my project management tools and checklists. While my current schedule is a bit extreme, it’s all to say that the tools are what is going to save you. Embrace them. Rely on them.
Thinking on your feet
Murphy’s law has a funny way of rearing it ugly head right as showtime approaches. While you do everything you can (including doing a dry run and using a run of show), things can and do wrong.
I’ve been on events where:
- The CDN (content delivery network) went down and the livestream couldn’t start
- A massive router failure took down the event wifi
- A significant iOS upgrade that took down parts of our mobile app
- Suffered from DDOS attacks (denial of service attack where hackers try to take down your site)
- A hurricane came through the week before the event threatening the whole thing
In each of these cases, we had to scramble for a backup solution – or at least a plan and communications strategy. Being able to confront these challenges calmly (or give the appearance of calm), quickly develop alternatives, and communicate out appropriately is a magical skill that benefits all event tech pros.
Nurses and teachers, I’m looking at you!
Curiosity may kill the cat, but will save the event technology pro
While being in event technology does require a bit of a technical mindset, what is more important in the vast majority of event tech roles is a curiosity mindset.
- Why did that happen?
- How could that have happened?
- Can I reproduce this?
- Is there a pattern to this?
- What if I try this?
- This doesn’t make any sense. (I utter this far more often than I care to admit.)
Being willing to question, look for patterns, and try new things is something that will set you apart as a digital event tech pro.
Event technology is not just for the technically inclined – it’s a field where strong communicators, organizers, and problem-solvers can shine. Your existing experience might just be the key to unlocking a new and exciting career path in this ever-changing industry.
Curious to meet other event technology pros and learn more?
Join us in deexpa — the only professional association specifically for event technology professionals. There you can meet other industry professionals, ask ALL of your questions, and find job opportunities.
Join through this link and get a free month to see all that deexpa has to offer.
