The event app/meeting engagement specialists at Quickmobile recently conducted a survey to get an inside look into their customers’ busy lives. Their goal was to create a snapshot of the typical day for an event planner (realizing, of course, that there is no such thing). Following are a few fun facts from this endeavor.

• Survey respondents plan five to nine events on average per year. These events can take from two days to an entire month to plan, depending on their size.

• Planners are tech-savvy. When asked how many technologies they use in planning a single event: 29 percent said one to three; 64 percent said four to seven; and 7 percent said more than 10. Topping the list were event management software and web CMS (content management systems) applications. The vast majority — 63 percent—reported challenges pertaining to bandwidth and cost.

• During crunch time, more than 42 percent of planners work 15 to 20 hours per day, and 51 percent only get five to six hours of sleep.

• Meeting planners have many job titles. Among them: event organizer, conference planner, meeting coordinator, event specialist, event designer, senior event planner, director of meetings and more. 


• When it comes to choosing a meeting venue, 47 percent of planners listed cost as the most important criteria, while 43 percent cited location. Those are pretty obvious deciding factors, but the survey also found that a vast majority — 74 percent — also consider diverse culinary offerings to be important.

• Planners’ biggest challenge when planning meetings is increasing costs.

• 48 percent of planners include a team-building activity in their events, and 47 percent include golf.

• A single event planner is responsible for juggling anywhere from five to 10 vendors at their events.


• The most highly requested hotel amenity is free Wi-Fi.

• The top international destination used by U.S. meeting planners is Canada.

• Among the most bizarre client requests reported were a red carpet for an outdoor event in a city where it rains all the time, broadcasting a football game in the middle of the Arizona desert, and a catered dinner with insects as the featured food!

• During their downtime when the meeting ends, here are planners’ favorite activities: 48 percent unwind with room service and a movie, 39 percent relax at the beach, and 20 percent take a staycation or have a spa day.

For more, visit the quickmobile blog.