Katie Hansen might actually be a super hero. Between assessing the community’s needs, marketing events and coordinating efforts with local groups, she’s a busy girl, but you’d never know it. Her calm exterior and pretty face, always topped off with a smile, cover up the fact that she’s racing through a million things in her mind on almost any given day—a must in her field.
“It’s like I heard this guy say recently; I’m like a duck,” Hansen said. “Underwater, my feet are going so fast and on top it’s really calm. Inside I’m going a million miles per hour, but I have to appear to stay calm.”
Hansen has the ultimate, girl’s dream job: she plans parties and gets paid for it. Not just parties—all kinds of events. She is the director of marketing and events for the Urbana Business Association (UBA). The Urbana Sweet Corn Festival and Cherry Jam are just a few of many events that Hansen has had a large hand in putting on.
“I literally have the best job,” Hansen said.
Event planning is appealing to anyone who is organized, pays attention to detail and likes to think outside the box. There are a wide variety of positions available in the industry, which leaves plenty of room to tailor a career in event planning to individual personalities.
Hansen’s job with the UBA is similar to that of a visitor’s borough or tourism department. The UBA serves as a liaison between the city and community, as she describes it.
Hansen does everything from the planning to the marketing to the execution of events. She does community events, like the Sweet Corn Festival, but she’s not limited to that. Her job also requires her to plan business events like ribbon cuttings for new businesses or setting up welcome events for the mayor or other businesses.
There’s also demand for planners at event companies, which usually charge some sort of fee to plan events for private or public parties, weddings or other events.
As much fun as event planning can be, no one will argue that it’s easy. The job, like any other, comes with its own set of frustrations.
“It’s a love-hate thing, and you’ve got to take the frustrations, because I don’t want to be neutral all the time,” Hansen said.
It can be stressful when you put so much time into planning an event, and something goes wrong, “which it will,” Hansen confirms.
One of the hardest things with planning events is getting good help. UBA doesn’t have a lot of extra funds, so they can’t pay anyone—they can hardly pay themselves, Hansen said. They both can’t stress enough the importance of volunteers.
“It’s tough managing volunteers,” Hansen said. “Everyone has really awesome ideas and I have to pick the one which fits the overall goal and not offend the ones you didn’t choose.”
Planning for a career in this industry can start young. Hansen encourages anyone interested to get started as soon as they can. Start by going to visitor boroughs or park districts and see if they have any volunteer spots or internships available. Get involved in some way, whether it be through volunteering, a service fraternity, or church group. It’s also helpful to start going to events and really thinking about them.
“Literally just go to all the events in the area, evaluate them, and think about them from your perspective as a consumer,” Hansen said. “Jot those notes down so when you’re in the industry, you can look back because you start to forget what it’s like to attend events.”
Despite all the headaches that event planning can cause, the people who do it wouldn’t trade it for the world.
“You feel so good when your event’s over,” Hansen said. “ It’s such an exhilarating feeling. When I announce the headliner at the Sweet Corn Festival, everyone’s watching and is so excited and I’m like, “Yes, I brought this to the community! This is great!’”