Meet An Event Planner - Rachel Mazzola

It’s always great to connect with other event planners and learn about what kinds of experiences they have had, pick their brains for tips and tricks, or gain any advice they can give about advancing your career.

This week I thought I’d take a stab at it! I’ve been in the industry for 8 years planning multiple kinds of events including: multi-day conferences, trade shows, educational seminars and trainings, networking events, and internal meetings, all ranging from 25 - 1,000 attendees.

Here are some of my own experiences and learnings:

• What Was The Most Memorable Event That You Have Planned?

• My company acquired a company and their large user conference of 600+ attendees that happened every year in New York and I was now in charge of it. I wasn’t able to access any event history or previous planning materials the previous planner had used. Luckily, they used the same hotel for years - so I asked for all of the room block history, previous year’s BEOs, AV orders, ect. I enjoyed going through everything and creating documents to start tracking history and budgets - I got to know the history of the program really well from the hotel, and was able to identify where there was over spending and cost saving opportunities, which allowed me to spend more money on production and branding. It was a big event with a lot of our company’s executives in attendance and we got a lot of positive feedback. It was definitely challenging at times but was super rewarding to see it all come together and to re envision an event that had gotten a bit stale to attendees.

• If You Could Give One Piece Of Advice To Yourself When You Were Just Starting, What Would It Be?

• Network and build industry relationships early on. I don’t think I realized how important this is when I was first starting. Your network is super important - and you will always run into an old vendor, colleague or sales manager who will help you later in your career. 

• How Do You Handle Stress Of Planning An Event?

• Usually I get stressed out when there is too much running through my mind - so making lists, venting to coworkers over drinks, and taking things one step at a time are key to managing my stress levels. Also, realizing that you need to take a mental break - don’t burn yourself. I have also had colleagues give me the reality check of “we’re not saving lives” - some perspective helps too! 

What Is Your Favorite Part About The Job?

The opportunities to travel all over the country, stay in some (very nice) hotels and to do something different each day. I also enjoy spending my time creating experiences for people that are memorable. I especially love giving back to my colleagues - planning events is a team effort and I’ve been lucky enough to be part of some very hard working teams. Being able to surprise them with a small gift (usually something funny/ an inside joke) and a note is one of my favorite things to do to show appreciation.

What Has Been Your Biggest Event Fail?

It was my first time taking over planning a yearly conference for professionals in the aluminium industry - so early on I had this idea that we should incorporate aluminium into the event wherever we could, centerpieces, entertainment, and making sure all beverages we served were in aluminium cans - even went so far to see if the hotel could find water in cans (ultimately, this was scrapped because at the time, canned water was only for disaster relief). We had two receptions for this event and normally it was always full bar at both, but in an effort to be budget conscious and stay on theme, I opted to do beer & wine served in aluminium cans only. Attendees showed up to the opening reception and the aluminium touches I was so proud of ultimately caused attendees to leave and buy mixed drinks from the hotel bar. We received so many complaints on the evaluations about the receptions - apparently not a lot of people besides me thought canned wine was fun. Moral of the story: Don’t mess with a full bar. I ended up having to ship canned wine back to my office for our team to take home because I had to pre purchase it (and there was a lot left over) - what I couldn’t ship was donated to the hotel sales and catering department!

BONUS QUESTION: What Is Your Favorite Food To Sneak Off The Buffet

Diet Coke - and anything chocolate. I always make sure to plan for a break with popcorn & candy just so I am able to indulge. A lot of my FB choices are for my own benefit. Oh, and soft pretzels.