Did you know that the global event management industry was valued at nearly 1.2 trillion dollars in 2022?

It’s growing quickly, too. The latest estimates predict that the event industry will grow at over 12% per year for the next decade. 

That means a lot of opportunity for you to thrive as an event creator in this fast-paced, exciting, and growing industry — and a whole lot of events to plan and manage! 

But event management is a large and varied industry. So what are the different types of event management, and which one suits you best? 

Eventbrite’s tools have helped creators host millions of events all over the world. Using data gathered from the Eventbrite community and insights on the latest industry trends, we’ve put together this guide to help you find your perfect event management niche.

Event management encompasses just about everything involved in the planning, execution, and production of events. 

Event creators are involved in these key activities when managing an event:

If you’re already involved in the events industry, you may be looking to run events full-time. In that case, there are a few things to know before getting started — including the types of event planning and management you could pursue. 

If you plan to start an event management business, there are different aspects of event management that you may want to explore and focus on. All of these categories can involve running events for yourself, for clients, or both. You may end up working mostly within one of these event management areas, or all.

This category focuses on the coordination, planning, and management of live events. 

Event creators who organize events professionally are looking for high-quality. Particularly for large events you need the process to run smoothly from start to finish. 

People working in event coordination and management require a keen eye for detail and organization, a knack for communication and networking, and the ability to perform well under pressure. 

Strategic event management, where you’re looking to meet specific objectives with your events, also requires an entrepreneurial instinct. People with business and management skills can thrive in event coordination and management. 

Event marketing professionals focus their efforts on getting the word out about events via email marketing, social media, traditional paid advertising, digital ads, physical posters, and many other promotional methods. 

Marketing expertise is of course beneficial here. Event creators coming from a traditional product marketing background or from agency roles have a good chance of doing well in event marketing. An analytical mindset will allow you to use data-derived insights to create an event marketing strategy that really sells, and an eye for detail is essential to ensure your marketing collateral is up to the highest standards. 

Event marketing tools like Eventbrite make promoting your events and creating branded event websites much easier. Eventbrite has built-in tools for email marketing, social media ads, and even native ads on the Eventbrite platform (home to 90 million+ unique ticket buyers and event enthusiasts). Eventbrite also allows you to create a branded event page free of charge.

This category focuses on producing and managing events at a specific venue or location. This can be a venue you or a client own. 

Venue management is a hybrid role, as it involves every component of event management. Being business savvy, having networking and communication skills and marketing chops are all important if you pick this avenue. 

Some venue management professionals will also serve as concert or event promoters, while other venues may have their own in-house promoters or contract with external providers. 

The most popular event categories are music, festivals, sports, and exhibitions/conferences — but there are actually dozens of different categories of events. 

Many event management professionals choose to specialize in a certain event type. This often works well, as it allows you to build a relevant network (of partners and attendees), learn more directly from your past experiences, and ultimately master your craft. 

Below, you can find more information on the types of events and best practices for managing each type. 

Event managers can host virtual, in-person, or hybrid events — each with a different set of pros and cons. 

In-person events typically involve more expenses — you need to rent a physical venue, hire staff to help attendees, manage accessibility needs, ensure adequate parking/transportation, and often provide refreshments. These events are labor-intense and require a lot of preparation. You may need to be OK with travel, and mobility is more of a concern. Energetic and physically active individuals will thrive in managing in-person events. 

Virtual events may require less funding to get started, as big-ticket expenses like venue rental can be reduced or eliminated. However, virtual events have their own unique challenges. You have to manage tech issues proactively, engage attendees continually to drive attendance, and it can sometimes be harder to sell tickets to virtual events. Tech-savvy individuals are well suited to working with digital events. 

The choice of running in-person or virtual events largely depends on your target audience and the types of events you wish to run. Some event types, like conferences and seminars, can work well as virtual or hybrid events — while festivals, food and drink events, and live shows are much better suited to in-person formats. 

Considering broad trends in event planning is also important. 

For much of the last few years, virtual events have been the go-to, as the pandemic radically shifted the events industry.

Now, in-person events are back to pre-pandemic levels and growing. Industry forecasts suggest that 79% of events will be in-person or virtual in 2024.

The shift back to in-person is a welcome change for attendees and event creators alike. It also shows what attendees really want — and what they’re willing to pay for. 

Beyond virtual vs. in-person, there are distinctions to be made between the various types of events that managers help run. 

Live music is exceptionally popular, making up one of the largest categories of events worldwide. 

Promoters can work on everything from intimate bar shows to multi-day music festivals. Hosting unique music events, like a battle-of-the-bands or a dance party, can be a way to stand out from the crowd. 

At The Garages, a Lake Oswego, Oregon-based live music bar, posts all their upcoming shows on Eventbrite. The venue managers use a free ticket strategy to attract bigger audiences and monetize their shows by selling food and drinks to patrons. With Eventbrite, it’s easy to implement various ticket pricing strategies to achieve your business goals. 

Managing and promoting business and professional events can be an excellent specialty. Demand is strong, and for good reason — 70% of businesses generated new leads and brand awareness from trade shows in 2022.

Business events can include organizing “internal” corporate events at your venue, for example, such as corporate training, company retreats, or team-building events. Alternatively, you can work on larger business and professional events where you bring professionals together, such as trade shows, conferences, and networking events.

ActiveCampaign, an email marketing and customer relationship management platform, hosts intimate “Study Hall” live events all over the world. 

These multi-day career development workshops teach attendees the essentials of marketing automation. ActiveCampaign sells tickets on Eventbrite, and the events also generate significant brand awareness within the digital marketing community.

Film and media events could include organizing film festivals, hosting indie films with director Q&As, or hosting industry round-tables in your area. Broader media events also include eSports competitions, comedy events, TV events, and more.

It could also include touring with a particular film or production. Take Warren Miller Entertainment, for example. The popular winter sports film production company typically releases a new film every fall and tours it all around the country, hosting at local cinemas and theaters — and selling film tickets through Eventbrite.

Nightlife event creators work with clubs, bars, restaurants, and casinos to produce fun events. This could include promoting club events, putting together casino promotions, or even hosting open mic nights.

For example, Supernova Seattle is a popular nightclub in the SoDo district of Seattle. They run events every Friday and Saturday night, selling ticketed experiences exclusively on Eventbrite. Supernova hosts everything from 90’s music nights to disco events and ugly sweater parties. 

This category includes running events like 5K’s and marathons, group fitness classes, wellness retreats, and various other fitness event types.

Many sports and fitness events don’t have a “venue,” per se, but use the great outdoors or local parks. The sports and fitness community is also full of active volunteers, so you may not need as many paid event workers in this niche. 

Upward Spiral Dance, a Phoenix, AZ-based dance studio, hosts a recurring series of dance-inspired fitness classes on Eventbrite. Using health and fitness event management software from Eventbrite enables creators like Upward Spiral Dance to create a recurring event series, attract attendees with helpful marketing tools, and scale their businesses to new heights.

Managing food and drink events, like craft beer festivals, food truck gatherings, and smaller tasting/gastronomic events can be an enjoyable niche for event creators to explore. It’s one of the more varied event subcategories, and you can find professional success with everything from intimate four-person events to large-scale food festivals. 

A creative mind and an eye for theme ideation are helpful here. Creating uniquely themed events — and piggybacking off other events happening in your region — can help you stand out. For example, SPARK Social SF hosts a variety of unique events like a baseball-themed pregame festival, planned in partnership with Juneshine Hard Kombucha and scheduled directly before a Giants game. 

You can approach hosting charity events and nonprofit fundraisers in two broad ways: events targeting the general public, where proceeds go to the nonprofit (charity fun runs, for example), 

and events targeting donors and philanthropists (fundraising galas, for instance).

Growing Home, a Chicago-based organic farm and non-profit social enterprise hosts a variety of events on Eventbrite, including their annual charity fundraising gala. They use Eventbrite not only to sell tickets but also to provide detailed information to attendees. The event’s agenda, auction info, and even food menu are all posted on their Eventbrite listing.

If you’re passionate about the visual and performing arts, hosting events in this category will certainly be a fulfilling career path. You’ll need an eye for artistic detail and talent, so you can choose the best artists to partner with and put an imaginative twist on your event offerings. This category includes events like plays, live comedy shows, art pop-ups, and even holiday arts and crafts markets. 

Fantasy Theatre Company is a Miami-based nonprofit theater that hosts unique live performances, from creative twists on holiday classics to LGBTQ+ themed musicals. As part of their mission to make theater more accessible to people of all backgrounds, Fantasy Theatre Company uses Eventbrite to sell affordable tickets to their live performances.

There are heaps of opportunities for workshops and educational events, including conferences, summits, community classes, crafting events, and more. Creators may self-host events at private venues, or partner with local colleges and nonprofits to use their space.

It pays to get creative with these events, especially if you want to make a full-time wage from your work. Consider Get In the Kitchen!, the self-described “Party School of cooking classes”. This Chicago-based cooking school hosts unique crossover events like Cooking & Comedy and even Cooking & Karaoke!

For established and aspiring event creators, it’s important to have an understanding of the different categories of events that are most in demand. 

Aligning your event offerings with what’s in demand — as well as your passions — is key to long-term success in event management. 

No matter what type of event management you’re interested in, having the right resources in your toolbox can make a world of difference. With Eventbrite, it’s never been easier to plan, manage, and promote events of all shapes and sizes.