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Where planners specialize

• Corporate meetings

  Sales conferences, training events, product launches. Steady budgets and the best pay.

• Associations and conferences

  The annual gathering of a professional body, planned 18 months out, sometimes years.

• Trade shows

  Exhibitors, floor plans and freight. A specialized world with its own vocabulary.

• Weddings and social events

  The version everyone pictures. Emotionally demanding, weekend heavy, lower budgets.

• Nonprofit fundraising

  Galas and auctions where the event has to make money, not just spend it.