Launch a Festival and Conference Management Career in One Year

Professionals who have previously completed a college diploma or university degree in hospitality, tourism or related discipline; those with a diploma or degree in an unrelated discipline who have related work experience to a particular field as well as those with partial post secondary education and relevant work experience in a particular field often seek shorter program lengths when looking to upgrade their skills or switch careers.

Once example of a post-secondary program that takes into consideration the needs of such students is Centennial College’s event management college undertaking Event Management – Festival and Conference. This offering lasts just two semesters and results in a respected Ontario College Graduate Certificate.

This offering’s focus is on preparing students for the quickly expanding industry that includes festivals, events and conferences, which are shown to be a major catalyst for tourism worldwide as evidenced by the membership making up the local, national and global markets. In Canada, this area of the hospitality and tourism field is anticipated to produce 121,000 new jobs by 2015. In fact, graduates of this program obtain a breadth of knowledge that gives them the advantage they need to launch successful careers.

Among the specific skills students graduate with are: creating and executing financial initiatives based on event objectives; facility operations through planning, designing and coordination; marketing festivals, events and conferences; effectively carrying out human resources management duties as well as accounting to the operation of events; applying business administration skills to the operation of events and much more.

How exactly does a short program as short as this one allow students to gain such an array of skills? Firstly, the compressed format features only courses that relate directly to the field and forgoes any liberal studies. As such, every class students attend helps them to gain knowledge that they will apply to their jobs on a daily basis. Secondly, the courses all contain an element of practical application to ensure that students are comfortable with the duties they will be completing on a regular basis. Thirdly, classes, in addition to practical practice, offer a theoretical base that allows students to not only learn how to complete a task but understand the “why” of that task.

Among the specific event management college courses that students attend at Centennial College are: Volunteer and Team Building Coordination, Event Budgets, Networking and Industry Relations, Creativity and Innovation, Greening Your Festival, Event and Conference; Site Logistics and Operations Management and many others.

Because of Centennial College’s respected standing in the community, students complete a field placement at respectable companies that include: Toronto Community News, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, Fairmont Hotels, Toronto Board of Trade, Marriott Hotels, AVIVA Canada, Toronto International Film Festival, Delta Hotels, and Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts.