Five More Books That Should Be In Every Event Manager’s Library

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – it doesn’t matter what field you work in; you’re only as good as what you know. And one thing you should definitely know is that there’s always more knowledge to be had.  No matter what field you’re in, you should always keep learning.

And as has been the case for many, many years, one of the best ways to truly learn is through books.

A couple months back, I put together a short list detailing a few books that I felt every event planner should read. Today, I’d like to expand that list a bit. Here are a few more books that every event management professional – both old and new – should have in their library.

Who Moved My Cheese: An Amazing Way To Deal With Change In Your Work And In Your Life by Spencer Johnson

There are plenty of people who don’t like change (though if you’re one of them, I find it a little curious that you’ve a career in event management). Spencer Johnson’s book is all about helping you deal with change – both expected and unexpected. From an event planning perspective, this’ll better equip you to deal with all the low-blows life’s bound to deal you when you’re managing your events. It’s structured as a sort of parable, meaning it’s a pretty enjoyable read, too – always a plus.

How To Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie

I’m not going to spend a whole lot of time describing this book – it’s one of the most legendary works on public relations and salesmanship ever written. It’s sold over fifteen-million copies, and to this day retains its value, even several decades after its initial publication. The advice is obvious, simple, and fundamental – though you probably shouldn’t use a lot of it in your personal life. It’s more suited for the business world.

As for what this has to do with event planning…remember, you’re managing people along with events. That’s a lot easier to do if those people like you, don’t you think?

The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey

Here’s another work that probably doesn’t need much of an introduction.  Basically, the book outlines seven personal traits shared by many of the most successful men and women in the world – and how you can foster those traits in yourself. Following the advice in this book won’t just help you relate better to the people around you – it’ll also help you be more efficient and effective overall.

Getting Things Done: The Art Of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen

If you’re anything like me (I hope you aren’t, for your sake), then organization is something you’ve got kind of a love-hate relationship with. You’d love to keep yourself organized, and you hate that you can’t. Hey, there’s a reason I only write about event management rather than getting into event planning myself.

Getting Things Done is a book that’s basically custom-tailored to help people kick their organizational problems right out the door. It’s a great book for making oneself more efficient and effective, and contains one of the best organizational systems I’ve yet seen in print.

Boring Meetings Suck by Jon Petz

Last, but certainly not least, we’ve the aptly-titled Boring Meetings Suck by Jon Petz. The premise of this one is pretty simple: most meetings are a boring waste of everyone’s time. They don’t need to be.  Petz covers a number of techniques designed to inject more life into meetings and conferences alike, coupled with a bunch of awesome techniques to design better events.