The internet is full of amazing free online event management courses. As COVID restrictions ease up and a sense of normalcy begins to return, so will the desire for in-person events. But planning and managing a successful in-person event can be much more challenging than you might think. Event planning and event management is an incredibly lucrative business filled with highly-trained event planners. Learning the ins and outs of what it takes to throw a successful event can be very helpful for those considering this potential career path.
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Free online event management courses are a great starting place for anyone considering a career change into event planning and event management. These courses cover all the important considerations that must be taken when planning an event. How to manage guest lists, how to work with vendors and event spaces, and much more are covered in these courses. Whether it’s planning a wedding or a corporate retreat, event planners play a crucial role in ensuring that events are planned and executed in a successful manner.
While it is possible to earn a degree in event planning or event management, that can cost you lots of time and money. Deciding to invest in an event planning degree can be a big commitment. That is why we recommend that people indulge their event planning curiosities through the use of free online courses first. Below are some of our favorite free online event planning courses.
1. Brand Marketing and Planning a Successful Event
Check out this Brand Marketing and Planning a Successful Event free event planning course here.
Offered on Skillshare, this Brand Kareting: Planning Successful Event is a great place for potential event planners to start. Designed for all levels, this online event planning course focuses on helping you to learn the skills needed to plan an effective event for your brand. Offered online for free via Skillshare, this course is made up of nine different lessons. Through the progression of this course you will work through the different phases of event planning. You will first research the needs of your event, learn how to market and create demand for your event, find the right venue, create a budget, and run your event.
This course is also made up of a handful of assignments designed to test your competencies and understanding of the material. Designed by Jeremy Andrews, a successful entrepreneur, this free online event planning course can really help you take your event planning skills to the next level. As part of the Skillshare platform, you also receive access to discussion boards to work with other students who are moving through this particular course.
We really like this online event planning course as it is very straightforward and doesn’t take too long. If you are looking for a quick crash course on event planning then this free online event planning course might be right for you.
Summary
- Hosted on Skillshare
- Authored by noted serial entrepreneur
- Can be completed quickly
- Designed for all levels
2. Event Marketing Course and Certification
Check out this Event Marketing Course and Certification free event planning course here.
Designed and made available by Eventbrite, one of the largest event marketing platforms on the Internet, his Event Marketing Course and Certification course is a great place for aspiring event planners to start. Leveraging insight gained from Eventbrite’s own operations, this event planning course can teach you how to really get the most out of your event and the Eventbrite platform. This course is taught by members of the Eventbrite staff. Primarily, this course focuses on event marketing.
In this free online event planning course, students will learn about a variety of different event promotion tactics. You will take courses on paid advertising, event discovery, email marketing, website conversion, and much more. All of these skills will help you to better market your event so that you can boost attendance. One of the hardest aspects of planning an event is making sure that it is well attended. Fortunately, this free course is designed with all the information and insights needed to help you learn the skills needed to ensure that you sell out.
The format of this course leverages short articles, videos, quizzes, and exercises to ensure that you are achieving mastery of the material. We really like this particular free event marketing course because of its affiliation to Eventbrite.
Summary
- Offered by Eventbrite
- Covers the many aspects of event marketing
- Made up of quizzes, videos, and exercises
- Taught by Eventbrite staff members
3. Event Planning Foundations
Check out this Event Planning Foundations free event planning course here.
Another great option for aspiring event planners is this Event Planning Foundations course offered through LinkedInLearning. This entire course can be completed for free through the use of the one month free trial offered by LinkedIn for their Learning platform. This free online event management course focuses on teaching the skills needed to plan and manage an effective event. This course offers a certification of completion at the end that can be added directly to your LinkedIn profile. This integration with your LinkedIn profile allows you to show prospective employers and clients that you have been trained in event planning.
The format of this course is made up of seven chapters and two projects. Each chapter in the course ends in a quiz designed to ensure mastery of the event management concepts presented in the course. These chapters include chapters on understanding your audience, creating and managing an event budget, selecting a venue, food and beverage, technology considerations, transportation, timelines, and more. This course is very comprehensive and should leave you with a sense of understanding of the considerations needed for a well planned event.
We like this free online event planning course for its comprehensive nature and its ability to be added to your LinkedIn profile. Being able to show people your certification of completion for this online free event management course is a great way to secure future event planning work.
Summary
- Offered by LinkedIn Learning
- Very comprehensive in nature
- Free with trial
- Made up of lessons and quizzes to test mastery
Recommended Online Degree Programs
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4. Event Sponsorship Course and Certification
Check out this Event Sponsorship Course and Certification free event planning course here.
This free online event planning course is offered via Eventbrite. This event management course focuses on the acquisition of event sponsors and how to leverage their support in the planning and execution of your event. Chris Baylis, CEO of the Sponsorship Collective teaches this course. Broken out into five different courses, this event sponsorship and certification course ends in a test that results in a certificate of completion. This certification can be added to your LinkedIn profile to show prospective employers your mastery and understanding of key event planning skills.
The five chapters of this course cover the skills needed to find a sponsor for an event. In this course you’ll learn how to find and win over potential sponsors, how to show the value of the sponsorship to potential sponsors, and how to use event data to win over sponsors. These skills can be very helpful to event planners and event managers that are early on in their careers. Throwing an event can be costly. One of the best ways to mitigate that cost is by finding a sponsor that sees value in shouldering a lot of the cost of the event. You can expect to be able to complete most of this course in just a few hours.
This free event planning course has a lot of benefits. Focusing primarily on securing a sponsor for your event, this particular course covers a topic that is integral to successful event planning that is also not covered by some of the courses on this list. We like courses that drill down into a particular aspect of event planning.
Summary
- Taught by Chris Baylis, CEO of the Sponsorship Collective
- Focused on finding sponsorship for an event
- Certification available upon completion
5. Everything You Need to Learn How to Be an Event Planner
Made available by Event Planning Blueprint, this free online event planning course is a great starting place for future event planners. Written by Melanie of Event Planning Blueprint, this course integrates lessons and experience that she has gained from planning events for Hollywood, major corporations, and many other major events. The lessons offered through this course are very useful to new event planners as well as seasoned event planners. This particular course is offered in the form of a long article with case studies filled in throughout. Think of this particular course as the ultimate textbook on how to plan an effective event.
The topics covered in this event planning course include bringing value to your client, understanding meeting basics, creating an event budget, how to select and work with a venue, effective communication within event planning, and managing event logistics. Each of these chapters are extensive in their detail and information. Within these chapters are action steps that you can take while working on your own event. Not only is this a great course on the theory of event planning, this course can also be used in the planning of a real event. Just follow along with the chapters as you plan your event and you’ll be on the way to an effective event. All for free.
This free online event planning course is a great option because of the amount of detail that it goes into for every aspect of the event planning process. Event Planning Blueprint spares no detail as they layout an incredible in-depth yet easy to understand step by step of how to plan a successful event.
Summary
- Written by Melanie of Event Planning Blueprint
- Incredibly extensive and in-depth
- Encompasses all aspects of planning an event.
- Entirely free
6. Social Media for Special Events
Check out this Social Media for Special Events free event planning course here.
Accessible through the Udemy platform, Social Media for Special Events is another great option for free online event management courses. Taught by Eric Schwartzman, an award-winning author, this particular course covers the ins and outs of promoting your event through social media channels. This course is offered in a series of lectures covering topics including online marketing, social marketing, case studies, return on investment, and then a series of supplemental resources. This course is designed for beginners.
Through this course you will learn a number of skills including how to effectively market on Twitter, how to drive booth traffic at trade shows, best SEO practices for event promotion, and more. This course features a number of case studies that show how these particular skills and concepts can be implemented to great success. This is a great course for event planners who want to learn how to leverage social media to ensure that their event is well attended.
We really like this particular course as it offers a lot of insight into how to use social media to your advantage when marketing an event. While it does not focus as much on the actual skills needed to run an event, learning how to promote an event can be just as important.
Summary
- Offered on Udemy
- Covers social media marketing for events.
- Made up of lectures
- Entirely free
7. Tactfully Cancel or Postpone an Event
Check out this Tactfully Cancel or Postpone an Event free event planning course here.
While this is a very specific aspect of event planning, it is also a very important part of event planning to understand during a pandemic. This particular course is offered via Skillshare and covers how to tactfully cancel or postpone an event. Created by Hannah Ashcraft, a noted travel blogger, this course is great for helping event managers and event planners to navigate the unfortunate scenario of having to cancel an event. While it is always a sad state of affairs to have to cancel an event, this course can guide you through the process.
In this course you will work through seven different mini-lessons dedicated to the process of canceling or postponing an event. The first lesson in the course covers how to make the determination of whether or not to cancel, after that their are mini-lessons on canceling versus postponing, how to work with vendors during a cancelation, how to alert guests, and then a course review. While this is a very specific type of event planning course, it is also very crucial to know how to properly navigate this subject.
We like this free online event management course as it gives insight to a very timely aspect of event planning: how to determine when to cancel in this pandemic. It is a very short course and we feel as though it is worth your time.
Summary
- Offered on Skillshare
- Covers how to handle canceling an event
- Very short
- For beginners
8. The Guide to Modern Event Planning
Check out this The Guide to Modern Event Planning free event planning course here.
Offered by the Guidebook, this free online event course is a free thirty-page eBook designed to help you with all the steps of event planning and event management. While it does not incorporate some of the more interactive elements of some other event planning courses, this eBook contains a ton of really valuable information as it pertains to event planning. This event planning course has been used by Google, Facebook, Amazon, and many others. The book is very informative and a great resource for event planners.
Some of the topics covered in this book include setting up an event schedule, using social media to promote your event and communicate with your guests, how to gets permits and go about insuring your event, and much more. The way the book is laid out is in a step-by-step process for every part of planning your event. If you are in the process of planning an event, this course is a very helpful companion. Working through the various chapters of the book will help you consider all aspects of your event and how to plan it most effectively.
This free online event planning course is really helpful as it provides an in-depth walkthrough of all the aspects of event planning. While some other courses on this list focus on aspects of event planning, this eBook serves as a guide through the whole process.
Summary
- 31 page eBook
- Step-by-step guide through all aspects of event planning
- Used by major companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon
9. Training for Change: Facilitating Online Meetings and Events
Check out this Training for Change: Facilitating Online Meetings free event planning course here.
Made available by Training for Change, this event planning course is great for the new age of events: online events. While some of the same skills are applicable to planning an online event, there are many other considerations that go into planning an online event that don’t come along with planning an in-person event. This course aims to help teach you all the things that you need to plan and facilitate an effective online event. Despite the pandemic beginning to wind down, it seems as though Zoom meetings and Microsoft Teams Events are here to stay.
Having the ability to apply your event planning skills to the online space is a great way to expand your potential clientele. Topics covered in this course include how to use virtual meeting rooms, how to lead a conversation online, the pros and cons of different meeting software, and how to deal with disruption or difficulties in an online meeting space. These are incredibly valuable skills in this new world of online meetings.
This course is great as it focuses on how to properly facilitate online meetings and online events. While some of the skills from in-person events are transferable to online meetings, there are many considerations brought up in this course regarding online events that are not included in other courses.
Summary
- Offered in eBook format
- Teaches how to facilitate online events and meetings
- Includes documents, downloads, and tutorials
10. Wedding Planner Bootcamp
Check out this Wedding Planner Bootcamp free event planning course here.
One of the biggest sectors of the event planning and event management industry is wedding planning. As an aspiring event planner, it is important that you have an understanding of the unique considerations and skills needed for planning a wedding. Offered by the Wedding Planning Institute, this Wedding Planner Bootcamp introduces you to all the skills needed to be an effective wedding planner. This course is taught by Cho Phillips, the CEO of Lovegevity.
Broken out over five modules, you will learn about the various skills needed to be an effective wedding planner. You will learn how to attract clients and work with them to understand their needs when it comes to their wedding. You will learn how to work with vendors and how to coordinate with a number of different vendors to make sure that the wedding comes together to be the day your client dreamed of.
We highly recommend this free online event planning course for those who are interested in the wedding planning industry. This is a very competitive industry so learning the ins and outs from a veteran before you even get started is a great way to get a leg up on the competition.
Summary
- Taught by an industry veteran
- Focuses on wedding planning
- Integrates case studies and examples
- Entirely free
Recommended Online Degree Programs
Explore our featured online programs to find the right match for you today.
What are the benefits of a free online event management course?
A free online event management course is a great way to build skills needed to become an event planner without having to spend money on a costly course or degree. There are many colleges and universities that offer undergraduate programs in event planning as well as many websites that offer paid courses in event planning. However, if you are unsure if this is the career path, a free event planning course is a great way to get started.
Another huge upside to a free event planning course is that it is great for one-off event planners. Maybe you’re just planning a work event and you want some insight on how to best pull off the event. These free online event course are a great way to get some important information and skills needed to plan and manage an event.
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