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Job Title: Curator Of Educational Events
Type of Company: I work for a museum in Raleigh whose mission is to enhance the public’s understanding and appreciation of the environment in ways that emphasize the natural diversity of North Carolina and the southeastern United States and relate the region to the world as a whole.
Education: BA, Environmental Studies, University of North Carolina
Previous Experience: I worked for several non-profits, including Habitat for Humanity International (I was an AmeriCorps VISTA), Shodor Educational Foundation in Durham and Urban Ministries of Wake County. I also worked as a nature programs instructor for the City of Raleigh, part-time.
Job Tasks: My job, as the curator of educational events, is to plan (with two other people) the large, mostly annual events the museum puts on each year. Our three major events are BugFest (33K visitors), Reptile and Amphibian Day (14K visitors) and Astronomy Days (16K visitors). We also have smaller events like Groundhog Day, a sustainable design competition that correlates to the Planet Earth Celebration, International Migratory Bird Day, Remembering Hurricane Floyd Day, A Day in the Tropics, Chemistry Day, Natural History Halloween and we also participate in the First Night Celebrations.
For each event, I need to coordinate the presenters and recruit new presenters, as needed. I schedule the speakers, come up with themes (BugFest's theme was bees, wasps and hornets last year; this year's theme is butterflies and moths), come up with ideas for museum-developed stations, hire contractors to help develop stations and set up the event, and give attention to every little detail that comes up when you plan large events for the public. In addition to extreme attention to detail, I get to use my creativity. I get to come up with ideas for new events, new stations, and new people (presenters/vendors/etc) to invite. We have started to have themes for each event, which gives us the opportunity to have something different each year.
I work very closely with other departments in the museum like graphics, external affairs (for advertising), exhibit design (if we need something created for one of the stations), development, budget, education, etc.
Best and Worst Parts of the Job: The best part of the job is when everything comes together after months of work, and the event is a huge success! I also love the work, the details, and coming up with great new ideas.
The worst part of the job is working with difficult people and jumping through many hoops to get to where I need to go. However, this pales in comparison to the rest of the job!
Job Tips: If you are considering a career in event planning, you must be very detail-oriented. Also, a background in whatever you are planning (in my case, natural science events) is essential! Being well-versed in Excel and Access is also essential. You must also be very comfortable working with many different kinds people and be cool under pressure.
Additional Thoughts: What has surprised me most about my occupation is how much fun I have! I love the many different aspects of my job and the way I get to do all sorts of things. Some days I sit at my desk all day, other days I am outside the whole time. It's great!
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