There are usually some event companies in mid-size and larger cities. Event companies' focus can range widelly - some are full-on production companies with light/sound departments, props, even talent departments (providing models, mascots, singers - whatever live entertainment you might desire). Other companies are really just inflated caterers. As you search, you'll come across a variety of companies, some of which might include guys who own a set of speakers and 20 folding chairs and call themselves a "Total Event Supplier" and others that might have expansive warehouses of equipment, a fleet of trucks, and dozens of event managers. (Hint: try to sign on with the latter.) You should try to meet with the Production Manager at an event company just so they know who you are. You'll get gigs sporadically, but they'll keep your resume on file. Summers (wedding season) and the holiday season (Nov-Dec) are busy times, as well as March (charity ball season).
Look in your yellow pages under some of the following key words:
- "Event Management/Planners/Rentals"
- "Banquets/Galas"
You can even go through gateway sites like wedding planners (
www.theknot.com is the biggest and most comprehensive of these) to find companies providing these services. Read your newspaper's social pages to see who does the local charities' black-tie galas, who plans the grand opera ball, who does the big rich weddings and bar-mitzvahs in town.
Your work with these companies might range from grunt work (carrying equipment, tables, and other heavy things), stagehand-type work (rigging, dressing, prop building, set carpentry), catering work (setting tables, maybe even serving), truck driving, or miscellaneous making-pretty tasks (painting, building, and applying lots of glitter to everything). I think the work is interesting because I might assemble a dance floor in a very un-flat backyard field and then turn around to fuss with fake plastic flowers. You always need to be inventive and flexible - there's a guerilla-style "make it work" flavor to events. You might need to change into a nicer wardrobe than you usually wear for tech work - if you're around during an event, you might be asked to wear black slacks and a button-down shirt (white or black, usually). You might also work extremely long shifts - loading in, running, and loading-out an event for a straight 20-hours - and then back to the warehouse and on to the next event. But you might also be able to snag some free fancy food and laugh at the drunk people. And you'll definitely need to be ready to handle the bridezillas and lunching ladies who will swarm around you as you try to make that boatload of tulle into their conceived "fairytale ceiling cloud". Nonetheless, it's good money and (I think) fun work.