28 Inspiring Event Quotes for Event Planners

Planning an event is a rewarding, but also defying endeavor. There are moments where we need some inspiration, and motivational words can have a huge positive impact in our mindset. We gathered 28 inspiring event quotes to help you through your event planning journey. From the event design phase to building your event community, we will find here the encouragement you need to reach your event goals!

Inspirational Quotes for the Event Design Phase

Thinking out of the box it’s not easy every time and for everyone. It requires hard work, courage, and budget juggling. However, the results can exceed our expectations. If you have a very special request from a client, or you are going for innovation to give a boost to your results, have a sip of inspiration from these authors.

“If you can visualize it, if you can dream it, there’s some way to do it.” Walt Disney

Walt Disney always invites us not to consider it impossible, yet. Think again: how could you make it work? Event professionals are experts on turning dreams into reality. If you can relate to this quote, maybe it’s not the time yet to call it quits on those crazy ideas, give them a try! If they don’t work we have a quote section about setbacks to help you to go through that.

“The most important thing in life is to stop saying ‘I wish’ and start saying ‘I will.’ Consider nothing impossible, then treat possibilities as probabilities.” Charles Dickens

It’s a good thing that we can see right away the difficulties and constraints of implementing what seems an impossible idea. It means that we are connected to reality, and we can acknowledge the constraints of a situation. But staying there without considering the possibility to make it happen, will limit your growth. Let’s follow Charles Dicken’s advice, and let our events wow everyone, ourselves included.

“Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity – not a threat” Steve Jobs

Easier said than done, right? Change brings an uncomfortable adaptation period to most of us. But if you consider that the fundamentals always stay the same (our core values, our human needs, fears, and aspirations), you’ll see that the only things that change are external forms and not the common ground.

“To do the impossible, you need to ignore the popular.”  Tim Ferriss

It’s tempting to follow the trends and do the same thing as everyone else. However, it may happen that the popular it’s not what your event audience needs. Don’t be afraid to build what you believe it’s right for your audience, even if not on the “best practices book”.

“Imagination means nothing without doing.” Charlie Chaplin

This quote from Charlie Chaplin set up the connection between the event design and the event planning phase. Don’t let your ideas stay in the ideation phase, get them in action!

Inspiring Quotes for Event Planning

Now that your event concept is already on track, it’s time to start to plan. Setting priorities, defining tasks, and of course, risk assessment. What could go wrong and what would be the Plan B? Yes we know, these moments can be overwhelming. Find here some inspiring quotes to boost your morale.

“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” Friedrich Nietzsche

You have maybe chosen a difficult path with an ambitious design and therefore, a challenging execution. But Nietzsche is here to remind us that we can do it if we know our why. So, if your goals are not clear enough, spend some more time defining them. The planning part will be much easier.

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Benjamin Franklin

You know this better than anyone. But maybe you can use this quote when your client or your boss wants you to “just do it” without prior proper planning. And if they don’t listen and then you have another fire to put out, you can always say “Benjamin Franklin told you so”.

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” Stephen Covey

Question yourself: are the tasks on your schedule the ones that will contribute the most to achieving your event goals? Maybe some tasks don’t belong in your schedule. (See, already earned 2 more free days with SCOOCS! And we can make you save more time!)

“Everything is hard before it is easy.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

It seems difficult right now, but you will look behind, and all the doubts, clumsiness and adversities will make you smile.

Inspiring Event Quotes about Teamwork

If you’re in charge of a team of event planners, you know better than anyone the challenges it presents. Let’s dive into some wisdom from those who have “been there, done that”.

“Remember upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all.”  Alexander the Great

The military often has good pieces of inspiration, since their teamwork is litterally a matter of life and death. Alexander the Great reminds us of individual responsibility for the global team’s result.

“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” Michael Jordan

He certainly knows it. It’s possible to achieve a lot alone, but you will certainly achieve more with a team that enjoys working together. 

“A team is not a group of people that work together. A team is a group of people that trust each other.”  Simon Sinek

Working together is very different from teamwork. The second is achieved once, with the right guidance, each event planner on the team knows their role and knows they can rely on the other team elements. This is usually not a spontaneous given, but a process that requires a fair amount of work.

“Trust is the highest form of human motivation. It brings out the very best in people. But it takes time and patience.” Stephen Covey

Stephen Covey, author of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and “The Speed of Trust”, also reminds us of the importance of trust in human interaction. And how do you build trust? Always speaking the truth with your teams, being a role model of integrity, and genuine care for your team members.

Uplifting Event Quotes about Setbacks

Setbacks are inevitable in the event planning process. And an important part of the work of the event planner is to anticipate those setbacks and draw a Plan B. When they happen, it’s not always easy to keep a positive mindset. Add these quotes to your event planning roadmap, they can help you to make that reframing you need in that difficult moment.

“If it can be solved, there’s no need to worry, and if it can’t be solved, worry is of no use.” Dalai Lama

Worry can even make it more difficult to find a solution. Better said than done, right? Breathe in, breathe out and try to keep your cool. It’s Plan B time.

“No matter what happens, it is within my power to turn it to my advantage.” Epictetus

Perspective is a powerful aspect. The situation may seem like the end of the world, but if you look from a distance it will often be possible to find new meanings for it. And build new and great things from it.

“Failure is not the opposite of success; it’s part of success.”  Arianna Huffington

Some centuries later, Arianna Huffington expanded the Epictetus idea. Not only you can turn a bad situation to your advantage, but this situation it’s actually a part of your journey to success. Reframing failure as a stepping stone on your journey to success will help you to move forward quicker and more efficiently.

“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” Henry Ford

Pilots take off against the wind because that extra wind flow helps the aircraft lift. The same metaphor applies to event planning: the wrong provider you hired has improved your competencies in spotting red flags, and your bad internet company has been building your resilience. Sounds absurd and cliché…but it’s true.

Encouraging Quotes for the Event Day

The day of the event has arrived. You feel you need coffee and an extra dose of motivation. Don’t worry, we got you covered. Set these quotes as hourly reminders on your cell phone. Even if no other notification does, these alerts will make you smile.

“Half the battle is just showing up.”  Stephen Hawking

Every event planner knows the difficulty of having people attend an event. So if your audience has already shown up…kudos to you. That’s your work, and it’s half the battle.

“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” Victor Borge

Humor is a powerful icebreaker and one of the human emotions that brings us together. Be sure to have speakers who are not afraid of using humor in their communication style, and create funny and pleasant networking moments. They will facilitate connections. And yes, it is possible to use humor in B2B communication!

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” Mother Teresa

Usually, event organizers are always multiple steps ahead, preparing the event’s next steps. But today is the event day. This is the day where you can meet your attendees, learn more from them, and live new experiences. Tomorrow you won’t have the same opportunity, so don’t forget to focus on the here and now!

“A single event can awaken within us a stranger totally unknown to us.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery

We believe that Saint- Exupery wasn’t referring to the event industry here, but we can surely apply his words to event planning. If the event generates a transformation for the attendee and makes him learn, think and do new things, it will be surely unforgettable and create long-lasting memories.

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Learning from new ideas, gaining a new point of view, experiencing the unknown is, hopefully, very frequent outcomes of the events we host. Bearing this in mind during the event day, will help you to stay tuned with your event why, and give less importance to minor hiccups.

“Creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions.” Steve Jobs

If we forget the importance of open networking moments and the coffee break, Steve Jobs is here to remind us. A lot of ideas and relationships come out of these impromptu moments, so don’t hesitate to accommodate room for them (and even to stretch their schedule a little bit, if they are working well).

Motivational Quotes for your Event Community

If keeping the conversation going once the event is over, and promoting long-lasting meaningful relationships among your event participants are two of your main goals, this section is for you. Find here some inspiration to make your community thrive.

“More than machinery, we need humanity.” Charlie Chaplin

According to Abraham Maslow, safety and belonging are human needs that come right after our most basic physiological needs. Before focusing on the technology, build your community content the other way around. What do our attendees need? Then, use technology as a vessel to answer those needs.

“Assumptions are the termites of relationships.” Henry Winkler

Don’t be afraid to ask first what your audience is looking for in a community. Ignoring this first step is a shortcut to participants’ disengagement and communication mismatches.

“The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said.” Peter Drucker

Silence speaks a lot, and so does body language. And yes, we can still notice body language in a virtual or hybrid environment, through the tone of voice or facial expressions. If you would like to know more about some reactions of your audience that are not what you expected, report to the previous quote: don’t just assume, ask!

“Trust is built on telling the truth, not telling people what they want to hear.” Simon Sinek

Trust is one of the most important foundations of relationships, that’s why it is a common theme in the teamwork and community sections. Don’t hesitate to bring the theme of failure to your community, and create a safe space for everyone to speak about it. If you are afraid that this ruins your reputation, think that is not so much about what happened, but how you handled it.

“Building trust is a process. Trust results from consistent and predictable interaction over time.” Barbara M. White

Consistency is one of today’s buzzwords, and there is a reason for it. Creating a schedule of publications or events will help to consolidate your community. This will be a win-win for all.

We hope that you were able to find the right event quote for you, the one that you were looking for, or even the one that you didn’t know you needed!

If you are looking for more event inspiration, read this article with tips to make your online event more engaging!