Glossary
Event Planner Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential event planner terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key event planner vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in event planner training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Attrition
- Penalty for not using contracted rooms.
- AV
- Audiovisual equipment.
- BEO
- Banquet event order detailing food and setup.
- Breakout session
- A smaller session during a conference.
- F&B minimum
- Minimum food and beverage spend.
- Floor plan
- A diagram of event setup.
- Force majeure
- A contract clause for uncontrollable events.
- Hybrid event
- An event with in-person and virtual attendees.
- Load-in
- Moving equipment into a venue.
- Post-event report
- Results and lessons after an event.
- Registration
- Signing up attendees.
- RFP
- Request for proposal sent to venues.
- Room block
- Hotel rooms reserved for attendees.
- Run-of-show
- A minute-by-minute event schedule.
- Site visit
- Touring a venue.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Event Planner practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Event Planner training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.