Kid Territory:Jobs: Planning Activities and Events

Development Department staff works with volunteers to help make events for donors go smoothly.

Appetizers are served! Event planners often depend on food service and catering staff to provide the tasty part of an event.

Education specialists develop tour and assembly programs for schools and private groups. They often lead teacher workshops, too, using the Zoo and Wild Animal Park as huge classrooms!

Group Sales Department staff has to be on hand at every event to make sure things run smoothly.

Planning an event at the Zoo or Wild Animal Park takes a lot of behind-the-scenes coordination!

What we do

Everyone knows that the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park are famous for their plant and animal collections. That's why our facilities are also popular for educational, fun, and unique events! Several departments plan tours, parties, and events for groups of all ages, interests, and sizes—from a few people to several thousand.

In the Education Department we write and coordinate school and adult educational programs and sometimes even lead workshops for teachers. In the Member Development Department we encourage people to make donations by planning special events like behind-the-scenes tours and private parties. Our Group Sales Department plans events for private groups, such as a corporation's company party. These festivities often include elements like entertainment and, of course, food. Our Food Service and Catering departments provide the meals and the people to serve them. Often, several departments work together to make these events successful. Sometimes we even travel outside our gates and host offsite activities.

What's cool about this job

We get to meet so many people from all over the world, including celebrities. Since one of the missions of the Zoological Society is education, it's neat to teach our guests about conservation, sharing the Zoo or Wild Animal Park as a huge "classroom." We also get a chance to interact with employees in other departments—the Zoo and Park are such big places, but our jobs help bring everyone a bit closer.

Job challenges

We do have some long and odd working hours, mostly outdoors and in all kinds of weather! Many of the events we plan rely on other departments, and there are tons of details and last-minute changes. We have to be flexible and ready for anything because, above all, we want our guests to have a great experience and leave happy.

How this job helps animals

Our events bring revenue into the Zoo and Wild Animal Park, money that goes into running the daily operations, building new exhibits and animal health facilities, and supporting CRES (Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species), our research branch. When guests participate in our education programs, they are often inspired to participate in conservation.

How to get a job like this

There are lots of college options, depending on your area of interest, to prepare you for these jobs. Take coursework that gives you a background in business, marketing, communications, restaurant/hotel hospitality, special event planning, teaching, or writing. It is helpful to work at the Zoo or Park already because you'll have insight into the "inner workings" of the facilities and knowledge about the animals, and develop important professional relationships. The Zoo and Park are like little cities, with a different "culture" from the rest of the world, and even from each other. You can start working for the Zoo or Park when you are 16. Ask your guidance counselor about the job fairs we have two to three times per year, when we hire many employees into entry-level positions in food service. You need a smiling face and a friendly, outgoing personality, since you'll be working with the public as an ambassador of the Zoological Society of San Diego.