Event production is extremely hectic for even the most experienced professionals. There are plenty of things that can go wrong when you don’t put a good plan in place.Any little step you can take to make things more efficient goes a long way to making your event a success and creating memorable experiences for your guests. Here are 5 things to help you plan and manage your event successfully.
1. Measurable Goals and Objectives
Your goals and objectives are a cornerstone of your event. Ask yourself a few questions to help you formulate realistic goals and measurable objectives. What is the purpose of this event? What should it achieve? If you understand your main goals before planning, it will be easier for you to tune every part of your event for success.
Do you want to raise a specific amount of funds for your favorite cause or just create awareness about a certain societal problem? Are you expecting to draw 100 guests or 300? Coming up with a goal with measurable metrics of success will help you develop strategies for you and your team to achieve it.
2. A Competent Team
With your goals and objectives now in place, it’s time to embark on the process of putting together a reliable team to help you achieve them. But assembling a team isn’t a matter of asking your friends to help you arrange the venue and usher in guests. It involves hiring skilled people and assigning them responsibilities based on their skills. For instance, you can appoint one person to head each subgroup, such as:
• Venue management
• Publicity
• Sound systems
• Entertainment
• Catering
Giving team members individual responsibilities allow you to establish a system of accountability. It also ensures that all tasks will be carried out. Set up a reliable communication channel to promote effective collaboration.
3. A Well-prepared Budget
A well-prepared budget is one of the most fundamental parts of planning and managing your event. Without it, even great ideas will fail. Ensure your budget covers all the important expenses and set aside an extra 5-25% emergency fund to cater to the unexpected. Here are some of the essential expenses that your budget should cover.
• Venue: This expense should include the rental expenses together with any insurance or permit you need to obtain.
• Catering: This cost encompasses servers, bartenders, foods, drinks, table settings, and linen.
• Entertainment: You can customize this area to capture the interest of your guests. Expenses in this field can include musical instruments, speakers, and a DJ, depending on the kind of event you are planning.
• Staff: This field is often overlooked, but it’s important to budget for the transportation and accommodation expenses of your staff, particularly when your event destination is out of town. In this regard, there are many vacation rentals available, which come at a very affordable price as well as in very good condition.
• Marketing: The cost here can include paying influencers to post sponsored posts on their social media accounts and distributing leaflets throughout the town.
• Miscellaneous: Additional expenses are common even in events organized by seasoned pros. Taking care of them in your budget will save you the embarrassment of being caught unaware.
4. An Appropriate Date and Reliable Venue
The date of your event could depend on a number of things – is it a time-conscious launch, annual seminar, or end party? Is the timing favorable to key players or does it coincide with other occasions in your sector? Consider these things to help you choose a suitable date.
Your venue is perhaps one of the biggest expenses in your budget. Venue search services can help you do a side by side comparison of various venues within your target area. You can get a place that offers things like seating, entertainment, Wi-Fi, and catering. But if you have all those things, you’ll have so many options to choose from.
5. Reduce Last-minute Changes
To organize an event, you must work with many stakeholders, sponsors, staff, consultants, and vendors. Sort out things with each ahead of time so that there’s a closing date for any changes. For example, ensure vendors are aware that they can’t pull out after a specific date. Set penalties for cancellations to bring down last-minute changes.
With an increasing number of people constantly searching for unique activities to engage in nowadays, event planning is a lucrative venture. But for your event to stand out in this rapidly growing industry, you must be creative and organized. Consider the above 5 things from the onset to make your upcoming event a success.