Memorable events don’t just happen. Holding an event takes planning, time and organisation. Whether it’s a conference, gala dinner or meeting, your event’s success is in the details. Below I have collected our top 6 event planning tips from my expert team. Do you have any tips to add?
1. Engage in an event management company. A business specialising in event management will be able to help you in many ways. We not only receive special hotel rates for accommodation and meeting spaces, or know of hole in the wall event spaces, but use our skills to manage your budget while utilising the latest technology and offering unique styling and entertainment options. Running an event is a complex and costly exercise so the preparation, promotion, safety and management of every detail counts.
2. Don’t manage events in Microsoft Excel, use specialised event software. Because event management software integrates all the tools that an event organiser needs into one platform, it’s easy to work quickly, securely and with more rich insights at the ready. From your event website, registration and marketing to reporting and analytics, having a modern event management software does more than just manage events—it empowers organisers to unleash the power of live events and ultimately drive event success.
3. Confirm your agenda well in advance. This might not be the easiest thing to do, but the flow on effect from changing an agenda down the track can be costly and timely. From negotiating with hotels for extra room releases or increases to room blocks, finding meeting rooms, flight changes and costs, it literally pays to have this finalised in advance.
4. Put yourself in your guests shoes. Sometimes great ideas look and sound great on paper, but if you put yourself in your guests’ shoes and think about the experience you would be having, some ideas aren’t worth it. Your guests will always take the time to complain more so than providing great feedback!
5. What to think about when choosing a venue. When choosing a venue for your event there are many factors to consider.. time of year, impact of weather, past event locations, ease of access, selection of on and offsite venues (including wet weather backups), budget and the most important is being able to offer a point of difference or incomparable memory.
6. Ask for feedback. A successful event is more than a day-of checklist. When the event is over, it’s the perfect time to gather feedback and access what your guests really thought of the event. Finding out the impression you left on your guest will set the benchmark and give you the tools and knowledge to make it better next time.