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This video from the guys at djtutor.com and is the first part in a series looking at the planning of club nights with some tips for planning your night club event. In this series they will look at club night event management, promoting your night club event and the technical equipment you might need. Series also looks at club night insurance and night club ideas.

Original eventsecrets.com Article

When choosing to subcontract some of your event work – you should think about the following areas.

1. Speak to people you know
When you are looking for new subcontractors it is always worth asking people in the industry who may be able to recommend a company or individual who offer the solution you require. When asking for a recommendation make sure that you include all of your requirements, and explain why you are looking for a new supplier.

2. Ask for references
Before you use a new supplier, ask them for references of work that they have undertaken in the past. It is important to see that the work that they have done is of a similar style and size to the work you are offering. It is no good asking a company to work at a conference for 10,000 people, when the largest event they have done is for 200.

3. Look at previous events
Look at events that have already taken place and find out who the contractors were
If you are going to be working on an event that is similar to one that has already taken place, you can try to establish which contractors worked on the event – and contact them to work on your event.

4. Look at websites and photos of work
It is important to research new suppliers – have a look at their website and ask for photos or video footage of previous work. It is often worth searching on websites like Google to see if the company you are planning to use has any good (or bad) press written about them on other websites.

5. Work with those who will be at your event
Once you are certain of the company you are going to use, try to start working with the staff who will be actually working at your event. It is always important to maintain a good working relationship with the staff who you will be relying on during your event.
You should get their team together and meet with them before your event if possible, in order to understand how they are planning to work at the event, and how they will be managing their area. This will give you a greater understanding of them as a team, and how they will interact with your own people.

6. Look for subcontractors who are close to where your event will take place
If your budget is important, try to work with people who are based near to where your event is taking place. This will enable you to save money on food, accommodation and transport as staff members will be able to go home each night and will not have far to travel each day.

7. Work with subcontractors who share your ethos
It is also important to work with people who share your ethos and way of working. Your clients will have bought into you and your organisation, because of your ethics and ethos – so you should try to work with contractors who share your work ethic.

8. Work with subcontractors who can be flexible, think for themselves, offer ideas
When you are looking for people to work with, ask potential subcontractors for their ideas and recommendations – you are using them because they are experts – so make use of that expertise.

Make sure that the subcontractors will be flexible – because there may be times that you need them to change what they are doing as the event changes from

9. Work with subcontractors who will not steal your work
You have to be able to trust your subcontractors – that they will not approach the client direct either in advance of the event, or once the event has been completed.  One of the easiest ways to stop clients talking direct to your contractors is to ensure that your contractors wear clothing, badges or passes with your company name on them.

10. Work with subcontractors that you get along with
At your event, you have to be confident that you can work with your subcontractors – these companies and their staff will become more than part of your team – they will become your team. On a personal level you need to be able to work with these people – through some of the most stressful and pressured times of your live – late at night – at a time when it has to be right.

© 2008 eventsecrets.com – Articles, hints, tips and information about event management – from event secrets .com
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At any event you will have customers. Whether a meeting for six people or a festival for 60,000, you must ensure that your customer is number one!

Your customers will have a view of your event, even if they have not attended before – they will have expectations (good and bad) of your event based on other events that they have attended. Your event and your staff have to ensure that the service received by the client is better than they expect. This will give them a positive experience, meaning they are more likely to attend in the future, and spend more money during the current event.

Make it easy to book
The first time your delegates or visitors will come into contact with your organisation is when they book tickets or passes. This may be several months in advance via the internet or phone, or they may be buying passes on the day of the event

Delegate Requirements
Many event professionals concentrate very hard on organising great events – making sure the venue has everything that is required, and producing a fantastic looking ‘show’ – but don’t forget that your customers are the people that are (indirectly or directly) paying for the event. It is important to find out from them what they want, and make sure that you give it to them

On Site Registration
When people arrive at an event they will need to buy tickets, collect badges or check into their accommodation with the minimum of fuss. This period is critical as it can set the tone for the whole conference

Concierge Service
Depending on the type of event, it is often sensible to offer an event concierge or customer service helpdesk to answer the questions and queries that your delegates or customers may have

Partner Programmes
Delegates are often allowed to bring their partners to certain events and conferences. This often poses the problem of what to do with them whilst sessions and activities are laid on for the delegates. Partner programmes allow those not directly involved in the conference to be occupied for the duration of the event.

Many event managers start their careers whilst still at school or university by organising or being involved with night club events. Whilst a fanatastic way to learn the art of event management, promotion, markting, sales and all of the other things that event managers must learn, club nights can be hard to get right.

Club Venues
Getting the right venue can make or break your clubbing event – if you are in the wrong place it could make the difference between making it – or making nothing.

The Idea
Most of the successful clubnights have one specific idea of style which guides them as a kind of mission statement. Try to hit a niche idea to maximise your success.

Marketing
Marketing is the key to any club event – with the wrong marketing you will be sunk – get it right and you can pay your student loan off (or expand to other cities!)

Publicity
Designing and producing publicity for your events can be one of the most critical areas – you will spend a lot of your money on promotional materials, and the danger is that it is often thrown away or forgotten about.

Music
The most successful clubnights start because of the organisers love of music – choose a style that you like (or at least can bear to listen to everytime you are at work) and create a clear music policy. People will come to know your event for its music, and that is what will make is successful.

Customers
It is important to look after customers and to ensure that they enjoy the entire experience. There are some simple elements of organising club nights that can be used to keep the audience happy, and to increase your revenue.

Responsibilty
Many promoters are under fire for creating events that cause binge drinking and other antisocial behaviour. Make your event successful, but try to remain responsible in your actions and those of your event.

Big parties are organised for all sorts of reasons – weddings, birthdays, charity events and more…

Balls & Function Venues
Getting the right venue can make or break your event – if you are in the wrong place it could make the difference between making it – or making nothing

The Theme
Most of the successful balls and functions have one specific idea of style which guides them as a kind of mission statement. Try to hit a niche idea to maximise your success.

Food
Getting the food right is the key to any event – with the wrong food you will be sunk – get it right and you can make the event a real success.

This section looks at the last things you should do before you leave for your event, and the common issues that arise when you are on-site for your event

Pick List
Use this section to find some of the things that you should take with you to your event to make your life easier!

Last things to do before you leave
Before you go! Read this section to discover the things you should do just before you leave.

First things to do when you arrive
When you arrive on site you will be full of anticipation, but remember these key elements when you first arrive to make the whole event run more smoothly.

Managing Contractors
When you are working on-site with contractors you will need to ensure that they know what they are doing and where they are going – use these tips to successfully manage your contractors on site.

Venue
Use this section to get the most from the venue that you are paying for.

Health & Safety
The health and safety at the event is paramount – but can often be forgotten during the rig – when time is short and everyone has a job to do.

Common Problems
This section will give you some ideas of the common problems – allowing you to prepare before you go.

Site Rules
Find out why it is important to have site rules, who to send them to, and what they should say.

Attendees and the Public
Discover some of the common issues which arise when you are dealing with people on your event site.

As well as why you are holding your event, and what your content is, you need to carefully consider where you are going to hold your event.

Where to look
Need to find a venue? Here are some of the best places to look for venues for all types of event.

‘Free Venue Finding Services’ – The Good and the Bad
Most event management and venue finding companies will offer a ‘free’ venue finding service – in most cases this is fine, but there can be some downfalls.

Approaching Venues
There are many ways to get in contact with venues – but there are some times that are better to make contact than others – and there are different ways to contact them too.

Choosing an Intimate Conference Venue
So you’re looking for a conference venue? Not the size of the Taj Mahal, but something just as impressive. A venue with the right amount of space, flexible catering, including accommodation and the right facilities.

Visiting Venues
Find out why we would always recommend a venue site visit – and what you should be looking for when you go.

Build Relationships
It is important to build relationships with your venue staff – find out why – and what you can do to make them like you.

Doing the Deal
Find out how far you can push a venue on their price – and what you can do to reduce the costs of the venue hire.

Venue ‘Extras’
Venues will often charge you for extras over and above the cost of hiring the venue – find out some of the ‘extra costs’ you should be aware of.

Many people from many different backgrounds, and at various stages of their professional career look to enter the world of events. This section should give some ideas for getting the job of your dreams.

Why work in events?
There are many good and bad things about working in events – find out some of them in this section.

Getting Experience
Experience is important for working in events. Find out the types of experience you should be looking for and where to get it

Training and Qualifications
Make yourself as employable as you can by gaining the qualifications that event management companies are most looking for.

Your CV
This section gives some excellent CV tips and tricks.

Looking for jobs
If you can’t find the job that you are looking for, then why not visit this section for the most up to date jobs and listings.

The interview
Once you have been invited for interview, check out this section for some more useable and useful tips

As well as the events that are organised, event management companies are businesses. This section will help those who are managers in event management companies or event management departments.

Structure
This section looks at the variety of forms that event management companies and departments can take, and looks at the positives and negatives of both

The team
Your people are your biggest asset, so you need to make sure that you look after them.

Finance
One of the most critical areas for all businesses is that of finance – check out this section for more ideas about managing money.

Sales
Another important area is that of sales – if you are not doing any then how can you guarantee the future success of your business.

Marketing
Marketing is the facilitation of your sales efforts – learn some of the key lessons for selling in the services industry.

Management
Running a business is all about management – here are some of our management resources.

Management means Management
If you are in a small company – and spend all your time doing your business, when is there any time for running your business.

Event Evaluation

In all business instances it is important to evaluate your activities. This is tied to your aims and targets for the event, and helps you to measure return on investment and return on objectives.

What were your targets
Look back at your pre-event aims and targets and compare your event with them.

Ongoing Evaluation
The evaluation process should be ongoing, and occur throughout the event management process.

Measuring your ROI & ROO
Learn how to compare your Return on Investment and Return on Objectives.

What to do if you beat them
If you beat your aims for the event then great! But were they too easy?

What to do if you failed to meet them
If you failed to meet your objectives then don’t panic. Learn from what went wrong and move forward.

Look at both sides of the coin
When evaluating, many people look at just the negative elements – what went wrong – but you should look at what went well too.

Learn & take forward
No matter how your event went – there are bound to be a number of things you can learn for the future.