Before You Start

Original eventsecrets.com Article

One you have decided why you are holding your event, and have investigated its feasibility, as an event manager, you have to start putting a plan together. There are many factors that have to be taken into account when planning even the simplest event, there are staff to arrange, venues to find, equipment to source and tickets or invitations to send out.

First things first – all good event managers make lists
Over the years – one of the most effective tools I have come across when planning for an event is a simple, handwritten list. Although these days I use my computer to schedule my tasks, sometimes it is still easier to collect my thoughts together with nothing more than a sheet of blank paper and a pencil. It doesn’t really matter how you organize these thoughts, it may be chronologically or it may be by section of the event.

The Event Management Framework
Once you have established the initial plan of action, you should start to fill in the gaps and add detail to each of the sections. At the same time you can start to put the action points into an order of priority – with the most important elements first, followed by the less important ones.

This planning document will start to form the framework which will help you through the event planning process, and will guide you through how you are going to run the event successfully. This plan will be with you through the entire event planning process, the live event and the evaluation stages.

It is important to cover as many areas as possible in this first instance, as the more thought you give to the event at this stage, the more successful and stress free your event will be.

Have you managed this event before?
Many events occur on an annual basis, or are at least similar in some ways to events that have happened in the past? A conference for one client will have many similar attributes to a conference for a new client.

Unless you really have never done an event of this type before (in which case I seriously suggest you find a freelance manager who has) you should be able to look at the planning that took place and use many of the ideas and techniques from the last event.

Not only will this help you to save time in the initial planning stages (as you will have a pre-determined list of all the things you have to do) but it will also help you to ensure you do not miss any of the elements.

At the end of every event you should evaluate what you did – which will allow you to learn lessons from previous events.

These lessons should be both positive and negative – remember for every one thing that went wrong, ten things will have gone right – so learn from the good as well as the bad.

Who is going to do what
Once you have decided which activities have to take place, you need to decide who is going to do them. For a small event, it may be that you manage many of the elements on your own – but on the day of the event it is usual for many more people to get involved.

When planning for you event, you need to see which skills you require, and recruit the right people for the right tasks.

Once you have the right people in place, you not only need to let them know what they have to do, but when they have to do it, where they have to do it and why they have to do it – so that they can see where their part of the planning process fits into the overall event planning process.

Planning is one of the most critical elements of event management – and the management of the planning process is even more important. Knowing that every aspect of the event is covered will make the event run a lot more smoothly, and be a lot less hassle for all event management and production staff.

© 2006 eventsecrets.com - Dave Lake is a specialist event and production manager who has organised events all over the UK. On Dave’s event management website you will find instant access to all his event strategies, tips, tools, and resources that he’s used to organise everything from an intimate dinner for 15 to outdoor events for 17,000, as well as conferences, training days, music and sports events.

Original eventsecrets.com Article

As almost all books on business will tell you – setting targets is one of the most important things you can do in order to set you and your event apart from any other. By setting targets you will be able to focus on your desired outcomes for your event more clearly. As we have already discussed, event managers should always ask the question ‘What is this event for’.

Setting Targets
Once you have some clear reasons for holding your event, you can use them to set targets. These targets will control what you are doing, and will ensure that you know how to get where you are going. But it is not just about you – it is important that all of your team, contractors and suppliers know the reasons for the event and what you are trying to achieve. Targets are most useful for evaluation – if you know you want to measure your performance, you can only do this by setting a target first – if you don’t have a target – what can you compare to? Finally, targets are important, because after each event you can re-visit them and change them for the future, so that you, your event and your company can continue to grow and develop.

Setting targets (to help you get there)
Setting targets often seems like a waste of time particularly in the fast moving, dynamic and creative industry that is event management – however setting targets will help you to keep your event on track. Every time you reach a cross roads in the event planning process – every time you think of a new idea or a new suggestion is made – you should ask the question, ‘Does this fit with my targets?’

If the new activity or idea will help you to achieve your objectives, then GREAT – but if not, then what is the point? If you accept every suggestion or idea, without any kind of check – you run the risk of holding an event that is little more than a collection of different activities, rather than a single, flowing event that has continuity and works well together.

Setting Targets (so that everyone else knows what you are doing)
When you set the targets for your event, you should make sure that this is a team effort – and once the targets have been set you should ensure that they are communicated to all of those involved with the planning and management of the event. This will help the people in your organisation to keep focussed on the event – and not to veer away from the main reasons for ho lding the event.

Setting targets for different areas will provide the roadmap to a successful event – throughout the planning process you will be able to quickly see which areas need more attention (poor ticket sales means focusing resources on tickets) or which are close to reaching their target.

If a target is reached, then a new target should be set so that the momentum and pace of the event is not lost.

Setting Targets (so you know if your event has been a success)
When you are trying to evaluate your events, you measure the success of the event against the targets that have been set – if you do not set any targets, then how can you measure against them? These targets can be personal, for the event management team, for the event or for the business as a whole. For example, you may choose to set a target as ‘selling 100 tickets’. If you sell only 90 tickets then you have failed to reach your target and you need to investigate why. If you sell 110 tickets then you have exceeded your target – but again – why was this?

Setting Targets (so you can change them next time)
Once the event is over – you should look at all of the targets individually – your performance against these targets will provide a comparison between how you did and how you wanted to do. This provides a framework for any evaluation – and allows the evaluation process to be streamlined.

It isn’t acceptable to just see whether you did or did not meet a target – you have to investigate why – as this is where you can learn lessons to take forward to the future. The reasons for matching targets should be carefully considered, and action points arranged from them – it might be that some areas failed due to lack of funding, or others due to lack of training. Without knowing this, the risk is that the event, staff or company will continue on, never quite getting it right – year on year and event on event.

© 2006 eventsecrets.com - Dave Lake is a specialist event and production manager who has organised events all over the UK. On Dave’s event management website you will find instant access to all his event strategies, tips, tools, and resources that he’s used to organise everything from an intimate dinner for 15 to outdoor events for 17,000, as well as conferences, training days, music and sports events.

Original eventsecrets.com Article

As this the first stage of the event planning process, this is the stage where you have to ask a lot of questions.

Determining the need for an event should have a huge impact on the way it is organised, who organises it, who pays for it and whether it should be held at all.

What can events be for?
There are many reasons for holding an event – events are (in my opinion) the best way to communicate – events are live – events are face to face – events are relavent and events are interactive.

• Businesses use events to communicate with their staff, their current (and potential) customers and their suppliers through conferences, exhibitions and training days.
• Promoters use events to make money – they sell tickets to see artistes and make a profit after all the costs have been taken into consideration. An example of this is the world famous Glastonbury Festival.
• Charities use events to promote awareness (just take the Live8 concerts around the world) as well as to raise money for their cause.
• Individuals use events to celebrate, to meet, to share and to involve. From weddings to parties – man (and woman) has been celebrating and holding events for years.

Who chooses what the event is for?
Because events take place for a number of reasons, the decision maker can be a number of different people. Event Management agencies are often employed by a client who wants to put on an event – so the client (and their organisation if they have one) is the ones to choose what the event is for. In this case, the person with the need for the event may work for a different organisation to the one that is orgainsing the event. Other times, an event may be organised by an ‘in-house’ department – so the event need is in the same company.

What is the desired outcome?
For an event to be a success, an event organiser must have clear objectives for the event that they are organising. Setting targets will ensure that a clear approach is undertaken. Please see the article on Setting Event Targets.

Can you afford it?
Running an event is never cheap – and until you have experience of orgainsing events you may be surprised how expensive everything is! It is important that all event organisers undertake a financial feasibility study to ensure that they can afford to hold the event before they start work on it.

Do you have to hold your event?
Many events take place each year ‘just because’ or because ‘well we did it last year’. With all of the time, planning and effort that is required for planning even the smallest event – one of the early questions should be ‘Do we need to?’.
Whilst events are a great way to communicate, it might be that there is a more effective way – or the need for the event is not strong enough (or has passed). By asking these questions before you start planning, you will save yourself a lot of hassle,money and time in the long run.

Do you have the capacity?
Finally, one of the most important questions you should ask of yourself and your orgainsation is whether you have the capacity to organise the event. Even a simple wedding is expected to take upto 240 hours to organise – so for larger or more complicated events this can be multiplied many times. It is also not just a case of whether you and your team have the time – it is also whether you have the experience or the expertise.

When you bring hundreds or thousands of people together for a conference or outdoor event there are many factors that have to be taken into consideration – which can otherwise result in higher costs and lower revenue than necessary. There are also many safety regulations and licences that must be completed, even for the simplest of events.

If you look at the need for your event, and decide that it should take place – that there is a need for it, and that it has a purpose then you need to begin to build your team – the people that will help you to plan, manage and run your event.

© 2006 eventsecrets.com - Dave Lake is a specialist event and production manager who has organised events all over the UK. On Dave’s event management website you will find instant access to all his event strategies, tips, tools, and resources that he’s used to organise everything from an intimate dinner for 15 to outdoor events for 17,000, as well as conferences, training days, music and sports events.