1. Start Early
Whenever you need to plan an event, it is highly recommended that you start planning asap. If you need to plan a big event, then you should start planning between 4 to 6 months before the event. When it comes to planning small events, then you’ll require about a month. Always make sure that all vendor contracts are finalized a couple of weeks before the day of the event so that everything will go smoothly. Purchase all of your props and accessories from Premier Glow in advance.
2. Be Flexible
While planning an event, it is inevitable that things will change. These could be location, venue, event type, time etc. So, it is very important to have a flexible mindset so that you can keep up with changes and adapt accordingly.
3. Negotiate
Even though vendors may try to indicate otherwise, just about everything can be negotiated. Keep in mind that every event will have extra or hidden costs. Therefore, it is important that you negotiate for lower prices. To start with, figure out your budget and then when you talk a vendor, offer a price that is between 5 to 10% lower that what they are asking for. Even though the vendor will protest initially, they will eventually give in so that they can get the job.
4. Break Up Responsibilities
Next, each event will have different sections that need to be organized such as catering, decorating, transport, registration etc. Be sure to identify each section and then assign each one to a specific person in your team. They will then be completely responsible for their section or sections and they will have to manage every detail of their section.
5. Utilize Shared Documents
The cloud offers numerous benefits and one of them is being able to easily collaborate with your team using shared documents. This is very important so that everyone can know exactly what is going on and everyone has access to all the details they need. Basically, you’ll need to create a main shared document that contains all of the important information for your event. This includes information on attendees, venue floor plans, vendor contracts and more. When all of this information is included in a shared document, everyone can easily check it whenever they need to. Also, it would become easier for issues to be identified since more people are looking at it. We have an excellent CMI Event Management course that can help you to create these type of documents.
6. Backup Plans
Just about every event will have a minimum of one or two issues. For example, a critical person may be late, items may not be delivered on time etc. Therefore, make sure that you identify the most important aspects of your event and have a back up plan for each one. If there are multiple issues, you will need to determine if you can eliminate them from the event or use alternative solutions.
7. Run Throughs
When it is about 2 weeks away from the date of the event, you should complete a run through of the event. Be sure to have a meeting with all your team members and walk through the entire event with them. This means the set up and follow ups. In most cases, you’ll identify issues and complications in the run through and this will give you enough time to fix them. Make sure that you do a final run through a couple days before the event.
8. Take Photos Of Everything
Lastly, take as much photos of everything and show them off online. This is a great way to show your event’s success. If possible, you should get a professional photographer since they will take higher quality of photos that truly capture the essence of your particular event. Make sure that you also ask for particular photos such as event branding, the attendees etc.
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Photo by CHUTTERSNAP
