How to Manage an Event
Event management is a great experience, regardless of whether it’s your own party, a corporate event, for family and friends, or weddings and other more formal affairs. It’s a tough job, but it’s very fulfilling, too. It can make a world of difference to the people involved who will greatly appreciate your kindness and monumental efforts in organizing their birthday, anniversary, wedding or other celebration or event. The steps below will teach you how to be a great events manager, give some suggestions to troubleshoot problems, and with careful planning, avoid them all together.
1.Figure out your purpose and objectives
This all seems a little too logical, but you need to get these down in permanent ink in order to know what’s the best size of the venue, the right budget, the nature of presentations, amount (or type) of guests, and what strategies to employ for your specific event. So what’s your ideal outcome? What do you want to get done? Once you figure out what you’re doing (celebrating, fundraising, educating, selling, proposing, etc.), think about why you’re doing it. Knowing your motivations can help give you focus and drive.
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2. Pick your date and time
This is one of the most important factors in your event planning. Pick a date and time no one can make and it doesn’t even matter how great an event you have planned. And pick a date and time that’s too far into the future — or coming up too soon — and your guests will either forget about it or already have plans. The Goldilocks syndrome of event managing!
3. Pick your venue
Now that you have an idea of what you’re doing and when you’re doing it, you can start thinking about venues and approaching potential ones with a date and things you’ll need. What kind of building do you want to host in and how will space be managed? Are the guests to be sitting on chairs in rows, on benches or at tables, or on picnic rugs in the open? Will the weather pose a problem? Will there need to be room for dancing, speakers podium or a stage? If so, plan to ensure the event space is large enough.
4. Choose the number of people to invite
How many people can your budget and venue handle? Some events are strictly ticketed entry or invitation only, so it is easier to plan, but many events will have latecomers, or extras such as children, partners or friends. And keep in mind that the more guests you have, the more crew you need, too.
5. Settle on a budget
Hopefully, you have a few people you can lean on to gauge together how much money you’ll need for this event. Are you paying any staff? Renting equipment and your venue? Supplying food and drinks? Publishing pamphlets or postcards? Settle on a number that seems doable and cater your plan to it. You don’t want to wind up paying out of your own pockets for this if you don’t have to.
6. Assemble a team
Organize your service team (even if they are friends and relatives or other volunteers) to handle different, relevant sections, even if you’re not professionally running an event, but running a small family event. Good event management on a big scale is about organizing people to be in charge of individual areas of the event and making sure everyone knows what the plan is.
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7. End out invitations
Because how else will people know to come?! You gotta send them invites! And this isn’t something you should scrimp on, either. Your invitation is the face of your event. The first impression people get of what to expect and if they should even come. It’s gotta be good.
8. Get familiar with the venue
Well before the event, it’s a good idea to scope out your venue and figure out how everything will be set up. You may need to make additional arrangements to accommodate the floor plan — extension cords, lighting, etc. And if it’s hard to find for you, it’ll probably be hard to find for your guests, so be sure to take that into account, too!
9. Consider making kits for your team
Your crews are going to be working hard. In order to show them your appreciation and to keep them on top of their game, make them a kit to give at the top of the event. Bottles of water, granola bars, chocolates, little tokens of appreciation, whatever you see fit. It’ll up morale from the get-go, too.
10. Prepare a contact list and other paperwork, if necessary
Your own personal organization is just as important as the event’s organization. If you’re organized and things go haywire, all can still be fine. But if you’re not, hell can break loose.
11. Delegate
Do not be afraid to delegate. The main stressor when it comes to an event is time. To save it, all hands need to be on deck — or different decks. If someone isn’t being as useful as they could be, give them something better to do. It’s your job. It’s not you being bossy or overstepping your boundaries; it’s you doing what you’re supposed to do.
12. Be flexible
This means making sure that things are kept to schedule and assisting or having backup plans if it falls behind — and being okay with it. If you start stressing out, you’ll lose your head. Nothing good will come of that. So when that speech runs ten minutes over and the speaker is ignoring your blatant distress signals or your attempt at feigning a stroke to create a diversion, relax. You’ll just adjust the appetizer and no one will notice. Event intact.
13.For marketing events, give a takeaway
You want all your guests to remember how awesome of a time they had. Actually, you probably want more than that. A visit to a website, future donations, word of mouth buzz, whatever. To ensure that your event is the legend it deserves to be, give a takeaway. Whether it’s a picture, a flyer, or a pen, having something to remind your guests of the event is a good way to make sure you stay in their minds.
14.Congratulate yourself on the event
Most events tend to run themselves when they start, but all the hard work is the preparation that no-one sees. So pat yourself on the back because you deserve it! Okay, back to tearing it down. The job’s not over yet!
