Whether you are in the event planning industry or planning a private special event, the strategies needed to make your event memorable and/or profitable are extremely important. They require a certain amount of planning and a whole lot of commitment to achieve the ultimate goal – having a great event people will remember and talk about long after the celebration has passed.
Your ultimate goal is to host an event, that leads to even more success, referrals, more business, and most likely more people committed to the project in the future or in the case of a private event, such as a wedding or birthday, the couple or birthday person can look back at the event with huge smiles on their faces.
A special event is an event with a specific purpose, such as a special occasion (celebration of a milestone, conference, party, awards ceremonies and weddings). Special events are different from ongoing programs in that they may be single, one-time productions or even once a year celebrations that people anticipate and plan for.
Here are six simple strategies for event planning success:
1. If you have been hired by a company or a host, you can safely assume that they have already determined that the purpose of the event is important enough to warrant the expense and time necessary to put it on.
2. Assess whether you need a team of volunteers/paid staff to execute this event successfully and involve your team from the planning stage.
3. Determine the purpose of the event. Is it to make money? Is it to increase awareness of the product or company or organization? Is it to celebrate a success or a milestone? It might be a combination of all three. Once you know the purpose, you can plan accordingly.
4. Who is the target market? If you are an event planner, you may not be involved in that part of the planning. Your job may be just to stage an extraordinary event. The company or individuals may be responsible for attendance and invites. However, you will have input and connections. Be sure you offer feedback and share those connections with the “powers that be.”
5. How will you measure the success of the event?
6. If this event has been hosted in the past, talk with others who have worked on it before. Get their advice and support. Seeking the opinions and advice of others will help to elicit support for future success of the event. Find out what went right, what went wrong and how they measured success in the past. What are/were their expectations of this event? Were those expectations met or exceeded? If not, what would they have done differently?
These six strategies are the foundation to help you develop your master plan and allow you to be seen as the best event planning specialist.
