Karen is the owner of the largest organic orchard in the province, which grows a variety of fruit and produce perhaps the best cider. She feels hosting an event will help her business gain recognition, and increase sales. She does a lot of business at the local farmer’s market, but she naturally wants to expand. Believing in her product, she wants her brand to become a household name. She brainstorms different ideas and finally decides that a charity event would be great exposure for her company. She finds a charity in the city, that is relatable to her business, which helps the elderly by providing groceries and hot meals. She contacts the charity and meets with the local director, who is just as excited about Karen’s proposition. Both of them feels like this would be the best event to have since Karen can also donate some of her products to the charity, in addition to the money raised.
Here are 10 tips on hosting successful events:
• Types of Events: From a baby’s first steps, to a charity you support ora grand ballroom gala - an event is mostly a planned social occasion. Events can be small intimate family gatherings, or massive city-wide parades! The spectrum is vast!
• Brainstorming: The most important part of an event is planning and organizing. For an event to “come together smoothly” every aspect need to be thoughtfully planned. Firstly, you have to determine the purpose and theme of the event. Date and time when the event will be held is critical. Different ideas should be considered for event activities and decor. These are just a few items that need to go on your planning list, besides many more aspects for a successful event.
• Types of Entertainment: Entertainment is perhaps the most important aspect of every event. Entertainment is the enjoyment that comes from playing a game, watching a performer, etc. Basically, it is just something that makes people happy and keeps them engaged. There are many types of entertainment for events, like games, comedy, activities, speakers, and performers.
• Support Staff: You can’t have an event with only yourself and the entertainment. Support staff is just as critical as they will help make life easier when organized. You must learn the major types of support staff and how they function.
• Technical Staff:Equally important is your technical staff. These people will set up, test, and fix the technical applications, especially the public address system! They vary in their specialties. Get more than one technical staff just in case one falls sick on your big day!
• Vendors: A vendor is an outside company that works with your event. They provide food, equipment, or other services. Utilizing vendors is key to a successful and cost-effective event. From previous experience, these vendors can pitch their ideas for the event, along with estimates.
• Finalize the Plan:At some point your preliminary plans must be finalized: pick a venue, the entertainment, the décor, and the food. Figure out the registration process for the event; an online service like www.picatic.com can handle your entire registration process automatically for you.
• Administrative Tasks: The single greatest element for your event is self-confidence: it is not egotistic or acting like you are better than others. Self-confidence is simply the belief that you know what to do and how to do it; that you are good at what you do; that you can handle whatever comes your way. Demonstrating self-confidence helps to engender trust in you, and demonstrates that you are skilled and adaptable. This is where you create a budget, brand and market your event, and obtaining your permit(s), insurance(s), and contract(s).
• Get Organized: Everyone knows that before the big show actors are nervous wrecks, the same is true for event planners! A successful event planner is three things: organized, creative, and a problem solver. Organization will help you know what you have done, still have left to complete, and reduce the stress levels of everyone concerned – especially you!
• Post-Event Activities:In the hospitality business, customer satisfaction and feedback are key. These last few tasks are helpful to both you and your guests. Sharing that your event was fantastic doesn’t hurt either! A simple guest survey can provide helpful insights of how you can better your best!
Much success to organizing your next event!
NEXT WEEK: Marketing Basics.
DISCLAIMER: This article was written and presented by Fas Trac Inc. Neither the editor nor this newspaper is responsible for the content presented in this article. Fas Trac Inc. provides business consultancy for buying, streamlining, or selling a business; as well as conducting workshops on various subjects for business owners, management and employees. For more success please write fastracinc@shaw.ca.
