To keep your audience engaged and happy at your event, you'd need to create a top-notch experience. But to create this experience, every aspect of your event, from planning to execution, must be done right. This article covers the crucial topic of event management, and we show you how to employ this in your events.
Event management involves all efforts to plan, organize, and execute an event successfully. Good event management practices are a launching pad for successful events. Although the specifics of event plans for each event will vary, good event management must include:
Event management entails activities engaged in before and during the event. A good event manager should constantly communicate with his team to ensure that all aspects of the event progress smoothly.
To plan and execute a successful event, it is essential to understand some critical challenges faced in event management. Here are a few of the key challenges you might encounter as an event manager:
Budgeting is often the most challenging aspect of event management. For a successful event, your budget needs to cover all aspects of the event adequately. Make a rough estimate of crucial components of the event, such as venue rental, A/V equipment, catering, and speaker fees. Knowing these beforehand would help you create a realistic budget for your event expenses.
Having a well-staffed team to handle is also important for a successful event. Of course, estimating how many staff members you'll need for an event is not an easy task, primarily since this depends on the turnout. However, a good rule of thumb is to have at least enough staff members to cater for the event if 70% of the target audience showed up. If you're still unsure, you can always set aside a backup plan if you get more attendees.
Attracting sponsors is a common way of generating more income for events. But securing sponsorship comes with peculiar challenges. These include the problems of securing the right sponsors, negotiating a fair deal, and more. The method of obtaining sponsorship will vary on a case-by-case basis. However, a good idea is to have a comprehensive presentation of the returns that sponsors will get from sponsoring your event.
Having a low turnout for an event can be disappointing, and too-high attendance can be equally dangerous. Low turnout may affect sponsorship deals, while too-high turnouts can overwhelm staff members. To address this, establish a clear system to measure the possible attendance at your event.
Attendee engagement is crucial for creating a good experience for your audience. To keep your audience engaged, have multiple interactive activities planned so that they can feel like a part of the event. This is especially important if you have many virtual attendees.
Here's our step-by-step guide to effective event management:
It is crucial to have well-defined goals and objectives for a successful event. Work with other stakeholders to determine what is paramount and what targets to meet. Do you want to meet a specific ROI? Or is your plan to have a particular target number of attendees, say 1000? Understanding where you are going will help you and your team get there faster.
Budgeting is one of the most important aspects of event planning – it helps you and your team come up with realistic ideas. Your budget must include necessary expenses such as venue fees, food & drink, entertainment, decorations, staffing, speaker fees, logistics, marketing, and software. Have a budget for other miscellaneous items so that you'll not be caught unawares.
A good event needs an equally good team to handle all the details. When creating your team, first identify all the critical aspects of the event. You can then assign chairpersons or department leads to each subcommittee, such as:
Assigning individual roles ensures that your team members are all productively engaged rather than idling around. It also creates a system of accountability that helps boost productivity.
When planning your event, you'd need to identify which tech and software tools you would need to optimize the experience. Some would need to be implemented long before the date of the event, such as registration and ticketing tools or project management software. Others would debut at the event, such as live streaming and event gamification tools.
This is a crucial aspect of event management. Begin researching venues as early as possible. A good idea is to book venues well before the event. It allows you to negotiate favorable rates.
A good program plan is a key to giving attendees a delightful experience. It would be best if you had an idea of the program's structure as early as possible. Will there be a keynote speaker? Would the event be a single sequence, or will attendees have the option of choosing between different breakout sessions? Having this basic framework will help attendees know what to expect at the event.
Event branding sets a personality for your event. This helps create anticipation among the target audience regarding your event. Choose a brand that reflects your organization's values, and look for ways to weave it into the event. Typography, logos, themes, and colors are all avenues to showcase the event's branding.
To attract your target audience to your event, you'd need a good event promotion plan. The internet has made event promotion much easier, but the specific strategy depends on your audience. Would you need to place targeted ads on Instagram, or a social media campaign is your go-to? Your marketing plan should reflect your target audience.
Sponsors and speakers are essential components of the value package at your event, so you'd want them to be top-notch. After securing sponsors and speakers, ensure you remain in constant communication with them. You do not want surprises at your event!
After the event has come and gone, you'd need to measure its success for future improvement. Therefore, you'd need to have some Key Performance Indicators. These indicators could include: ROI generated, number of tickets sold, or social media engagement. A good tip for setting KPIs is matching them to your event objectives.
Although event management can be pretty challenging, it's always easier with professionals handling it. Having served tens of industry giants, Performedia has several tools ranging from event registration to extensive sponsor packages. With our bespoke services, your event becomes smoother, whether virtual or hybrid.
