Event management is an incredibly rewarding profession and in my mind, bringing someone’s unique vision for their special occasion to life is an accomplishment that’s hard to beat.
The little details of our events at The Venue at The Royal Liver Building vary but the important thing we always remember is to approach every event from our client’s perspective. Your first job is to understand the event’s purpose, meaning, goals and objectives so you can deliver exactly what your client wants.
We’ve pulled together 10 Top Tips to ensure your events run smoothly.
- Plan ahead
An event can only be successful if you know exactly what it is you’re delivering ahead of time so sit down with your client and talk through every minor detail.
Planning ahead is the key to avoiding any disasters on the night and outlining objectives and expectations puts you and the client on the same page. The specifics are important so remember the ‘who, what, where, when and why’.
- Have a contingency plan
Even with all the forward planning in the world things can, and do, go wrong. Having a contingency plan helps with facing problems that arise on the night. Forward planning will cover your back and keep your clients happy.
- Think like a guest
It’s important to know how it feels to be a guest at your event in order to measure its success, so it cab be helpful to do a walk through as if you were a customer. By taking a step back, a good event planner will be able spot any problems naturally and make adjustments.
- Team work
It’s essential to have the support of a great team behind you. Have a team briefing before the event to assign responsibilities, delegate details and share the load.
Creating a masterplan for all staff ahead of time will help you and your team stay on track and remaining in contact with the team throughout the event is crucial. At larger venues consider walkie-talkies or earpieces to ensure the team is in contact at all times.
- Be tech-savvy
At almost every event you organise, there will be a digital element and it’s important to feel confident when working with technical equipment so if something goes wrong, you can identify the problem and find a solution as quickly as possible.
- Keep calm
Running an event requires balancing multiple roles and multi-tasking is a necessity. One moment you will be required to be the director, creative lead or project manager, the next you could be a critical thinker or networker. Whatever your role is, keeping a calm exterior is absolutely essential.
- Be adaptable
Every event organiser should be able to adapt to any situation as it unfolds before them. Where possible, the practicalities should have already been covered.
- Make your guests your priority
If an event is unique and memorable for all the right reasons, guests will naturally be impressed and may consider using the event organiser or venue in the future. Ensuring your guests have an enjoyable experience, whether it is a conference or wedding is your priority so go the extra mile.
- Keep yourself available
The number one thing to remember is to be readily available when needed. Be sure to keep an eye on your guests and let them know where you’ll be should they need you for anything.
- Learn from your mistakes
The last thing to remember is to learn from your mistakes. No matter how well you think your event went, it’s the customer’s opinion that matters.
Give your clients a few days before contacting them for post-event feedback. Once you have obtained this feedback, review the event with your own staff and implement some changes if necessary – or give yourselves a pat on the back.
