Tips to Organizing A Great Event!

In our modern society, organizing events have become an essential. It could be company parties, charity cause events, employees’ retreats, trade shows, training workshops, conferences, seminars, product or service launches.  An event is where you have the opportunity to share a worthy cause; or bring improvement, recognition and branding to your organization or company. No wonder that organizing a successful event entails meticulous planning and can be very stressful and tiring, regardless if the event is small or large scale. Read on here for fantastic simple event organizing tips that will give a a head start on any event planning, including corporate, charity  and  private events.

Want some great general event organizing tips?

To ensure a successful event, you will have to be clear of your goals and ask yourself some of these questions as part of your planning:

• Why are you hosting the event? What is the purpose?
  • Charity – golf events, tea fund raising, etc
  • Staff events – annual parties, employee appreciations/retreats
  • Training/Workshop – Staff improvement
  • Conference/Seminars – team building, sharing ideas, company talks, regional meetings, etc
  • Roadshows/Tradeshows – exhibitions to brand and share latest products or services to public.
• When and where will the event be held?
• What are the arrangements that must be included?
• How much is your budget?
• Who are your guests?
• How many will you be inviting?

13 Essential Organizing Tips For A Successful Event

Each event’s agenda will differ slightly, but basically, here are some general steps that will ensure your event is well organized:

Organizing Committee

It is important to have an organizing committee who have the necessary skills and knowledge to fulfill their specific tasks for the event. The chairperson or head committee is vital. He or she normally has the final say and also solves any conflicts or indecisions throughout the whole event.

Arrange for volunteers to assist with mail-outs, sponsorships, set ups, tasks on the actual date – registration, payments, compere, emcee etc. Provide instructions and training to chosen volunteers and make sure they understand what is expected of them prior to and on the actual day of event.

If you are unable to organize a committee for this purpose and can afford the budget, you may be better off to hire a professional event organizer.

Running Sheet

The running sheet consists of every aspect of the event day.

Prior to guests arrival tasks such as PA system check, set up of registration and door gifts, arrangement of stage, etc, Everyone involved on the day should be given a copy of the running sheet. A short briefing on the actual day with everyone involved is a good idea to ensure the line of tasks are carried out smoothly.

Budget

It is important you have an estimate cost of the event, and work within the budget to see how viable the event and which areas can be trimmed to fit the budget. Remember to allocate staff/labour time as part of your budget if staff time is not given as in-house.

Date and Time

During heavy season such as Christmas, New Year and Year End, allow enough time to carry out all planned tasks and arrangements to ensure everything is ready by date of event. Ensure you pick a date and time that is suitable for your event. It is always great to choose your date well ahead of time, and announce your event publicly to avoid date clashes with similar events organized by others.

You may like to develop an online presence or webpage to announce the event, and include invitations, program and registration. This can be done internally or you may hire a professional to assist you with this.

Printing

Print your invitations and programs as soon as everything is confirmed. Give enough time to proof read these so that you can make necessary changes where needed. Get quotes for your printing whilst you are designing them so that you will have a better idea to fit cost as per budget.

Invitation

Decide how many guests and attendees you would like to invite. You may send the invitations by email, postal mail or phone. If the event needs a personal touch, it is always preferably to deliver the invitation individually. Your invitation must have these details:

• Name of invite
• Event Name and Purpose
• Date and Time
• Venue and Address
• RSVP contact

Develop a mailing list. Include media, and guest speakers. Update your database when you receive RSVP or returned mails. This database may be kept for future use.

Remember to mail or hand out the formal invitations to VIPS and guest speakers at the earliest date possible. Late send out of invitations for any events reflect badly on your organizing professionalism and your invitations may be declined.

RSVPs

Entrust a person or a team who has the most available time prior to the event to handle and update all RSVPs. This person must be conversant with all details of the event so that they may answer questions relating to the event.

Selecting and Booking Venue

Once you have confirmed a date, you will need to book the appropriate venue. Research the best venues for the purpose of your event. Your choice of venue will depend upon:

• Pricing
• Ambience
• Crowd accommodation
• Seating arrangement
• Decorations
• Facilities provided – PA system, lightings, stage, backdrop, etc
• Video and audio recording set up
• Ease of transportation and parking

The earlier you confirm a date, the more choices of venue you will have, and less last minute booking hazards and stress.

Catering Service

Get a quote for the event. Most venues provide catering as well.

Ensure the menu is appropriate for the type of event hosted – formal or casual occasions (simple lunch/dinner boxes, buffet, cocktail receptions, or plated meals), time of event (breakfast, lunch, dinner or light meal), and consist of menu choices to cater to guests’ dietary preferences based on age, health, religion, etc.

Stationary Amenities

In all events, you will need to arrange some form of stationeries. E.g. for seminars, conferences and workshops, you will need white board, dusters, markers, pens, pencils, and writing papers or notepads. Most hotel venues provide these when requested.

Gifts

Depending on your corporate event, you may need to provide appreciation gifts to your guest speakers or VIPs, especially f your guest speakers are not paid. You may also need to provide door gifts or table gifts guests and the media.

Gifting is great way to brand your company and draw recognition to your company or cause of event.  Use bags imprinted with company logo and fill them up with stationeries needed for the event whilst including some premium gifts, which all can be fun and incorporated with logos to further brand your company. Remember to include these in your budget if you have to buy them.

Sponsorships

In events where you need to look for sponsorships for gifts, luck draw prizes, etc, ensure you have a written letter to state your purpose and why you need the sponsorship. Assign someone to personally meet up with sponsors and make the necessary arrangement to collect sponsored items.

Accommodation

You may also need to provide or arrange for accommodation for outstation guests. Ensure you book in advance for these guests either in the hosted venue or nearby accommodations.

That’s it. You are now ready to organize a successful event systematically. Good luck!