Top 5 New Year’s Resolutions for Event Planners

There are many different things that professional event planners must do to plan and set up events so that they are executed well.  Your reputation is at stake, so it is all about dotting the “i’s” and crossing the “t’s”.  Among these things are marketing, setting up speakers/sponsorships, finding a space that can accommodate the event, catering, and much more.

With this long list of things to take care of, it can be easy to forget to plan for the unexpected. Here are a few tips that every event planner should do to account for the unexpected!

Capture Event Attendee Details Effectively

Gather contact information and billing addresses for attendees right away. It is important to store this information somewhere in order to tap for any possible future events that may be hosted with the same client, for cancellations, as well as for any issues that may occur throughout the event planning process. Event venue management software can be useful for storing and organizing this kind of information for the future.

Event Planning, Timing, Budget Consideration

Remember – the earlier the better! Events don’t get planned overnight, and there are often many departments, outside venues, as well as stakeholders or sponsors involved. It is important to start the process early so that things don’t get overlooked, a proper budget can be put into place, and alternate dates can be put into place if necessary. This is also a good practice to maintain because clients planning events often have a certain number of attendees that they would like to show up, and if people are given short notice, the client may not reach the numbers that they would like to at best or assessed additional fees by the venue for agreed to contract guarantees at worst.

Event Planning Contingency Planning Ideas

Plan for no shows! Make sure that you have a backup plan in case attendance is low and a room can’t be filled. Sometimes this means developing a hybrid event or even inviting more people the second time registrations are sent out. If you get this done early, you have time to figure out what next steps should be in case not many people sign up by a certain date. Consider implementing a discounted early bird rate to help attract people to register early. Having an event and registration software can help to keep these details organized and under control.

How To Choose The Right Event Venue

Schedule a walk through venue prior to the big event.  Double check equipment the night before or a couple hours before. It is important to make sure that any technology or other equipment being used has been tested and is working effectively. You want to make sure your client has the smoothest experience when planning an event with you, so it is important to have easy to use and reliable equipment.

Evaluate Your Event Staffing Needs

Be well staffed. Unplanned things are bound to happen so make sure that there are enough support staff for the event in case last minute errands need to be run or changes need to be made.

Being an event planner comes with many responsibilities that must be juggled, and at the end of the day it is all about making the clients happy and developing successful events! These resolutions are simple reminders that can help to make the process run much more smoothly.