Organising an “event” effectively is perhaps one of the most challenging and yet satisfying responsibilities faced by professional business communicators.
 So suggests Neil Jones, who runs his own communications company, Cairnstone Limited, in North-east Scotland. Neil has 30 years experience in the business and has run events as diverse as press conferences, awards dinners and exhibitions to safe-driving events and complex outdoor, multi-sport team building competitions.
A longer feature by Neil on successful event management will appear in the July issue of communicator magazine for CiB members.
His 10 top tips:
- Have a clear purpose for running the event. The critical perspective is that of the audience or delegates. What these people seek from the event – and how successful the event is at providing it – should be our main concern.
- An event needs to have a memorable attraction that will draw people to attend in the first place. That memorability might rely on the venue, or the presentation itself, or the material, or on some other unique aspect.
- Good events don’t just happen – they’re planned. And event management is a bit like parachuting – the closer you get to the ground the faster it comes at you! So give yourself PLENTY of planning time to pull everything together.
- One of the key planning issues is safety. Don’t assume that the venue(s) and/or hotels you will be using will be perfect. Remember, if someone is injured at ‘your’ event, whilst the venue may technically have the legal liability, it will be you and/or your organisation that the delegates will remember.
- Choosing an appropriate date. These may be fixed beyond your control but if you do have a choice it will help obtain the best attendance/response from your target audience. Check whether your event will clash with other events vying for your audience’s attention.
- Good venues will invariably be booked well in advance and if you have a particular venue in mind then your date/time may be restricted. There are a huge number of factors influencing your choice of venue other than availability. Some of the key ones are suitability, facilities, access, car/coach parking, distance from airports/motorways/rail station, catering, cost and the type of positive working relationship you can create with the venue management. On the catering from, what you ask for is not necessarily what you get! In selecting a venue make sure you check out the catering in advance. Ask for – and follow up – references.
- Programme content will very much depend on the type of event. But some basic rules apply. The event content should be sufficient for the time available so that the pace of the event is neither too rushed nor too slow. And it should have a ‘finale’ – events are arguably another form of theatre and thinking of your event as a theatrical performance will help you to develop interest and excitement.
- Many events require speakers, either from within your own organisation or from outside. The same questions need to be asked in both cases. Will they be interesting speakers capable of captivating the audience? FIND OUT before you book them! Remember, this is YOUR event, so you can be firm with your speakers. Don’t be frightened to set the agenda, even with your company chairman. They employ you because YOU are the expert at running events – tell him or her so if necessary!
- Communicating with the delegates before, during and after the event is one of your most important tasks. But, as most of you are professional communicators, I shall leave this aspect, dear reader, to your professional expertise and common sense!
- It is essential that you look at the event through the eyes of the audience member, delegate or participant. The best way of doing this is the ‘walk through’. The walk-through is a critical part of event management. Then revisit the plans and think about what can go wrong – and put in place, as far as you can, more plans for dealing with those contingencies. You may even want to create a separate emergency response plan – indeed, for major events this is essential.
|
