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Event Management Needs to Please Strategic Plan
By Lisa Brusio Coster, The Business Monthly
July 7, 2009
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It's true - the devil is in the details.
A planned event is a tactic that comes to fruition as a result of an organization's strategic plan. As such, the concept of an event should be in concordance with a company's mission and should meet a certain goal. Regardless of whether it is the hosting of a fundraiser, the teaching of a seminar, the planning of a conference or the holding of a fair, the event should ultimately please the fundraising committee, the management team and/or the stockholders.
The actual managing of such an event, though, is not about the big picture. To be successful, the management is about the minutia, the logistics and the labor that will produce a moneymaker, "friend-raiser," educational experience or membership increase.
Spend Wisely
Events cost money; there is no way around it. A budget is required and it will obviously dictate the level at which an organization can entertain, educate or confer. The professional event manager, in-house or subcontracted, adds to the bottom line of the expenses, but is an imperative line item.
When money is tight, an organization has to be creative in other areas. For instance, the event may not require a professional decorator, but it is not wise to cut costs where the caterer is concerned - everyone remembers the menu and libations. Obtain professional services in as many areas as the organization can afford, and secure all the details with signed contracts and clear payment terms.
Those Devilish Details
Leave nothing to chance at the venue. It sounds impossible, but the on-site success of an event depends upon the manager's attention to details. For example, the event planner needs to work with a property manager (if one exists) to become familiar with the venue's layout and its amenities.
In addition, the planner should research generator capabilities, locate all electrical outlets and control panels and inspect all loaned or rented equipment and/or furniture. Guests will notice if the inflatable bounce room suddenly loses air, the video screen is tattered or the credit card machine is inoperable. Glitches may still occur, but an experienced manager should be able to recover quickly from those missteps.
Entertain Wisely
It's important to pick the proper audience for the event. When the goal of the tactic (the event) is well defined, the audience should be as well. Expensive mailings to contacts that have no business or personal interest in the company or organization are a waste of time and resources.
Choosing a secondary audience that could be interested in attending may be better solicited by a personal invitation from a board member or an electronic invitation. If using an outside vendor to develop the invitation list, review the list before the company pays for all the contacts the vendor has queried.
Confirm Ability
Finally, take time to train the volunteers or lower level employees who offer their energy and talents to work the event. Volunteers and/or inexperienced staff are wonderful because they are desperately needed warm bodies, but they are usually not event experts. When a planner assumes that these new assistants possess certain expertise and does not verify it, a video presentation can fail, an emcee can fall flat and a greeter may not recognize those all-important celebrities and politicians in attendance.
It is a well known fact that, as Robert Burns wrote, "The best-laid plans of mice and men go oft awry." Factors that can interfere with the most well-planned function include weather, traffic or tragedy. Yet, the professional event manager will have tireless energy to reduce the risks and stay calm, cool and collected when putting out occasional fires. It is all about pleasing the benefactors and obtaining the goal.
Lisa Brusio Coster is president of Coster Communications Ltd., a public relations firm based in Marriottsville. She creates awareness for her clients through strategic planning, writing, media relations and event management. Follow her on Twitter @lbcoster, find her at www.independentpr.com/profile/coster, write her at lbcoster@costercommunications.com or call her at 410-442-3734.
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