A successful event is never the product of chance, instead it requires a lot of thought, extensive research and thorough planning to ensure that it comes off as expected. With events planning renowned for being turbulent and stressful here’s a quick list of ‘6 Top Tips For Running A Successful Event’. Although this list is by no means exhaustive, it does encompass the six fundamentals of basic event planning and by giving careful consideration to these core principles your event will be well on its way to being a flying success.
So what are these 6 things that you need to consider to plan and run a successful event?
- Your why
Before you do anything else, sit down and carefully consider your why. Why are you putting on this event? What is your end goal? What will success look like to you? What will success look like for your prospective attendees?
It’s hard to plan a journey when you don’t know where you’re going, so stop and give careful consideration to the underlying motivation behind your event, this will give you an end goal and will allow you to plan how best to achieve it in order to make your vision a reality. Whilst taking the time to consider your why, now is also a good time to set out some SMART goals so that you can measure your progress. SMART goals should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. By examining the motivation behind your event and putting in place SMART goals you are able to better visualize your destination and how you are going to get there. - Your location
Location, location, location. Your venue is going to be the face of your event and although interior designers and decorators can work wonders, it’s important to have the basic structure in place to work from. Does your venue have the capacity you need? Does the venue contain the right facilities and in a sufficient quantity for your expected audience? How much of your budget will the venue take? Is the venue well managed and will they be easy to work with?
A well researched venue will make event planning much easier and so it’s worth putting in some ground work at this stage to find the right location. Where possible, create a shortlist of potential venues and always visit them in person in order to get a true feel for the space, atmosphere and personalities of the team. Whilst you are there, try to envision your event taking place, are there any parts that you are struggling to visualise? If you are struggling to visualize your event at a certain venue then it may suggest a fundamental flaw and you should perhaps consider looking elsewhere. - Your date
A poorly chosen date for your event can lead to a low turnout and a loss of earnings. Although you may already have the perfect date in mind take the time to do some research as to what else is going on around your location on the same day, also check for any high profile national and international sporting events and any other distractions that may take people’s priority. Whilst you’re considering the date of your event, also take a moment to research the best time to hold it, this will largely depend on your target audience but will once again be a key factor that could potentially affect your turnout.
- Your crew
You can have an excellent venue, an ideal date and the perfect time but a successful event largely relies on the people working behind the scenes and with the wrong crew in place you are at risk of leaving your guests dissatisfied. Thankfully, with Apps such as the Crew App, it is getting easier and easier to manage your crew and to ensure you have the right people, with the right skills in the right place at the right time. An event is only as good as the sum of its parts so invest in the right people and don’t forget to delegate the details so that you can free up your time for more important matters. - Your marketing
You may have planned the best event in the world but if you don’t market it successfully then no one will know about it. At its core, successful marketing is about getting your event in front of the right demographic of people, this can be achieved in a number of different ways depending on who those people are. Whatever the size of your event, it may be worth speaking to a marketing consultant or using a marketing agency to help you promote your event and ensure that it reaches your target audience. If using an external agency isn’t an option then sit down and consider the four P’s of marketing and make use of all the tools you have at your disposal to get the word out. - Your review
So how did it go? Gathering feedback and conducting a 360 review of your event is vital to ensuring that any glitches are ironed out and that you are constantly improving. Find a way to gather feedback from those that attended your event, this could be in the form of a comments and suggestions box, a simple online feedback form or through face to face contact, either way, the feedback of your attendees will help you to identify what went well and anything you could improve on for next time. Whilst you’re collecting feedback don’t forget to gather that of your event staff and crew. Taking the time to gather feedback from those who work for you can often provide a new perspective and can help to improve staff morale by showing that they’re being heard. Always gather feedback sooner rather than later whilst the event is fresh in people’s minds.
Running a successful event may not be an easy task but it will be extremely rewarding. With these top six tips you’re well on your way to making your next event a success, so good luck and remember, enjoy it!
