This program covers

 Event Conceptualization & Planning

 Event Documentation
 Event Leadership Development
 Event Staging & Production
 Event Public Relations & Protocol
 Multimedia for event Management
 Project Management
 Event Risk Management
 Legal Issues for Event Professionals
 Event Marketing & Promotion
 Principle of event management
 Event Risk Management and Legal Compliance
 Event Organization
 Event Resources Management
 Event Management Process

Event Management with 5W1H

These questions, who, what, when, where, why, and how, can also be used
to check that a project has covered the necessary bases.

 Who is assigned to do required tasks?

 What, specifically, are they required to do?
 When are they required to have the tasks completed?
 Where should the tasks be completed? Where are the boundaries?
 Why is this task required? While this knowledge is not essential to
completing a task, it helps individuals make decisions when the
project does not proceed according to plan.
 How should the task be completed? This clarifies the standard that is
required.
Event Management Essential Tasks;

Understanding that event management is a major UK industry, and

knowing what types of events could be included is vital for any would-
be event planner. However, it’s also essential to realise what’s
involved when it comes to designing and producing an event.
Whether you’re organising a friend’s wedding or a multi-national
conference, essential tasks will include:

Understanding objectives – what is the purpose of the event? What

experience do we want people to have? Planning an event is
impossible without clear objectives.
Establishing timelines – determining what has to happen and when.
Any large event involves complex time management, scheduling and
coordination of other people’s activity – such as catering, digital and
technological set up and venue preparation.
Selecting a venue – selecting a venue may seem simple but the
importance of finding the right venue should not be underestimated.
This involves research, contract and cost negotiation and building
working relationships.
Sourcing and managing suppliers – every event involves a range
of suppliers. From caterers to lighting, diverse suppliers need
contacting, short-listing, negotiating costs with and finalising
contracts. From there, efficient management of all suppliers, ensuring
they fulfil their roles on time and within budget, is essential to the
success of the event.
Managing budgets – probably second only to having clear objectives
comes effective budget management. Delivering a great event is easy
with unlimited funds, but great management is required to produce an
event within a constrained budget.
Marketing and communication – it’s never a case of if you build it
they will come: delivering an audience requires marketing the promise
of what the event will deliver! Today this involves various channels
across direct mail, social media and digital marketing.
Managing risk – events are complex, as having many elements
contributing to an event means multiple possible points of failure.
Understanding what the risks are, the likelihood of each one arising,
strategies to minimise risk and developing a robust contingency plan
in the event of problems is a non-negotiable task in event
management.
Thinking sustainably – making decisions in the event planning
process that consider the social and environmental impact.
How to Plan an Event: A Simple 8-Step
Guide
Here are the 8 steps to follow to plan an event
1. Figure out your goals and timeline for the event

Planning an event is a massive undertaking. Before you get too far into it,
think about why you want to host it. Are you looking to grow your customer
base? Drive sales revenue? Educate customers? Recruit new employees?

You may even realize that an event isn’t the strongest choice for your goal.
After all, only 49% of businesses employ event marketing as a channel in
their multichannel marketing campaign.*

If you are ready to move forward with an event, though, expand your goal to
specify your target attendees. For example, an event with an engagement
goal would target leads at the top of the funnel.

These determinations will dictate a lot of your decisions later on.

Now is also a good time to set the timeline for your event. This will help you
figure out how much time you have for each of the following steps.

You don’t want to pick a date where there are a lot of other conferences in
your target industry for a few reasons:

 Increased rental prices

 Decreased turnout
 Harder to stand out

Do some digging to find out when the majority of events in your industry are
happening, and pick a date outside of that realm.

You should also make sure you set the date far enough out to get
everything done without burning out.

2. Establish your budget

It’s the least glamorous part of the whole shebang, but you’ve got to figure
out how you’re paying for all the fun stuff (food, speakers, swag, confetti
canons). Events can, after all, get pretty pricey.

Bizzabo reports that, for companies that hosted events, 21% of their
marketing budgets were dedicated to those events. It’s important to
properly allocate your resources.

Here are a few things you should consider when planning out your event
budget:

 Logistics of the event (size, length, venue, staff, shipping)

 Software needs (from niche tools for digital signage to the
necessary event management software)
 Experience necessities (catering, A/V equipment, decorations)
 Amenities (e.g., wellness offerings, dog adoptions, swag bags, etc.)
 Additional expenditures (you always want some wiggle room)

Once you’ve figured out exactly how much everything is going to cost,
you’re ready to make a business case for where all that money is going.

3. Find your venue

If you’re throwing a larger event, you’ll have to select the city you’re
planning on hosting in. If you’re throwing a smaller, local event, that’s less
of a concern. Regardless, plan an event that’s easily accessible to the
majority of your consumers, leads, and target audience.

Once the general location is set, it’s time to pick the specific venue.

Build a shortlist of locations you want to explore based on popular event

venues in the area, referrals from other businesses, and local trade
publications. Vet the venue and/or their holding company as much as you
can on your own, and then schedule tours of the venues that survive on
your list.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself and the vendors you meet with
during these tours:

 How many rooms (large and small) will you need?

 How close is it to the airport?
 How close is it to multiple hotels?
  Does the venue already have a deal with a catering company?
 What A/V equipment is included in the rental?
 What is their security policy?
 What amenities do they offer?

4. Select your tech

There’s a lot of software out there. Some of it will be helpful for your event,
and some of it might help with future events.

At the most basic level, read Capterra’s event management software

buyers guide and figure out which tool is right for you.

Event management software can help you with registration, promotion,

organization, and—most importantly at this stage—planning.

You should also consider the following tools:

1. For tickets, promotion, and payments: Event booking software

2. For signs at the actual event: Digital signage software
3. For livestreaming the conference: Web conferencing software
4. For marketing and promotion: Email marketing and Social media
management software
5. For attendee experience: Mobile event apps
6. For the event itself: Conference software

If you’re investing in multiple tools, make sure they all integrate with each
other before spending your money. This will ensure a seamless user
experience, and that nothing falls through the cracks.

You’ll also want to make sure that your attendees have a similarly smooth
experience when registering. Make it as easy as possible for your audience
to find their way to clicking that purchase button.

One way to do this is to make sure your various marketing software tools
(marketing automation, email marketing, and social media marketing, to
name a few) can integrate with your registration software.

5. Find your partners and vendors

Depending on the venue you choose, they might offer specials or have their
own in-house caterers and A/V offerings. If you can’t bring in outside
vendors, you should check to see if they offer any particular deals you can
take advantage of (for example, they might offer deals for nonprofits or
discounts if you meet a certain attendee threshold).

If you’re allowed to bring in third-party/outside vendors, shop around to

make sure you’re getting the best deal.

Beyond food, sights, and sounds, you should look into the following:

 Transportation (to and from the venue for those staying in hotels)
 Wellness offerings (including fitness classes, dog adoption, crafts
classes, etc.)
 Temping agency (to make sure your event is fully staffed)
 Security (to make sure your event is fully safe)
 Entertainment (because events shouldn’t just be about business)

You also want to be on the lookout for any potential partners that could help
fund and organize this event. By combining resources, you cut costs for
yourself in terms of money and resources, while also potentially boosting
attendance by hitting untapped markets your partner has access to.

For the same reasons we talked about with venue selection, though, it’s
important to properly vet your partners and vendor.

6. Figure out your main attraction

What is it that’s going to get people to attend your event?

Maybe it’s the subject matter, maybe it’s the speakers. It depends on the
event, and more than that, it depends on your attendees.
Think about your audience. What’s going to get them excited? What’s going
to motivate them?
If, for example, you’re throwing an awards banquet for your company, the
food might be one part of the evening, but the awards are what everyone
will be focusing on. If you’re organizing a corporate event, think about the
market you’re tapping into and their pain points. What do they need to
know? Find speakers who can speak to that.

Try to focus on attractions with a wide appeal. If your attraction is a

person/group of people, find someone with a large and passionate following
who will now be more likely to attend your event.
7. Build out your marketing campaign

You want to get folks in those seats? This is the step that does that.

You need to develop a singular vision for your event theme and build your
marketing campaign around that. Your theme should be tied to the goals
you set out at the beginning, and the audience you’re after.

From there, you’ll need to engage as many channels as your marketing

team has at their disposal. Beyond email marketing, content marketing, ad
buys, and social media marketing, you should reach out to those who have
RSVPed early to see if they will promote the event on social media.

Make sure that all of your marketing is designed (both graphically and in
terms of copy) around that core theme. Offer referral rates to attendees who
bring in more audience members (for example, if someone convinces
another person to attend, provide a free upgrade to their ticket).

8. Develop a plan to build on your new relationships with attendees

The event hasn’t even happened yet, but you should already think beyond it
as part of the planning process.

You need to have a plan in place to grow the relationships the event
generates.

At the event, lay the groundwork for a future relationship by offering lots of
free swag with your company’s information on it (e.g., pens, magnets,
binders, totes, etc.).

This way, after the event, people will still have your company at the
forefront of their minds every time they go to open the fridge or bag their
groceries.

After the event, send out surveys to attendees so you can both gauge
success and gain specific insights (e.g., what demographic had the
best/worst experience or the largest/smallest presence at the event).