Obviously most tasks are delegated but it is essential that the organiser know’s from experience those who can really come up with the goods.The key task for an organiser is to control the whole event. If you work
in a team in the end one person is to be responsible for carrying
the event.
Helpers and Committee members must know who the decision maker really is.
Thinking and Planning
It is so easy to launch into planning without giving yourself any thinking time. All our working lives are so pressurized and the working day resolves around its own deadlines and schedules leaving little time for thought BUT thoughtful planning through research really does save a great deal of time, not to mention grief later.
The Event and Planning
Think about your event and what you are really trying to achieve. Make sure you have a detailed brief from your client. Does your client know what he wants to achieve. If he or she doesn’t – however hard you work the event will never be effective with no specification to fulfill.
Remember that conferences, study days and seminars must facilitate and encourage two way communication. This is their very purpose – conferences are about conferring. Your task is to ensure that this is given the best possible chance.
Your Speaker
Encourage speakers to circulate notes before the event. This will provoke thought on the part of the delegation and encourage questions from the floor when requested. Bully speakers into providing synopsis and handouts. One of the biggest problems for the conference organiser is question and answer sessions. This is where your thorough research and planning can transfer an event.
Do you provide enough microphones for these sessions? Conference delegates are always reluctant to speak and intimidated by the situation – they need all the encouraging you can give them. If there are only one or two microphones on the floor the effort to speak is super-human and attempted by very few. By the time someone has passed a microphone to them the point is often lost and the room has moved on.
What are the budget priorities? Should you be spending money on providing a microphone for each delegate??
Planning and preparation does really pay off and makes so much difference to the end product. How important is attention to every detail?? The difference between mediocrity and a really successful memorable occasion.
We really can control our event and not just allow them to precariously hurtle on their course through time and space!!! This is the difference to your piece of mind in advance and on the day not to mention sleepless nights.
If you are involved with booking venues, on what basis do you select your venue. It could take the form of a conference center, hotel or a museum. How often do we consider campus conference facilities?
Often we select venue because we know the events coordinator and feel comfortable in the environment.
The Guests
When considering the venue think about the following:
Who are your guests or delegates??
What do you know about them?
Their senority in their companies?
Their background
Their religion?
Their sex split (you will not need male toilets if it is an all female event). I have changed male loos to female use – this is worth doing.
What are their expectations?
Do your guests expect certain seating?
Are any of your guests disabled?
What facilities does your chosen venue have for the disabled? By now they should be compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act and your meeting or event will be creating a barrier free customer experience.
Is access possible? You would be absolutely amazed how many hotels still have step access without ramps.
Overnight accommodation
If the venue is a hotel will there be enough bedrooms?
Have you negotiated the best possible room rates – as a banqueting client you can expect appreciable discounts on the rack rate.
If your venue is not a hotel, where can the guests stay that will be convenient and appropriate to their needs?
Menus and Wines
Is the menu suitable for the event???
Consider the number of courses and the time consideration.
Should the menu be written in English or French or any other language?
One comment worth noting people are more knowledgeable about food and wines than they were 8 years ago.
A small point through often a cause of grief – make sure that someone has accurately checked the spelling of the wines before you print the menu.
Partners/Guests
This is a difficult and much debated issues and there are no hard and fast rules,
If partners are invited with guests who do you seat them? Should they be next to each other? The table host may well wish his or her partner to sit on the opposite side of the table but ask yourself:
Do the guests know each other?
Are they all from the same industry/company/family?
If your guests do not know each other they may well feel more comfortable with their own partner by their side.
If it is an awards ceremony the winners may well want their partner to share in their success and therefore be near.
Make it your business to find out the status of each of your guests. It is advised that sending them a form to complete will save time and effort later. This form can also be used for any specialized information you may require and it also gives you the senority of the guests which helps when organising the seating plan.
The Breaks
This particularly applies to conference organisation. The best conferences are those where there are a number of tea and coffee breaks. The breaks should enhance the day and not just be rushed 10 minutes between session or cancelled because the conference is over-running. It is during the breaks that delegates loosen up and get to know each other.
On less formal Events
It is probably worth noting that events appear very informal need equal it not more organising to make them a success. The informal event like a working lunch or dinner can be most productive – 30 or 40 people sitting around a table can debate and discuss issues in depth giving everyone an opportunity to participate. The host needs to be well informed, able to take control of the debate to steer it and most essentially to keep one discussion. In my experience this is a good form of networking.
In conclusion may we leave you with a comforting thought.
When Prime Minister Macmillan was asked what he feared, his reply was Events….
Best wishes for a Successful Event. |
