A good event rewards customers, impresses potential clients and boosts your reputation. Properly planned and executed, it can be the perfect way to connect with all your most important contacts in a single hit. So it’s really important that you get things right, and the best way to do that is by creating and sticking to a comprehensive event management checklist.
Why make a checklist?
What makes a successful event? It’s a combination of several key things; get one wrong or fail to include something, and you could be doing yourself more harm than good. Successful event organisation and management is about getting all the details exactly right for the type of event you want to run.
Choosing the venue
There’s more to choosing a venue than where it is and whether it looks nice. Choose a venue that’s in line with the sort of event you want to run. Think about whether it needs to be accessible by rail or whether most people will be travelling by car. Go to the venue and check everything – try the food, test the bar service, check out the toilets, make sure there’s enough parking. For a memorable event, look outside the normal hotel style venue; perhaps a canal boat, a theatre space or hiring out a pub might be better? Also check whether your venue offers dedicated support in conferencing or event management – a coordinator can help to make your job much easier. For more on how we assist clients with venue research see our section on virtual event planning research.
Working with a venue coordinator
If you are allocated one or more conferencing and event management people by the venue, make sure you establish a good working relationship as quickly as possible. These are the people who can help with last minute hitches or changes; they are the people who can organise menus, drinks, additional chairs, presentation equipment, priority parking. They are the go to team for photography permissions, and anything else you might need to make your event run smoothly.
Keeping it slick
If you’re planning on making a presentation at your event, make sure you have all the right audio visual equipment, or that your venue supplies it. Check that everything is working properly and that you have leads and connections. There’s little more off-putting than waiting for ages whilst the host tries to get the laptop to work.
Advance registration
Today’s event guests expect to be able to register and book everything online. Not only does this make things easier for your customers, suppliers and guests; it also makes things easier for you, and the whole process is more reliable. There are many ways of offering online registration, both for free and paid for events, and you can tailor the process so that it fits your requirements exactly. Before your event, simply print off a list of delegates so you can create registration lists and name badges, goody bags or additional information as you need it. No modern B2B event management team would work any other way!
On the day
Whilst the preparations running up to your event are important, it’s just as vital that you have everything you need for the day itself. Organise everything you need to bring with you, check that speakers or entertainers know where they are going and when they are expected. Get to the venue early and do a run through with your coordinator so that you are confident everything is organised. Have people ready to handle the registration and welcome area so that you are free to talk to guests, and, if necessary, have forms or online links available for feedback at the end.
We hope you found our blog useful and that it helps to make your event go off without a hitch. If you’d like some professional help with your event management checklist or would like to know more about our event planning virtual assistants feel free to call us on 0800 994 9016 or or click here to request a free consultation.