Over our 23 years in the professional event production industry, we’ve identified several key elements that often prevent our clients’ events from achieving outstanding success. Rather than being disheartened by these challenges, we’ve chosen to initiate a dialogue and educate our clients.
Our goal is to help you excel in your event planning endeavors. By addressing and overcoming these obstacles, we aim to simplify your planning process, enhance your events, and significantly improve your return on investment. We’re committed to ensuring the best possible outcomes for you and your events!
1. Procrastination in Planning
Procrastinating on event planning is a gamble that often results in hasty decisions, inflated costs, and subpar execution. Late planning isn’t just unprofessional; it significantly raises the risk of mistakes.
Establishing a detailed schedule well in advance is crucial for success. To ensure a consistent and evolving impact for your company and attendees, we recommend developing a three-year event strategy. Here are our suggested lead times for various types of events:
- Large-scale events (like conferences and trade shows): 9-18 months in advance.
- Medium-scale events (such as company retreats and client dinners): 4-6 months ahead.
- Small-scale events (including team-building activities and smaller client dinners): 1-3 months prior.
- Virtual events: Plan 2-4 months in advance.
- Hybrid events: Allow 4-6 months for planning.
This proactive approach allows for a strategic and thoughtful development of your events, ensuring a high standard of quality and effectiveness.
2. RFP and Event Planner Selection
When seeking an event planner, providing a detailed and comprehensive Request for Proposal (RFP) is crucial. This document should clearly outline your specific needs and include a defined budget range. Relying on event planners to ascertain the scope of work without this essential information can result in miscommunication and subpar planning outcomes. It’s important not to expect your event producer to draft this document for you. Creating an RFP requires significant time and expertise. While we can assist in developing an RFP if you don’t have one, please note that we do charge for this service.
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Effective event planning is built on the pillars of clear leadership, efficient communication, budget awareness, timely initiation of plans, and strict adherence to deadlines. Steering clear of these common pitfalls is key to ensuring that your event not only meets its goals but also provides a memorable and gratifying experience for everyone involved.
3. Event Goals
Many clients, when asked about the purpose of their event, struggle to provide specific reasons. Responses like “because we do it every year” or “I don’t know, I was just told to organize it” indicate a lack of clarity about the event’s objectives. Without a clear understanding of the “why” behind your event, you’re venturing into risky territory, likely leading to disappointment with the final outcome.
In our approach, we conduct a strategy session with every client to pinpoint the exact reasons for holding their event and to define specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Return on Investment (ROI) goals. Establishing these metrics allows us to measure success at the event’s conclusion and assess the effectiveness of the investment. This strategic planning enables us to tailor the event’s elements to not only engage attendees but also to keep the desired outcomes in focus.
4. Planning by Committee
The concept of organizing a committee for event planning might initially appear beneficial, until you find yourself in a meeting that extends for hours, bogged down by a myriad of opinions and ideas that hinder a focused, agenda-driven discussion.
A major drawback of not having a direct decision-maker in such committees is the ensuing lack of definitive direction. This often results in a prolonged decision-making process, where no one is empowered to make final decisions. Consequently, this can lead to an event that falls short of its objectives, fails to satisfy stakeholders, and incurs additional costs, thereby diminishing the Return on Investment (ROI) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) set for evaluation.
It’s essential to appoint a designated leader who can make executive decisions. This individual should ideally serve as the primary liaison with third-party event producers, ensuring streamlined communication and facilitating the best possible event experience.
5. The Budget
Maintaining strict oversight of the budget is crucial to prevent escalating costs. It’s essential to meticulously track expenses and ensure they are in line with the financial objectives of the event. Overspending in certain areas can necessitate budget cuts in others, potentially compromising the overall quality of the event. We manage our clients’ total budget and create change orders for any requests that exceed the original agreement. These are presented to the client for approval, ensuring clarity and avoiding confusion post-event.
Additionally, it’s common for clients to have grand visions that may not align with their actual budget. Clients often desire high-end, luxurious experiences but are restricted by more modest budgets. A skilled planner plays a key role in shaping the budget to meet the desired outcomes, ensuring the event experience is not only enjoyable but also meets expectations and achieves the intended success.
6. Communication
Effective management of communication tools like email and Slack is vital in event planning. Delays in responding to messages can hinder the planning process and create frustration. Moreover, a disorganized approach to email communication, coupled with unclear boundaries regarding the type of information shared, can result in overlooked details and a lack of accountability.
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Establishing efficient and structured email communication practices is crucial for a seamless planning experience. It’s important to set clear guidelines for communication, including the expected response times and the content of messages. For example, consider discouraging emails that contain only acknowledgments like “Thanks,” and encourage everyone to thoroughly read entire email threads to avoid repeating questions or answers that have already been discussed. This approach will help maintain focus and efficiency in communication.
7. Last-minute Changes
Permitting last-minute slide changes by speakers can lead to unnecessary stress and disorganization. Establishing and enforcing a deadline for slide submission, ideally one week before the event, is crucial. This timeline ensures both the production team and speakers are adequately prepared, contributing to a smooth event flow. It also allows the audiovisual team to finalize technical preparations during the rehearsal, ensuring they work with the correct presentation version when the event begins.
Additionally, requests for specific or extra equipment, such as teleprompters, confidence monitors, microphones, computer dongles, and even certain decor items like stools, lecterns, or tables, should be communicated at least two weeks prior to the event. This advance notice is essential for making the necessary rental arrangements and ensuring all technical and aesthetic needs are seamlessly met.
Deadline for Speaker Slides and Tech
Permitting last-minute slide changes by speakers can lead to unnecessary stress and disorganization. Establishing and enforcing a deadline for slide submission, ideally one week before the event, is crucial. This timeline ensures both the production team and speakers are adequately prepared, contributing to a smooth event flow. It also allows the audiovisual team to finalize technical preparations during the rehearsal, ensuring they work with the correct presentation version when the event begins.
Additionally, requests for specific or extra equipment, such as teleprompters, confidence monitors, microphones, computer dongles, and even certain decor items like stools, lecterns, or tables, should be communicated at least two weeks prior to the event. This advance notice is essential for making the necessary rental arrangements and ensuring all technical and aesthetic needs are seamlessly met.
8. Plan B/Contingency Plans
I recently attended a high-profile event at a large resort hotel, initially planned for an outdoor setting. On the event morning, concerns about the cool evening temperatures for the over 1,000 attendees prompted a last-minute shift to an indoor ballroom.
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Unfortunately, this move was poorly executed due to a lack of a backup plan. It was evident that the event planner hadn’t considered the possibility of inclement weather, nor had they prepared an alternative indoor layout. The result was a forced fit that significantly detracted from the guest experience, likely falling short of the corporate sponsor’s expectations.
While preparing for such contingencies might have incurred additional costs, in this scenario, investing in a well-thought-out backup plan would have been invaluable.
Successful corporate event planning is a complex, yet rewarding endeavor that requires meticulous attention to detail, strategic foresight, and effective communication. By avoiding common pitfalls such as last-minute planning, unclear goals, mismanaged budgets, and ineffective communication, you can significantly enhance the quality and impact of your events. Remember that the key to a successful event lies in thorough preparation, clear objectives, and the ability to adapt to unforeseen circumstances with grace and professionalism. Implementing these best practices will not only elevate the attendee experience but also ensure a robust return on investment and achievement of desired outcomes. As you embark on your next corporate event planning journey, keep these insights in mind to create memorable, impactful, and seamlessly executed events that resonate with your audience and strengthen your brand.
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Natasha Miller is the founder/CEO of Entire Productions Inc., and experiential event and entertainment production company with offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York City.
She is a 3x Inc. 5000 entrepreneur (fastest growing companies in the USA), and award-winning, Wall Street Journal bestselling author of her memoir, Relentless. entireproductions.com
