Whether you're organizing a city game, a large outdoor event, or Grandma's 80th birthday, the path to success is full of pitfalls. Here are 7 tips for event organizers from us. We believe they'll help you organize better events!
1. "Plans are nothing. Planning is everything," said Dwight Eisenhower, President of the United States. It doesn't matter how many plans you have— something can always go wrong . The important thing is to be flexible in responding to situations. In other words, build into your plan the expectation that you will have to change it. Sticking to a plan at all costs can lead to disaster. In a crisis, choose your priorities and focus on achieving them!
2. Don't be afraid to trust people . Every event is the work of a few, even hundreds of people. It's impossible to control everything. Accept that. You won't be divided, so... work together with others.
3. Distribute tasks. Consider who on your team has the skills to easily perform a given task and tailor their role accordingly. Identify key tasks – assign them to the people you trust most. Don't forget about the "newbies." If they're constantly given tasks with little responsibility, they'll become bored and less effective. Let them work under the supervision of someone experienced until they earn your trust.
BONUS: You might find it helpful to use an app like Todosit or Trello to help you organize your tasks . But we'll write a separate article about that someday.
4. Team communication. And we're not just talking about the pre-event meeting (explaining what's going to happen and ensuring everyone understands their role). Communication during the event itself is crucial. Instead of using cell phones, a walkie-talkie with a headset works perfectly for us. This keeps every team member up to date on all planned and unplanned situations. Your team will be able to resolve some issues themselves!
5. Be assertive. This advice applies to both event preparation and client discussions. If you see that a client requires an element you have doubts about (organizational, substantive, event-specific, or any other), mention it. Maybe we can find an optimal solution. Remember – you're the one with the experience in event planning. If you blindly accept everything, the client will be very happy during the negotiations, but during the implementation, something might fall through. And you predicted this!
6. If something doesn't go according to plan, don't panic . Remember the first point about planning? As a follow-up, based on years of experience, we'll emphasize that you are the organizer and know exactly how the event should unfold. And only you. If changes are necessary along the way, make them. Just remember: if you don't panic, attendees might not even notice that something deviates from the initial plan. Nervous conversations won't reflect well on your professional image; they'll only draw attendees' attention to unexpected elements of the event.
7. Collect feedback . Ideally, twice. We try to do this after every event we organize. The first time, we ask for feedback on our implementation "fresh." Sometimes this is direct – we summarize the whole thing with the client's coordinator; other times, it's indirect – we listen to participants' comments and pick up on things like "that was great," "that was difficult," "and this surprised me the most." This is very valuable information! The second time, we contact them after some time, when the event has been resolved and the emotions surrounding it have subsided. Then we can expect rational comments and feedback.
Finally, we hope that your first, emotional comments will be as positive as your second, well-thought-out, balanced ones. We believe that with our advice, you can achieve this!
If you have any best practices you'd like to share or would like to discuss any of these points, please let us know ! We welcome your feedback and comments. We hope you enjoyed our 7 tips for event organizers! In the meantime, see you at the events!
