Event Planners are in demand.
They make the life of the associations and corporations easy.
Event Planners are not an
expense. A failed event is.
For those wanting to jump the
event management industry as event planners, here are some guidelines that you
can use to deliver a successful event to your clients.
1. OKR – Objectives and Key Results
1. OKR – Objectives and Key Results
John Doerr in his book
Measure What Matters popularized OKR. A tool used by Google, Intel and Bono of
U2.
It is simple yet powerful.
If you are an event planner
make sure you know the objectives and key results of the clients.
In the objectives, make sure
you know the primary and secondary objectives. This will help you achieve the
minimum and maximum expectations of the clients.
Key Results is the numerical
expression of the objectives. It will tell you if you have achieved the
objectives.
It follows Peter Drucker’s
dictum, “What cannot be measured, cannot
be achieved.”
Example:
Objective: Establish Event Y
as the leading event of the industry.
Key Result 1: Achieve 15,000
visitors in three days,
Key Result 2: Achieve 200
exhibitors and sponsors,
Key Result 3: Get 20 Media
Partners
As you can observe, the
client wanted to attract 15,000 visitors in three days. This is the first key
result that the client wanted to achieve. This becomes the primary objective.
2. Assemble a Winning Team
2. Assemble a Winning Team
As an event planner, you must
assemble a winning team. A person that will become part of the team must be
placed according to their core competence.
One big factor when you are
deciding who becomes part of your team is their attitude. Are they self-starters and need less supervision? Can they think on their feet alone?
In other words, are they
leaders?
Forming a team of leaders is
the key to creating a winning events team.
3. Create
a Timeline
A timeline you created as an
event planner and approved by the client sets the motion of accomplishment.
In the timeline, important
schedules and accomplishments are highlighted. The point persons are shown.
A clear and simple timeline
allows faster implementation of tasks.
4. Create
a Differentiated Event
As an event planner, you are
tasked to help the clients and associations to create a differentiated event.
A differentiated event is an
event that stands-out with other events. It offers a fresh presentation of past
events. It communicates value to its target market.
If your target market is
excited about your event whether it is an expo, conference, corporate event or
trade event, you have done your job as an event planner.
5. Create
a Realistic Budget
OKR achievement is dependent
on a realistic budget. The budget ensures the plan becomes alive.
Oftentimes, event planners
are guilty of pleasing the clients even if the budget provided to them will not
allow the achievement of even one key result.
Seasoned event planners know
that the budget is critical to the success of the event. At the start of the
engagement, experienced event planners have already established the
deliverables of a particular budget.
If the budget is right, they
can achieve what is promised. If the budget is not sufficient, they calibrate
the key result; and inform the clients with candor what is doable.
Lastly, Event
planners need to earn. We do not do events and help the clients because we feel
doing it. We do it because it is our livelihood.
6. Create
Coordination and Post Evaluation Meetings
Communication is the key to a
good event planner and client relationship.
As an event planner, ensure
that every step of the way, there is always coordination meetings and post
evaluation meetings.
These meetings are venues of
communications to thresh out differences, misunderstandings, insights and
improvements.
These meetings create bonds between event planners and clients.
In Summary
There are other things that
we can add to these guidelines. Still, if event planners focus and give special
attention to these six guidelines, it is a guarantee that the event planners
will be successful.
Having said this, do you
agree? Do you have any guidelines that you would like to add? Feel free to let
us know.
- Thursday, February 07, 2019
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