Live for the planning…. simples!
Posted on December 16, 2010 at 3:14 pm, by aspect
Failing to plan is planning to fail… simple. When it comes to the world of events management ‘What? Why? When? Where? How?’ may sound like the ramblings of an inexperienced amateur but it is, in fact, the beginnings of an all-important plan. Whether you have one year or one week to organise an event, it always come back to the planning. Simple right? Like all things in life, structure is needed. Think of planning an event like cooking for a dinner party. If you don’t study your recipes and prepare a shopping list you could easily forget a vital ingredient! My advice would be to create a system that works for you but – however you choose to go about it – here are a few key pointers to bear in mind:
- No.1 is the most obvious but also the most fundamental – scope out your project critical path in full. It will force you to think through the whole project from beginning to end, as well as highlighting key deadlines.
- Decide how the attendees should feel at the end of the event as they walk out of the door, and then work back from there. Everything you plan and do should be focused on achieving these objectives. It’s not just about what you say but how you say it – the décor, the tone and style, the pre- and post-event communication, the onsite activities – every element should work together to deliver your message.
- Put yourself in the audience’s shoes (believe it or not most people forget about the audience when planning an event!) Think through the whole flow of the event through their eyes – it will help you iron out the practical elements and identify any logistical wrinkles.
- Make sure the audience is engaged all the way through the event and delegates are interacting and sharing their opinions. They should be working hard at an event – not falling a sleep in their chairs!
- Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse – strong messages and content are worthless if they are not delivered effectively.
Who cares about the content as long as the food tastes good?
Posted on November 17, 2010 at 2:19 pm, by aspect
Do you know what really gets me about communications, is that it’s often the last part of a client’s consideration – the communication bit I mean. Let me expand on my rather blunt statement. Many clients often worry about venues, food, the invitation process etc but tend to be reticent when talking about messages, which are often defined the day before or the morning itself! Sure they may understand at a top level that the event is all about the message they want to get across but they then invest very little time developing a strong narrative, fine-tuning the message across the delivery and looking to be exceptionally creative in the way it’s conveyed. It disappoints me that I often can’t persuade clients to turn their thoughts to crafting a story, scriptwriting, performance training and time for rehearsals, where much of the real value is added. All of this means the message is so much more powerful and is ultimately what people remember. Often the majority of spend goes on the bricks and mortar; so investing in the message is only small beer in the grand scheme of things, but I think because it involves hard work and time, the message gets compromised, it’s such a shame! So my advice is, start planning earlier and engage your brain and intellect or what you’ll get is the content being put together last minute, barely rehearsed and with a dull delivery. Now that’s a waste of money! So, fight that knee-jerk reaction and temptation to saunter down to the menu tasting; get your content in order first, make it exciting and bring the messages to life. Imagine how much more powerful and appealing the invite will be! Trust me, make content king and as my mother would say, they will come and drink your chicken soup! Author: Simon King-Cline
