Programming an Event

When it comes to programming, choosing what you will do is not typically the problem area; managing the program is generally where you hit the snags.

That said, here are a few things to keep in mind as you build your agenda:

• Choose speakers primarily for their speaking ability. Yes, the reputation and expertise of the speaker are important to varying degrees, but you will always regret choosing someone who turns out to be boring or otherwise a poor speaker. Make sure that you have seen the person in a comparable situation or that someone you trust – someone who knows what it means to be a good speaker – has seen them and will vouch for their ability.

• Be careful about over-scheduling. There is a fine line between a full program and “Ugh, I thought it would never end” and you just need to keep that in mind.

• Be careful about letting children sing. Sometimes it can be really cute, but other times…

Once your program participants have been invited and have confirmed their attendance, the real work can begin.

First, as soon as you have a (preferably written) confirmation from a participant, you want to send them a written description of what will be expected of/needed from them. This should include such things as instructions related to timing, dress, seating, overall goals for the evening, and a general description of program. Keep it short, but make sure to include anything that might be important, even if you think the participant should already know.

Then, as soon as possible, you want to provide all participants with the draft agenda. The draft should include all time limits and any special instruction. For example, if speakers will be sitting in a designated area or if you set up a way for people to know that their time is almost up. As changes are made to the program, provide the revised agenda to the participants – this will reinforce key information, such as time limits.

As a rule of thumb, you can send the draft agenda three or four times, with small revisions.

Master of Cermonies

Ideally, your master of ceremonies will be someone who is recognizable to your audience; skilled at injecting humor or whatever emotion is appropriate for the occasion; and able to keep the evening running on schedule. In the best case, you want someone with experience serving in this sort of role. No matter what, you want to make sure that they know everything about the evening, and that the key details have been reinforced several times – at least as many times as they have been reinforced with the other participants. The best masters of ceremonies are prepared and feel completely confident that they understand the details of the evening.

Keeping people on track

Here is a tried and true list of steps to take if staying on time is important (and it should always be important):

• Before hand, remind speakers about the time limit at least three times, in writing, then again, in writing, as they walk in the door.

• Put a sign on the lectern that reminds speakers of their time limit.

• Place a small digital clock on the lectern so that speakers can clearly monitor how much time remains.

• Let someone be an informal timekeeper; place them in the speaker’s line of sight and let the speaker know that this person will stand when 15 seconds remain on the speaker’s time limit.

Dealing with audio/visual technology

If your event includes audio/visual components then this can be one of the scariest facets with which you will deal, but that does not need to be the case.

Here’s what you do:

• Put one person in charge of dealing with the A/V technology.

• Practice using everything the day before the event.

• Practice using everything again, an hour before the event.

Basic Event Marketing

Two elements, in varying proportions, make marketing possible – program content and the organizations or individuals involved in promoting the event.

Fairly early in my career I was thinking about creating a large event for architects. I started by meeting with a friend of mine, a curmudgeonly but well-respected architect. He said, “You want to do an event for architects? I go to events every year put on by the state association, the national association, and several other industry and interest groups. Why would anyone want to attend an architecture conference sponsored by Sean Spence?”

I was thrown off by the bluntness of his response and didn’t regain my balance in time to offer anything of value to the conversation, so the whole idea kind of dissipated and we moved on to other things. He was right, of course, and the experience provided two pretty key lessons.

1. Make sure you have key validators as early as possible.

2. To whatever extent is necessary, be ready to include the involvement of those key validators in your marketing messages, from the very beginning.

I never did do the architecture event, but I have created others related to the arts, African American culture, the insurance industry, and homeland security. Am I an expert or recognized authority in any of these areas? No, but for each case I made sure that, early on, we had solid, recognizable partners who could lend the event their impeccable credibility.

As you start to think about promoting your event, remember those two key elements – program content and validators. They provide the raw materials you need to create solid promotional messages.

Once you have a strong foundation for your event, you’ll need to create the messages you want to send. Sometimes your budget may be such that you can hire an agency to do the work for you, but this book is about how to do these things for yourself, so forget about that.

You can make the process of creating your core messaging as simple or as complex s you want (based largely on the amount of time and help you have). Here is a seven-step process that works well, and you can alter it to accommodate your resources.

1. Make a list of all the reasons people should want to attend your event.

2. Do Internet research, reading about similar events.

3. Review the list and add to it or otherwise adjust it as you see fit.

4. Assemble a group of 2-5 other people and talk about the event and the list, adjusting it as the group sees fit.

5. Write a persuasive statement about the event.

6. Discuss the statement with people you trust and alter accordingly.

7. Use the statement as the foundation for all of your promotional messages, which can now be written, as needed.

Once you have your marketing message, then the primary thing that remains is choosing the tactics you will use. This will be determined in many respects by budget. In the best-case scenario, you will be able to have a mixture of free and paid promotional vehicles.

Let’s take a good look at the options, starting with the “I have no marketing budget at all” options and working our way down the list to “Hey, I can actually put some bucks into getting folks to this shindig.”

E-mail

One of the most powerful tools you can have for event marketing is a good e-mail list. Sure, you can probably find someplace to buy a decent list, but there really is no substitute for building your own. In this respect, Google is your best friend. For every event, expand your e-mail list.

Here are some tips:

· Personalize the message as much as possible (all sorts of online services are available to make this easy).

· Follow spam laws

Social networking

There are a handful of social networking sites – and there will probably be more by the time this is published – but as of right this minute Facebook is the only one that can play a major role in attracting people to most events.

Your best bet is to create a Facebook Event – this is essentially a Facebook-based Web page that will exist specifically for your event. You can send invitations to your Facebook friends and your friends, in turn, can invite their friends. You can also post photos, messages, videos, and discussions. It provides an easy way to invite lots of people, allow others to invite people, and interact

Media relations

We could pretty easily write an entire book about media relations for event promotion (maybe that should be the next one?). In those cases in which you think the media should be interested in your event, here are the key things to remember.

· Target members of the media who cover the news related to your event. If you don’t know, call the assignment editor and ask.

· Pre-calling is better than follow-up calls to confirm that media releases and other information have been received. In media surveys, follow-up calls are generally among the top three reporter pet peeves; this is not the case for pre-calls, in which the message can be something like, “I’m just calling to let you know if this is something that might interest you; if so, I could e-mail you the details right now.” In the frequent case in which you get voice mail, you can say something like, “I’m calling to let you know about this event; since you aren’t around, I’ll just e-mail you the details. Please let me know if you have any questions.”

· Five to ten days before the event, send a media advisory (or even just an informal e-mail) to targeted media, with basic information about the event, just to get it on calendars.

· Send a detailed media release the morning of the event (media staff meetings are often held around 9:00 or 10:00 a.m.), or the day before, if your event is after noon.

· Send hand-written follow-up notes to members of the media who attend and/or cover your event. This should not quite be a thank-you note – the media typically see themselves as just doing their jobs and can misinterpret a thank-you note as implying bias – just send a note saying something like, “We appreciated that our event was worth your time. If you ever have a question about what we are doing, please feel free to contact me.”

Web site

There is a wide range of easy, inexpensive – even free – ways to create a Web presence for your event.

· Use a free blog service, such as Blogger.com or Wordpress.com.

· Use an event registration service, such as Eventbrite.com. These services are typically free for free events or charge a small percentage if you are selling tickets.

· Use any of over 100 inexpensive Web hosting services. Any of them you find will offer Web site templates and relatively easy to use software to customize the site to meet your needs.

Invitations

Formal invitations can be a powerful marketing tool for pretty much any sort of event, either as a primary tactic or to target a portion of your market (especially VIPs). Printed invitations provide an excellent way to highlight VIPs who are already invested – with a host list and/or using the name of an event chair or master of ceremonies in the return address.

Here are a few tips for invitations:

· A big part of the power of sending this sort of mail is in the ability to personalize. In every way you can, make each invitation look like it is being sent to a real person, from a real person.

· Use hand-applied, first-class stamps. This will dramatically increase the number opened, as opposed to sending them with bulk-mail postage.

· Address it from a human being, not from an organization.

Mass mail

Technically, sending the invitations can be considered mass mail, but their high quality warrants putting them in a different category. For true mass mail, the best way to go will be colorful, generally glossy, oversized post cards (5 ½ by 8 ½ inches or there about). Any good print shop will have a graphic designer who can work with you to create high quality mail; typically, the design services will be included in the price of printing or relatively inexpensive.

· Use as much color as you can.

· Use pictures if you can.

· Keep text short; limit it to the information that is absolutely necessary to entice people and get them where they need to be, when they need to be there.

Advertising

If you have a real marketing budget (at least $2000 to $5000, bare minimum, depending on your media market), then you can think about doing advertising. For both

· Start with radio, which provides a cost-effective way to provide a repetitive message. Do not run fewer than 3-5 spots per day, during drive time (roughly 7:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.).

· If you feel like you are running enough radio, move up to television (cable and/or broadcast).

· If you feel like you are running enough radio and television, then run some newspaper ads. Make sure to run ads that are at least 1/8 of a page that repeat at least three times before your event.

Managing Attendees

Any time you are dealing with human beings, particularly groups of them, pretty much anything can happen. The keys to dealing with the people at your event are preparation, flexibility and empowering staff to address problems.

Managing the people at your event starts with pre-event communications – with invitations, marketing materials and your Web site. In all of these things, you want to anticipate questions and answer the ones that are most likely to arise.

Here are some things you may want to include that are sometimes forgotten:

• What is the expected dress?

• What type of food is being served? A full dinner? Heavy hors d'oeuvres?

• Contact information for someone who can answer questions.

• The day of the week the event will be held (not just the date).

You’ll want to go a step further for any VIP with an official role at the event – master of ceremonies, speakers, award recipients. They need more than the basic information, and they need to get it more than once. Make sure they get a clear description of what will be expected of them – what they need to do and when they need to do it – in the context of the overall program.

If there are key things to remember then these things should be highlighted, and possibly mentioned more than once in each communication. For example, if there is a strict time limit for a speaker (and there almost always should be), then this should be mentioned two or three times in every instructional communication sent prior to the event and then at the event.

A good rule of thumb is provide written instructions to VIPs with a role in the event three times before the event, and then the written instructions should be handed to them as they walk into the event.

No matter how much information you provide people before the event, someone – many someones! – will pretty much always miss some of the details. A big part of handling that is making sure that event staff is properly trained to deal with problems as they arise. Training, training, training! Even when the instructions are simple, they should be provided to staff in written form and should be explained in a training session.

During the event, there are several key areas to keep in mind, related to people management – areas where problems are likely to arise and where you had darned-well better be prepared.

Sign-in Table

If you are doing a large event, this is an area that presents much peril.

• Have at least two people working the sign-in table. Three people can do up to 300 attendees.

• If you plan to have nametags, the most efficient way to handle them is to print them before hand and arrange them in alphabetical order. Be sure to have plenty of blank name tags for people who show up and aren’t on the list (either because they did not register or because of an error on your end – like the time my laptop randomly kicked out 40 or so names and just “chose” not to print name tags for them).

• Either have sign-in sheets or a checklist with everyone’s name (or both).

• It sometimes helps to have little, folded, cardstock signs that vegetarian guests can place at their seats to notify servers that they will be given a vegetarian meal (or gluten-free or whatever).

• Someone with no formal duties at the sign-in table should be assigned as a trouble-shooter, to deal with any problems as they arise. Then, any time a sign-in staff person encounters a problem, it can immediately be directed to the trouble shooter without stopping up the registration line. If the event is smaller (generally 75 or less) then you can be the troubleshooter. If it gets larger than 75, it would be best to get someone else because there will be other things that go wrong to which you will have to attend.

During the Program

If you have a good Master of Ceremonies, that will take care of a great deal. He or she should be able to keep things moving a long, occasionally injecting humor or sober reflection or whatever emotion contributes to the mood of the evening.

Here are some tips to help program speakers stick to their time limits:

• Before hand, remind them about the time limit at least three times, in writing, then again, in writing, as they walk in the door.

• Put a sign on the lectern that reminds speakers of their time limit.

• Place a small digital clock on the lectern so that speakers can clearly monitor how much time remains.

• Let someone be an informal time keeper; place them in the speaker’s line of sight and let the speaker know that this person will stand when 15 seconds remain on the speaker’s time limit.

In the Food Line (if it is a buffet)

• Provide one food table, allowing serving lines on both sides, for every 100 to 200 people.

• If it is self-serve, assign at least two staff people to each table. They will both ferry food back and forth from the kitchen and help guests who have questions or problems.

The basics of location selection

For most events, the issues related to location are going to be pretty mundane – essential, but mundane. Once you know that a venue meets your basic needs and fits your budget, that’ll usually be enough. (Later, we can talk about the next level -- choosing a location that will be part of the attraction of an event).

First, you absolutely must decide the essential components of your location. There are several areas to be considered; the general categories will mostly be the same, whether you are having a luncheon or a multi-day conference.

The quality of the location should make sense for the event and target audience.

You typically can’t have a $1000/plate charity dinner at the local pizza joint, right? By the same token, you probably don’t want to schedule your three-day conference for poverty advocates at a five-star resort. This about it, and choose appropriately.

Space – Amount and Configuration

Make a list of the space you are going to need and the ways in which you will use it. If your event is a dinner or a reception or some other event that requires just one room, then just make sure the room you choose fits the size of the crowd you are expecting. If you need more than one room or type of space, be sure to think it through and have a clear idea of the way in which each space will be used – for classes, outdoor activities, a pool party, or whatever.

Whenever possible, you want to choose a location that gives you options so that you are ready if you have more people, or fewer people, or if you decide to make a last minute change to your agenda.

Choose a location that is as easy for people to get to as possible.

Think about your target audience and where they are located. If getting to your event is a hassle – real or perceived – your attendance will be reduced.

Make sure you have plenty of room for parking.

Is there more than one way to say, “Make sure you have plenty of room for parking!”?

The Initial Planning of an Event

The Initial Planning

So much of the time – and I have been as guilty of this as anyone – people just dive into creating an event without going through a process that will help them create a kick-ass event that really meets their goals.

If you are going to put the time into creating an event, then you should do the right things at the front end.

Put things on paper as quickly as possible.

I don’t know who said it, but “It isn’t a plan if it isn’t written down” is one of my favorite quotes.

If an event is important, then you need a plan and that means writing it down. Even the most complicated event will have a plan that is no more than one to three pages (and two pages will almost always get the job done).

A written plan will help you focus on the right things while not missing the details. Just as importantly, a written document will help you be (and look) prepared in front of event stakeholders. Importantly, it is also good to note that – when it comes time to meet and make decisions – the one who keeps the written plan is the one with the power.

Know your key objectives and do everything with them in mind.

For every event you ever do, there will be a handful of key objectives (and fewer is always better). Take the time to think them through and write them down. It won’t always be possible to attach a numerical goal, but try to be as specific as possible; objectives with a numerical goal are always more real to everyone involved.

Here is a list of possible key objectives:

· Get 250 people to attend

· Attract three media outlets

· Persuade 20 VIPs to attend (from a list of 50 that you have created)

· Provide a fun evening

· Make 15 new contacts

· Boost your reputation as one of your area’s best party planners.

For example, if you are planning a health fair, then your key objectives might be the following:

· Obtain 10 sponsors who contribute at least $1000/each.

· Recruit 100 healthcare-related booths.

· Attract 500 people.

· Sell $2000 worth of healthcare supplies.

· Add 15 new people to your personal network.

As you can see, most of your key objectives will be wrapped up in the purpose of the event. But you are the one doing the work and one of your key objectives should be more self-serving. In the case above, “add 15 new people to your personal network” is a pretty common objective – the larger and stronger your network, the easier it will be for you to create successful events in the future.

If this is someone else’s event, make sure you know what they want.

Seems obvious, but this step can be overlooked. Take the time to sit down with whoever is in charge and make sure what they want is incorporated into the written plan. Make sure to include them as the planning document evolves.

Do a little research.

The process of creating something should always include research. Anymore, this will just mean poking around the Web for an hour or so. It is important, though, because you want to know what is happening at similar events and you want to gather as many ideas as you can.

Ask lots and lots of questions.

“If you want to come up with lots of ideas, ask lots of questions.”

Someone a lot smarter than I am said that. I’ll extend it though, and say, “If you are writing a plan and want to make sure you don’t forget something, ask lots of questions.”

I could easily write 100 questions to give you examples, but here are x – if you ask these questions at the beginning of the planning process and and revisit them from time to time, you’ll generally come out way ahead:

1. What are my key objectives?

2. Where could it be located?

3. What qualities do we need the location to have?

4. What is our attendance goal?

5. What is our budget?

6. Who do we need to make happy?

7. What could we do that would be special?

8. What do we need to accomplish with the agenda?

9. Who/what should we consider to be part of the agenda?

10. What have others done at similar events that we might want to emulate?

11. What have others done at similar events that we want to learn from?

12. What kind of food/drinks do we need?

13. What could we do that would be unusual?

14. What will people expect?

15. Where can we cut costs?

16. In what areas should we be sure not to skimp on cost?

Bring others into the process.

It does not matter how smart, knowledgeable, detail-oriented and creative you are. Your event will have fewer mistakes and will be better in every way if you bring at least a few other smart people into the planning.

Everything you absolutely have to know...

Here is the response to, “Tell me in as few words as possible the things I absolutely have to know to create a successful event.”

Read this post; follow all of the steps any time you have an event; and your events will be better than most of what passes for “professionally produced events.”

1. Write out the plan for the event and then actually use the document in the planning process.

From beginning to end – in a notebook or on your laptop or wherever – write out the entire event. This can be a big checklist, an outline, a narrative, or whatever works for you. But take the time to write it out and then go back and reference the document you have created whenever you are thinking about the event. Let the document evolve as the event evolves. This one step will increase the probability of your event’s success

2. Personalize where possible.

Events are about real people wanting to spend time with other real people. Any time you have an opportunity to be more personalized, take it. For example, if you are working with an organization that is having an event, it is always better to have the invitations addressed as though they are being sent by an individual, rather than the organization (so, the return address might be from John Smith, instead of from the Salvation Army).

3. Do something memorable.

Whatever it is, just think of something you can do at the event that is special and memorable. This might be a small gift at each setting; it might be unexpected live music; or it might be a fresh flower handed to each female guest as she arrives.

4. Location

The main thing about location is that you need to think about your needs – seating, parking, accessibility… and make sure the space you have meets all of those needs.

5. Get help with the planning.

Yes, you can do an event of just about any size all by yourself, if you really must; but it will be so much more fun, more creative, and generally more successful if you find at least a few people to help you think, plan and execute. A well-run group of even two or three will have more good ideas and make fewer mistakes.

6. Get bids.

Locations. Caterers. Florists. Whatever. For any item that you are spending a significant amount of money, get at least two bids, and three or more tends to be better. This will give you a clearer picture of both quality and price.

7. The budget.

Sit down and write a budget that includes everything you think you are going to need and adds up to the amount of money you want to spend. As you think of things that need to be added, either reduce the cost of something else or increase the amount of money you are willing to spend.

8. Set priorities. Who needs to be happy? What will make them happy?

Any time you do an event, it is true that there will be tens or even hundreds of details to juggle. It is also true that there are two or three key things that deserve most of your attention, and if you make sure those things are taken care of, then everything else will be okay. The budget is often one of these things; maybe keeping the keynote speaker happy should be on your list; if there are sponsors, meeting the needs of one or more of them might be key. Recently, I did an event in which the priorities were the quality of the written invitations, the smoothness of the seating process, and making sure we received media coverage. Those three things worked out extremely well, and very little else mattered.

9. Photographs

Always have a photographer at events – professional if it fits your budget, but your little sister will do. Digital pictures are a powerful post-event tool. They can remind sponsors of the event’s success; they can be sent to attendees, posted on a Web site or on Facebook (no matter what they say, most people love pictures of themselves); and then can be used to promote future events.

10. Program

I have a couple of key rules when it comes to the program for an event. First, when in doubt, keep things short. Second, focus on speakers who have a track record of leaving their audiences happy. Third, implement time limits for every aspect of the program and make sure people stick to them. Fourth, with as much lead time as possible, provide all program participants with an agenda and instructions (and possibly a script); then provide them at least two more times before the event; then provide them a written, one-page copy of the agenda and instructions as they walk into the event.

11. Follow-up a lot

For every aspect of the program, follow up at least once to make sure that everything is happening the way it is supposed to be happening. With program participants and other VIPs, the more follow-up the better.

12. Staff and/or volunteers

If you choose good people, everything else gets a lot easier – you want people who can make decisions and will represent you well (especially at registration tables and anywhere else they might interact with people).

13. Training/instructions for helpers

No matter how simple the task or seasoned the worker, provide a short, written description of all expectations and go over it in detail. If there are common problems that will be encountered, include these in both the written instructions and the training. If there are little things that are important to you (smiling, saying please and thank you), include these things, too.

14. Arrive at least 90 minutes early

Your goal should be to have absolutely nothing to do for at least an hour before an event starts. Your whole job is to be around in case there is a crisis, and to be the calming force for everyone else involved with the event.

15. Know who can fix things at the event

Quickly identify the staff person or people working at the event location who can fix things quickly. Problem with the sound system? Need an extra table? One of your speakers needs a different sleeping room? There is generally one person who will be your number one fixer and you had better be sure you know exactly who that person is.

16. AV equipment

Test it. Then test it again. Then make sure you have tested it. Have a back up ready and tested because as soon as you don’t, something is going to go wrong.

17. Say Thank You

After the event, be sure to thank everyone in writing. An e-mail is okay, but a hand-written note is best. Thank key staff people; thank the VIPs; and thank the participants. If you feel like you only have time to thank a few people, make a list of everyone involved with the event, prioritize it, and work your way down the list until you’ve spent the time you have. Remember, events are about building relationships, and people like to be thanked.