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Planning an event from scratch

Being given a blank canvas to organise an event can seem like a blessing as well as curse to most event organisers.

While the chance to put your mark across every aspect of an event can be a very exciting challenge, the lack of any existing framework whatsoever can be very stressful as well.

Luckily, our top hints and tips are here to make your life easier, and give you the best chance of planning a hugely-successful event that goes off without a hitch.

Assuming your event has a title or brief, the first decisions to make are on size of venue and date.

Venue is an important first step, as either one that is too large or too small will affect the comfort, ambiance and thus success of your event. Acquire or make a guest list, and as far as possible find a venue that will cater for 75-90 per cent attendance, but which still feels quite intimate if numbers are at the lower end of the expected scale.

Being aware of other key industry conferences or meetings should mean you are able to schedule without fear of a clash, and it is likely that your date will also be influenced by availability of your favoured venues and/or speakers.

Next up come considerations of event structure (although these will already have been considered briefly when choosing your venue). This means deciding on whether there will be lots of breakout sessions or workshops, so needing multiple rooms, or whether you will largely keep delegates together in one place with a range of speakers and activities. Ensure you are clear on what you can borrow or need to arrange hire of in terms of electrical equipment, to spare you embarrassment and major stress on the day.

Catering also requires some thought – the number and frequency of sessions, desire or not for formality or informal networking plus budget will all play into your decision here, but a midday meal, and drinks plus snacks for morning and afternoon breaks should be the minimum on offer. Obviously overnight conferences also need evening meal and breakfast, but these are more likely to be at a hotel or other venue with its own in-house catering.

Once the key practicalities are in place, invitations and registration details need to be finalised and mailed or emailed out. Ensure someone is in charge of collating replies or numbers – it’s very easy to overlook this.

Once speakers are confirmed, liaise with each to see if they have any particular needs such as handout printouts. Consider a social media publicity campaign if you are still trying to generate a buzz and additional delegates, and ensure welcome packs with all necessary information about the conference and venue are made up for all attendees

Then it should be a case of putting on your name badge and being on hand as the event you organised unfolds as planned.

The article was written in association with Banks Sadler. You can find more information on event marketing and management on their blog.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jason Tucker .