Events Made Simple: Organise Your Next Function On Time and Within Budget

by Stefanie Lewis

Overview

A time-saving, step-by-step guide for the busy assistant. Covers planning corporate events, office social functions, and conferences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781741154368
Publisher:	Allen & Unwin
Publication date:	07/01/2004
Sold by:	INDEPENDENT PUB GROUP - EPUB - EBKS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	184
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Stefanie Lewis has a certificate in Marketing, a Masters of Art Administration, and a wealth of on-the-job experience in event planning.

Read an Excerpt

Events Made Simple

Organise Your Next Function on Time and Within Budget

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By Stefanie Lewis

Allen & Unwin

Copyright © 2004 Stefani Lewis
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-74115-436-8

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CHAPTER 1

Getting started

While this book has been written with mostly corporate events mainly in mind, the areas I have covered and the focus I have designed can be just as applicable to private events — from parties large and small, to weddings and receptions, anniversary celebrations and so on.

Where to begin?

How do you begin planning an event? What exactly is involved? These questions may seem daunting but there is no need to feel as if your world is about to crumble when you suddenly find yourself landed with the job. Successful event planning is all about being able to visualise how your event will look, then breaking that picture into the tasks that need to be done in order to make your event happen. Often the hardest and scariest part is getting started.

What is an event?

Events are gatherings where people come together to exchange and discuss ideas, make decisions or to celebrate an occasion. It is best to start by defining the type of event you are planning and working out the time you have to plan it. Event planning is a process and if applied correctly will set you up for success every time. The event planning process involves the following steps:

• confirming the type of event you are planning;

• developing an event brief;

• establishing the planning timeframe;

• developing an event management sheet;

• confirming your event budget; and

• working through your event management sheet.

Your involvement with an event should first and foremost be as a facilitator.

What type of event are you planning?

An easy way to answer this question is to refer to what I call the Five Ws of event planning — the who, what, when, where and why. The Five Ws are a guide to help you visualise your event. Applying the Five Ws to your event planning will help you get started.

• Who: Who is this event being held by and who is it to be held for? How many people will attend the event; does this include partners and their children? Will you need to arrange child-minding services? (This could prove very popular with parents as it is often overlooked!)

• What: What kind of event will it be? What would be appealing to your attendees? Will it be a black-tie dinner, an outdoor picnic, a small dinner at a restaurant, a board meeting or an educational seminar?

• When: When is the event going to be held? Will it conflict with other key events that may be of interest to your audience? How much time do you have for planning? How long will the event run — for example, two hours, two days? Will it be held in the morning, lunchtime or at night?

• Where: Where should the event be held? In a major CBD area, close to transport, interstate or overseas? What kind of venue will be required? Will it be a function centre, restaurant, major hotel, resort or local park?

• Why: Why is the event being held? Is the organisation seeking a specific outcome? Is the event intended to increase the knowledge of staff, build relationships with potential clients, reward staff for a job well done or celebrate the achievement of a colleague?

Helpful Hint

Try to allow at least three months for planning and organising any event. This may not always be possible, but this timeframe acts as a good guide to ensure all tasks can be completed within a reasonable time.

At this stage just run through these questions in your head to get a mental picture of the way your event may unfold. It isn't important that you write an essay answering all aspects of the Five Ws — that will come later.

Common events

What kind of event have you been asked to plan? Is it a meeting, sales conference, dinner for senior managers, staff Christmas party or retirement luncheon? Different events achieve different aims. There will be times where you will definitely know you have to organise a conference or a luncheon but there will also be times where you will have to decide the type of event you should be planning. Just thinking about some of the common event types will help with visualisation.

Meetings

A meeting is a forum where two or more people come together to discuss business-related issues; for example, you may meet with your manager to discuss the latest sales figures or the CEO may call a meeting to address all staff. Meetings are often used when a group of people need to discuss issues or make a business decision.

Some meetings require special planning such as the preparation of an agenda (a listing of what will be discussed) and the taking of minutes (a record of what was discussed). Minutes and agendas are usually required for formal business meetings such as committee or board meetings. Any good bookstore will have a number of publications on taking minutes and setting meeting agendas if you require further information.

Conferences and seminars

Conferences are gatherings where people come together to gain information and learn skills that may be relevant to their professional development. A conference is usually one to five days in duration, while seminars can range from one hour to one day in length.

Breakfast, dinner or luncheon meetings

Breakfasts, luncheons and dinners are really meetings that include a meal. They are more informal and can be used to achieve many aims, including thanking a particular client or celebrating a particular occasion such as a birthday or retirement. These meetings can sometimes include a guest speaker or a particular form of entertainment — depending on the aim of the meeting.

Templates and checklists

Now that you have had some time to think about the Five Ws of your event, this is a good place to mention templates and checklists. On planning an event you are often working on a number of tasks at the same time and it is all too easy to forget something. Using templates and checklists prevents you from wasting time on unnecessary tasks. The more templates and checklists you can use, the easier it will be to consistently implement the event planning process.

Your event brief

An event brief provides an efficient template for you to answer the Five Ws. The event brief I use is divided into categories that relate to the Five Ws. (A copy of the blank form appears in Appendix I.)

The items listed under 'event needs' are specific to the 'what' of an event. To complete the brief you simply fill in your needs in the details column next to each category. In event planning you must always think about the tasks that still need to be done while at the same time concentrating on completing the task at hand. This is why a form like this can be so useful, providing a quick overview of the tasks to be done. Some useful questions to consider while filling out the details include:

• Catering: Will you be feeding your guests? Do guests need to bring their own food?

• Drinks: Will you be serving drinks to your guests? Will attendees need to purchase their own drinks?

• Entertainment: Is entertainment required? If so, what kind of entertainment and how long will it need to run?

• Accommodation: Will attendees need to stay overnight at the venue?

• Transport: Will transport for guests need to be arranged, such as buses, air fares or airport transfers?

• Additional services: What other services will you require to make your event a success? Will you need lighting/audio-visual equipment (AV), wait/bar staff, printing?

This event brief template is not set in stone. If you think your event will need to provide specific facilities such as prayer rooms or translator booths, or take account of special dietary needs, you should include them as additional items in the 'event needs' category.

Legal secretary Mary Mack has been asked to organise a dinner meeting for the firm's tax law partner, Martin Brown, and a valued client. Her event brief is on page 6, and she now knows what needs to be completed so she can tailor the event for the tax partner and his guest.

Timing

With a clear outline of the type of event now in front of you, you now need to look at timing issues. In event management, timing includes a number of aspects — for example, you need to decide when to have your event, how long you actually have to plan it, and when it will start and finish.

Working out how long you have to plan an event is easy — once you know when it is to be held, simply count back through the weeks until you arrive at the current date. The hardest part of the timing process is deciding when to have your event. Sometimes it is not just a matter of picking a date at random, for timing can be affected by a number of things. If you don't take them into consideration, you may find that the number of people who attend your event is lower than expected or, worse still, that no one comes at all.

Conflicting events

There are a number of things you can do to avoid having your event conflict with another important event. The first point is to liaise with other areas or divisions within your organisation to ensure the date proposed for your event doesn't overlap with other commitments or engagements. It is also wise to check the event calendars of major professional associations to ensure that your event doesn't clash with any major conference or seminar programs or special industry dates. If you are hosting a special event you might also want to check whether any major sporting events, cultural festivals or charity events that could impact on attendance figures have been scheduled. Your state or regional tourist bureau, or relevant government department, may publish a listing of forthcoming events on their website.

Public and school holidays

Take note of public and school holidays, as many people take annual leave around this time, especially if they have families. Holiday periods may affect the arrival and departure times of attendees travelling by plane — especially Easter and Christmas. You want to make it easy for your guests to attend and it may be difficult to confirm flights and accommodation if an event is held during peak holiday periods.

Seasons

At particular times of the year, high and low season rates for travel and accommodation may affect the planning of your event. This can not only affect your budget, but can also mean a particular destination will be crowded with tourists. High and low seasons are also related to weather conditions — you don't want guests to be trapped in the middle of a cyclone, especially if they have come from overseas. It is a good idea to check with a tourist bureau or travel agent about seasonal rates and weather conditions.

Helpful Hints

• There is no magic rule that tells you which night of the week is best for hosting an event. It really comes to down to why you are having the event. For example, in planning a seminar that will involve lots of discussion and group work, you would probably steer away from a Friday afternoon or evening, when people just want to finish their working week and enjoy the weekend. On the other hand, if your event is a cocktail party, Friday evening may be perfect, as attendees generally won't have to worry about getting up to go to work the next day.

• Believe it or not, event attendance can also be affected by late night shopping, popular television shows and Mondayitis. Tuesday and Wednesday nights are often popular for corporate cocktails and networking events, as people are more in the swing of things workwise on those days.

Travel

Travel time, and the time it takes to get to the venue, should also be considered when choosing both the time and the day on which your event is to be held. For example, if you are hosting an interstate conference, you might want to fly in attendees the night before so that they have time to settle in before the conference begins the next morning.

Keeping planning on track

Now that you know when your event is being held and how long you have to plan it, you will need to revisit your event brief and break each of the listed categories into individual tasks to create an event management sheet. The event management sheet, which will become your blueprint for success, lists every task, from booking the venue to gaining sign-off for invitations, to thanking the speakers.

Helpful Hint

The first thing to do is make a list of all the things you can think of that will be needed to make the event a success. Sometimes you might find you have to pare back your original ideas to match a budget.

The event management sheet can also identify any additional services that you may require, such as catering, printing or sponsorship. It allows you to include completion dates for each task as well as highlighting tasks that have costs associated with them.

Helpful Hint

If you are serious about event planning you can purchase specialised event management software, but a good spreadsheet program, such as Excel, Access or Lotus Notes, can also provide everything that you need to develop an event management sheet.

Designing an event management sheet

An event management sheet will take a little while to set up — especially if it is your first. The thing to remember is that you are setting up a template so that once you have designed the master copy you will be able to use it over and over again, saving you time. When planning an event for the first time, you may not be aware of all of the tasks that need to be included, or when each of these tasks will need to be completed. A detailed event management sheet template is included in Appendix I to help you. As you gain more experience in event planning you can tailor the template to match your event needs.

Here, timing comes in again. You need to ask yourself two important questions about each task: which tasks need to be completed first, and how long do I need to complete each task?

Which tasks need to be completed first?

There is no strict order but it is a good idea to begin with items that require long lead times or will affect the information that will be included on your invitation; for example, the venue, speakers/ entertainment, catering, printing, transport and security.

How long do I need to complete each task?

One way to determine this is to ask the relevant service provider for an estimate. The following timeframes may also help:

• Printers — allow usually one to two weeks for actual printing of items once you have approved the final artwork.

• Graphic designers — allow one to two weeks for the design of invitations.

• Mailhouses — allow three days to one week to distribute your invitations.

Your event is a priority for you but it may be the one-millionth task on someone else's 'to do' list. You will need to account for this by allowing time (three days to a week) for people to confirm arrangements, approve actions and respond to requests.

The tasks listed under each category of the event management sheet (pages 10–11) should always be listed in order of the completion date. Time frames for each task can be confirmed with service providers once you have set up your event management sheet.

This all sounds easy enough but what does it look like when you plan a real event? Betty Brown is an executive assistant but one of her main tasks is to coordinate monthly education seminars for the sales department. Each seminar is held at the same venue, which saves Betty a lot of running around. A copy of her event management sheet for one such seminar appears on pages 10–11.

Betty's event management sheet tells us a number of things about her event planning process:

• Betty knew she had ten weeks to plan the event by counting the weeks from the scheduled seminar date to the current date.

• She has allocated the most time to sourcing speakers.

• She has allowed a week for people to confirm, approve and respond to requests.

Helpful Hint

Create a list of duties and prioritise them, then create a spreadsheet with the invited delegates ready for RSVPs.

Once you know what needs to be done and the timeframes you have to work within, you now need to look at how much money you have to spend in order to make your event happen.

Setting a budget

An event budget provides an overview of what you are spending your money on, how much you think each item may cost (projected costs), how much each item actually costs (real costs) and when the item was paid for. Check the main aim of your budget is to ensure you don't spend money you don't have. Begin by drawing up an event budget table, which should consist of four columns (see pages 14–15).

• Column 1 lists the expenses for the event;

• Column 2 lists the 'projected costs';

• Column 3 lists the 'real costs'; and

• Column 4 lists the dates when services have been paid.

A blank template of an event budget table appears in Appendix I, on page 158.

Start by confirming the total amount of money you have to spend on the event. Then, referring to the event brief, make a list of all the expenses the event will incur, all the services that will require payment — for example, venue hire, catering, printing, entertainment. List these in the expenses column of the table.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Events Made Simple by Stefanie Lewis. Copyright © 2004 Stefani Lewis. Excerpted by permission of Allen & Unwin.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Acknowledgments,
Introduction,
1. Getting started,
2. Guests, running order and venue,
3. Eating and entertainment,
4. Invitations, handouts and booklets,
5. Venue plans, room decorations and gifts,
6. Other things to consider,
7. Countdown to the big day,
8. After the event,
Appendix I: Sample forms,
Appendix II: Helpful websites,
Appendix III: Questionnaires and surveys,