Having single-handedly organised up to 18 events across South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Angola in one year, Monique Swart knows first-hand about event stress and how to overcome it.
Anyone who regularly runs events will tell you that the project takes on a life of its own, demanding your constant attention, with every ounce of your headspace being consumed with the next step in the organisation process.
The good news though is that if you are well organised and you have a system in place that covers all aspects of the event, the level of stress is minimised. Instead of having lists of things to do constantly running through your mind, you have a physical mapped-out plan that you can keep referring back to.
THE CHALLENGE
Getting organised can be a challenge though, especially when it seems that there is so much to do and you are not quite sure where to start. The other risk is that people often think they have plenty of time to get to it, and as we know, time is not your friend. Before you know it, you are a few weeks out and scrambling to get yourself sorted.
THE LIST
When planning ABTA events, each event starts out in the same way: with a checklist. This is created on a spreadsheet and covers each item that needs to be sorted out, how long before the event it needs to be done, what the status is and, if you have a few people on your team, whose responsibility that item is.
Over the years, our checklist has grown and we have had to include new items like posting about our events on social media sites and so on, but the essence of the list remains the same: budget management, venue and catering, agenda and speakers, marketing, delegate management, partner and sponsor management, event admin and, lastly, on-site management.
Clearly, within each category is an itemised list of bits and pieces, but our list is one page long, ensuring no flipping backwards and forwards – making sure that every item is literally visible in one glance.
MEET MINI DEADLINES
The key goal with any event is to ensure that there is a logical order in which things are done and, more importantly, that the deadlines for each item are adhered to as much as possible. If this is done, the event takes shape in a gradual and easy to manage pace, as opposed to rushing and trying to do 10 things at one time.
Another key element to keep in mind about your list is to be open to adding items on. The list cannot be set in stone and if things that you previously might not have thought of need to be dealt with, pop them on the list now so that when you have your next event, that item is already included.
It is all about organisation and clearing out the clutter in your mind by putting it on a piece of paper instead. And, of course, not forgetting the deep breathing techniques and avoiding the urge to pull your hair out wherever possible.
Your three-category check list
An event list should include three main categories:
- Pre-event, which would include items like budgeting, venue and catering, and marketing.
- On-site, which would include all items to be dealt with at the venue on the day.
- Post-event, which would include delegate thank yous, finalising the budget profit and loss, and so on.
The post-event items are often the most difficult to get to as one generally wants to hide in a hole to recover for a few days after the event, but a big part of the value for delegates is the follow up after the event, so this is an important stage, though often tough to tackle.
