Thinking of becoming an event planner? Not quite sure what it all entails, or if it’s the right industry for you? Have a read below and get an idea of what would be expected of you:
Research
The best way to reduce risk (whatever the kind) is to do your homework. For large events, research may mean making sure there’s a demand for the event or exhibition by conducting surveys, interviews or even a focus group research. If you’re new to the event planning industry, research may instead mean finding out all you can about vendors and suppliers.
Research also may mean talking to other planners who have produced events similar to the one on which you’re working. Or you may find yourself reading up on issues of custom and etiquette, especially if you’re unfamiliar with a particular type of event.
Whatever kind of event you’re planning, research should include asking your client a lot of questions and writing down the answers. Interviewing a client may not be what you immediately think of as research. However, asking too few questions, or not listening adequately to a client’s answers, can compromise the success of the event you plan.
Design
Your creativity comes most into play in the design phase of event planning, during which you sketch out the overall “feel” and “look” of the event. This is the time to brainstorm, either by yourself or with your employees. It’s also the time to pull out and look through your idea file. (You do have one, don’t you? If not, read on and take notes.)
Don’t forget to consult your notebook for the client’s answers to the questions you asked in the research phase. These responses, especially the one regarding the event budget, will help you thoroughly check each idea for feasibility, preferably before suggesting it to the client.
Proposal
Once you’ve interviewed the client and done some preliminary brainstorming, you should have enough information to prepare a proposal. Do note that the putting together of a proposal is time-consuming and potentially expensive, especially if you include photographs or sketches. While it’s a common practice in the US, South African companies seldom charge a consultation fee.
You may run the risk of having your ideas poached but, that is part and parcel of the events business.
Pricing
The goal in pricing a service is to mark up your labour and material costs sufficiently to cover overhead expenses and generate an acceptable profit. First-time business owners often fail because they unknowingly priced their services too low.
Organisation
During this decision-intensive phase, you’ll rent the site, hire vendors and take care of more details than you might believe possible. You’ll be on the phone until your ear is numb. But before you do any of this, make sure you have a contact person (either the client or someone acting on the client’s behalf) with whom you’ll discuss all major decisions.
Having a designated individual helps ensure that communication lines are kept open. Also, social events in particular sometimes suffer from the “too many cooks” syndrome. Having one designated contact helps you avoid being caught in the middle of disagreements between event participants. Generally speaking, the bigger the event, the more lead time that’s required to plan it. Major conventions are planned years in advance. Although you may not be arranging events on such a grand scale, you do need to allow at least a few months for events like corporate picnics, reunions or large parties.
Coordination
After you’ve made the initial plans, turn your attention to each of the activities that form a part of the overall event. At this point, your goal is to ensure that everyone is on the same wavelength. Good communication skills are important.
Make sure all vendors have at least a general idea of the overall event schedule. Even more important, vendors should be clear about what’s expected of them, and when. Vendor arrival times should appear in the contracts, but verify those times anyway. This is a “check and recheck” period. Make sure all your staff members know their roles.
Evaluation
The obvious, and in one sense the most important, test of an event’s success is customer satisfaction. The goal, of course, is to end up with a client who will sing your praises up and down the street, shouting it from rooftops. This is the client who will hire you again, and who will provide that famous word-of-mouth advertising for you.
There are several other ways to evaluate the success of an event. You can hire an event planning consultant; have someone who hosts extremely successful parties observe your event; plan a roundtable post-event discussion with your employees; obtain feedback from other industry professionals working at the event, like the caterer or bartender; or survey guests at or after the event.
