17 Mar Managing Memorable Events
Planning top events is an issue that raises a lot of questions for event managers to answer from how to find event speakers, which licenses you to need for the venue, how to calculate ROI and how to make the event successful and memorable to your attendees.
To that end, event managers seek the web to find answers and instead of getting the answers, they need they get tumbled with a glut of information that sometimes contradicts and can be confusing to apply.
To simply get help and simplify event planning, start by getting the knowledge and tools to manage memorable events, here is a list of distilled event management best practices gleaned from years of planning and managing the industry’s top events:
The success of any event is driven by solid goals regardless of the event type and these goals, if stemming from the business objectives and are well set up, it can help event managers accurately calculate event ROI, dictate their planning steps, help them define benchmarks to measure performance and get them to their chosen destination quickly.
To set event goals, you as an event manager start with your business goals and figure out how your event can help you fulfill them. If you’re having a difficult time creating business goals, start by answering these questions:
What do I hope to achieve from the event?
Why am I hosting this event?
What was the initial driving force?
Do I want to increase brand awareness?
Generate qualified leads?
Promote a new product?
What are my organization’s business goals?
What does event success look like to my organization?
What does event success look like to my attendees and sponsors?
How to satisfy my attendees and sponsors?
Align with my business goals?
Fulfill my event objectives?
Decide on Budgets to Stay on Track
To get the most out of every dollar spent on an event, you as an event manager need to establish a budget to keep you accountable and prevent overspending. When the event concludes, you’ll use your budget to calculate revenue vs. expenses or your event ROI.
Below are some tips on event budgeting:
Create a list of items that will incur a cost.
Start with budgeting high-priced items first, as they’ll eat up most of your budget (venue, catering, production).
Get as close to accurate pricing as possible. Secure multiple estimates from vendors if necessary.
Estimate costs, It’s impossible to know exact costs early on, but get estimates where possible and review historical data on pricing, if available.
Use Tools to Save Money and Maximize Efficiency
Since planning for an event is tedious and challenging, you as an event manager should try to create seamless events in which you accomplish your goals in record time and execute an ROI-driven event by a specific deadline that pleases your clients.
To that end, use an event management software to automate manual tasks with processes that occur behind the scenes that require minimal human input. As such you will end with fewer errors and increased productivity without hiring more people.
Simplify and streamline your event planning and let the software handle the complex, tedious grunt work. With this software, you can automate the whole process of event planning from ticketing to registration, check-in, webinars, live streaming, sponsorship opportunities, marketing, event project management and planning, attendee engagement/gamification, networking, analytics, and data gathering and event feedback.
Delight Attendees With Amazing Experiences
As an event manager, you have to put above all the amusement of your attendees for the success of your event. If they become happier they will hang around your event longer, participate in activities, become members of your community, and stay connected with you long after the event.
To succeed in that highlight the following:
1-Live chat, Q&A, and polls
Anything from social media platforms can drail attendees’ attention like anything from incoming emails and texts, to barking dogs and Instagram messages. While live chat provides real-time interaction, polling and Q&A give attendees a chance to offer feedback, feel valued, and get more involved in the event’s activities.
2-Gamification
Friendly competition makes events fun and compelling! Whether for virtual or in-person events, host fun games and reward attendees with themed prizes.
3-Fun and engaging activities
Make events more engaging by incorporating fun activities that provide enjoyable experiences. Like: Icebreakers – Hold icebreaker sessions between content sessions, Parties, classes, and entertainment – Give attendees a chance to relax and have some fun! Incorporate meetups and classes as part of your event and Event swag – Event swag can prep attendees for your event experience, bring sponsors exposure which will help you generate more revenue.
Make It Personalized and Memorable
As an event manager, you have also to make the event memorable and personalized and that is:
Keep communication ongoing before, during, and after the event.
When attendees register, collect data on company roles, preferred business topics, preferred content formats (video, audio, etc.), industries, and preferred event classes and activities.
Curate agendas:
Curate content agendas based on their company roles and preferences.
Recommend topic-focused networking sessions: Similar to curating agendas according to attendee preferences, recommend networking sessions that cater to an attendee’s interests.
Invite attendees to meetups, chat, or classes based on their behavior and interests. Do they prefer dogs over cats? Invite them to a dog-lovers chat where attendees can boast about their favorite pet moments.
Give Sponsors a Reason to Partner With You
To bring in more sponsors to the event to generate revenue, you as an event manager have to show them enough value and reward to participate. To that end, give sponsors past event data that details results (banner views and clicks, leads, proposed and attended meetings, session views, etc.) and put together a package that outlines your best opportunities for exposure.
Include things like:
Sponsor booths – Whether virtual or in person, sponsor booths allow brands to connect with attendees one-on-one. Sponsors can showcase their brand and offerings via customized booths to increase exposure and generate qualified leads.
Virtual sponsor booths can run live chats, meetings, demos, and discussions.
Gamification – Get sponsors involved with event games and activities to attract attendees to their booths and content.
Sponsor profiles – Whether via your mobile event app or event management platform, give sponsors the ability to create customized profiles.
Attendees can visit the profiles to get more information about the sponsor, get links to websites and event sessions, and connect with them directly to schedule networking sessions or meetings.
Tiered sponsorship – Give sponsors multiple options for exposure (large booth, medium booth, VIP, video rooms) that fit their budget and expectations.
Dedicated video rooms (virtual) – Give virtual sponsors access to dedicated Video Rooms where they can connect with attendees, engage in group conversations, run product demonstrations, or conduct presentations. In-person event sponsors can offer the same content with on-site breakout rooms.
Event swag – Give brands the ability to sponsor event swag and put their logo on event gifts.
Event ROI: Track Everything and Leave Nothing to Guesswork. In tracking everything in an event, especially if handling multiple events use seamless data gathering through digital components because it’s easy to track an attendee’s digital footprint, to track top-level and granular data on attendee and sponsor activity.
For in-person events, incorporate a mobile event app that offers attendees a more immersive and seamless experience. The best event apps allow attendees to curate agendas, network with attendees and sponsors, check in to sessions, and more. Event apps should also track attendee activity, making it easier for event managers to gather data and justify ROI.
How to Master Hybrid Events
These events are new to the event scene and due to the pandemic, they have been developed to create an event experience that catered to both in-person and virtual attendees, so as an event manager you have to allocate the best resources and put on your creative hat to get empowered to create unique hybrid events.
Why don’t you as an event manager implement these best practices and plan engaging, memorable events that achieve your event goals with Stage Gorillaz?
Stage Gorillaz is a Dubai-based event management company that offers fully-fledged events services in the UAE. We specialize in producing innovative, sophisticated, and cutting-edge events that tell your brand’s story and deliver your message through thoughtful purpose-driven engagement.
