Guide To Successful Event Planning

Whether you’re producing an annual industry event or planning your first ever business conference, event planning can be a long and arduous process if you don’t have a step-by-step plan to follow. The good news is that the steps in the event planning checklist below can help you make sure that nothing falls through the cracks and your attendees have the best possible experience at your business conference.

There are so many things to consider when planning an event--vendors, venues, budgets, guest speakers, timelines, AV, and more--that it is easy to get overwhelmed as you make the first steps.

_{Event Plan}

After deciding on goals and objectives, creating a budget, choosing dates and venues, and finding the right professional speakers, finally, it is time to build out your overall event plan. Before planning an event, or even before building a team, it is best to determine the location and dates of your event. It is important to nail down your event dates early on in planning, so that you can book your venues dates and book entertainment. Choosing the location of your event and the date are the two main considerations that will determine the rest of the plans of the project.

Event Date

Choosing a date and venue can make or break your event, so be sure to take your time and do your due diligence in this stage of your event planning. While no two events are alike, each has different goals, budgets, and audiences; there are a few steps that you can take to get your planning process started, stay on track, and maximize the success of your event. Your date is especially critical when considering the guest speakers you want to hire.

Event Speakers

Hiring speakers for your event can be a daunting task as not only are they expensive, but you need to plan months in advance to coordinate with them. According to the speaker agency Keynote Speakers, you should try and book your guest speakers at least 3 to 6 months in advance of the date of your event. The lead time could be a lot longer if you want to book high profile speakers like Daymond John or Barbara Corcoran from Shark Tank.

According to Motivational Speakers, professional speakers rates start at $10,000 and can go up to $100,000 depending on the type of speaker you want to book. This is why it is important to contact a speakers bureau as soon as possible so that you can get information on availability and costs of the speakers you want to hire.

Event Goals

Establishing your events purpose is one of the first things you will want to do in planning an event. When planning any event, you need to define the series of objectives that will sustain your end goal. When setting initial goals and objectives, you should think about how you will measure your event in order to determine its success.

If you know the core goals of your organization prior to planning, you will ensure every component of your event is optimized to succeed. Your events design and overall plan should be as detailed as possible in order to make sure that your event is

successful. As an event planner, it can be difficult to maintain the structure and simplicity in your plan that you want.

Whether you are a veteran event planner or newbie, these steps should hopefully help you to effectively (re)organize your processes. Based on your events objectives, we can begin to build out the blueprint of an event plan.

Step 1 of planning an event is to outline goals, objectives, and an approximate schedule for important events. If you are planning an important event such as a conference, we can help you create, structure, and map your event plans out in an effective way.

Your overall plan will change during your event planning process, but having something to reference helps to keep in mind the budget constraints, goals, staff details, etc. Creating an event master plan allows you to make sure each aspect stays on track, and also makes it easier to coordinate with volunteers and members of your events committee.

Volunteer Management & Accountability

When planning an event, consider creating an itemized schedule, too, so that things run smoothly. Make sure you and your team keep your events goals and objectives in mind throughout the planning process.

If your organization is already committed to whatever event it is, having goals and scope helps move the needle in the next stage of planning. It might seem obvious, but staying focused on your events goal from the beginning will help to realize your vision. This initial plan needs to incorporate the critical details as you think about how we are going to accomplish your events objectives. Taking time to plan out an event between four and six months in advance will help turn any idea into

a success.

No matter how big or small your event is, a good plan addresses details like the start and end dates, budget, location, marketing, attendees, and so on, so that everything runs smoothly. Up your event management game and utilize these event management steps to help you avoid any last-minute issues, as well as to build an experience that your audiences cannot put

down.