WordPress Event Ticketing

One of many job titles lavished upon event management professionals is the title of “event planner”, which kind of makes sense when you stop to think about it.  One of the main duties of every manager is to think ahead, to plan for the future and plot the road that will ensure success in fulfilling the task at hand.

Okay, so what does planning an event you are going to manage actually entail?

In order to answer that burning question, we bring you a precise list of steps and activities that you should be doing before the event takes off. In fact, you should begin your path down this list as soon as there is an executive decision that the event will be taking place… And maybe even before that, since it is never too early for some of these steps to be undertaken and to start planning your event.

One of the main duties of every manager is to think ahead, to plan for the future and plot the road that will ensure success in fulfilling the task at hand.

Set Your Event Goal

The most important thing about setting a goal is for it to be tangible. The reason for the event to take place is (usually) clear – it is the answer to the question why you are organizing the event. But determining the goal means to answer the question of what do you want to achieve with the event.

This could be as straightforward as a set number of tickets sold, or more intangible like improving the team spirit of a company branch. Whatever the case, in order to make the goal clear, you should think about what you could measure regarding the event and in what way you could do it. Basically, you need to define some performance indicators. Sometimes this will require post-event follow up in the shape of questionnaires or other ways of tracking the event’s effect on the attendees – see the final step description for more.

Establish Your Team

If you are working for an event management company, the team and the roles are probably already defined, so all that’s left is to determine and set concrete tasks as they pertain to the particular event you are organizing. As an event manager, or any other type of manager for that matter, your primary job is to delegate responsibility and oversee the execution. Consider establishing roles to manage various aspects of the event, usually through subcommittees such as venue, tech, speakers, entertainment, marketing and sponsorship.

Create an Event Plan

Commit to writing all aspects of your event: equipment list, venue and logistics (including necessary permits, if any), catering, speakers, entertainment, registration (and parking), sponsor and partner management, as well as publicity and marketing. The final product of this process should be a detailed event checklist.

Determine the persons responsible for each task and set down a timeline, culminating (but not necessarily ending with) the date of the event itself. The event itself should, of course, have its own timeline and its own list of management tasks and objectives, but if you did things right beforehand, everything should just click into place .

Determine Your Administrative Process

In the age of the cloud and people always being online, keeping track of such things as registration, where on the event timeline you are and how much of the budget has been reserved is as simple as using and online event management system.

There is a multitude of software tools available to help with this. Of course, you could still do it the old fashioned way. The important thing is to have all the information available and up to date.

Brand Your Event

Bringing people to your event (providing it is not a mandatory company gathering or some such difficult to avoid function) is all about marketing. Consider the event to be your product - and a product needs to stand out in order to be successful. After all, that is the reason why stuff like packaging design and product branding exists.

So, try to make your event as distinguished as possible. Think of a name for the event that will make it recognizable and unique in its field. Create a tagline or a key message to be displayed on event promotional materials and make it memorable and relevant to the event. Finally, design a logo that will embody the spirit of your event and facilitate recognition in promotional materials.

Create a Marketing Plan

Sometimes the product sells itself, but most of the time that is not the case – and, boy, is that ever true when it comes to events. So write down every available channel for promoting your event (that is within your budget constraints).

Use your web site, the company website, build a dedicated event website. Send out emails and hand out flyers. Contact local media. Tap your connections or your speakers’ and guests’ connections for some word of mouth publicity. And don’t forget to plan for post-event thank-yous and publicity, especially if your event is a success, as it should be.

Find Partners and Sponsors

Your event may not call for sponsors, but if it does, you need to dedicate special care and resources towards securing them. The sponsors will help you offset the cost or increase your attendance.

First, think of what sponsors and partners would be appropriate – consider what they would get out of being associated with your event and how would they benefit from the event being successful.

You can have sponsors fund just a specific segment of the event or participate with their know how, technology or other assets instead of funding. The most frequent example is  media sponsorships, where media outlets get additional visibility for their brand in return for promoting the event.

Determine What Constitutes Success

Remember, when setting your initial event goals and, you should also have considered how you will evaluate whether you have achieved them.  Event management software tools and social media are indispensible for determining performance indicators – you can easily track attendance and sales, as well as monitor online social media activity for attendee impressions and event mentions.

But don’t forget the universal rule for determining whether and event was successful: if the attendees leave happy and feel like they want(ed) to be at your event, you can congratulate yourself because you did your job well.