The biggest challenge for most event planners is reaching those who need help, but do not where and how to ask for it.
Most people start planning an event thinking, “Oh, this is going to be easy – just book a room, hire a D.J., pick the menu and send out the invitations.” Then the planning begins and things do not always go so smoothly.
Suddenly people realize a preferred venue is booked or exceeds their budget or they have no idea how to find entertainment to meet their needs and please everyone. Now the clock is ticking and they don’t know where to turn.
Some people faced with this situation enlist the help of an event planner, while others continue planning on their own. To assist both groups, RM Creative Events Management has posted a list of “Ten Tips for Planning a Perfect Business Event” on its website at
www.rmeventsinc.com.
Here are five of the ten tips.
- Choose a date that works best for you, your key staff and guests, otherwise known as stakeholders.
It is hard to pick the perfect date as there will always be someone who just can’t make it. You may even want to survey a few key guests to make sure they are available. However, you want to make sure that the date you choose is best for what you want to accomplish. A good event planner can help you find that date and work around other scheduled internal and external conflicts.
- Define the goal(s) for your event.
Is your goal to attract clients or develop a strong working environment for your staff? Before you start planning, it is important to have a clear understanding of why you are having the event. A clearly defined goal guides your planning so you can measure the events effectiveness and determine whether or not it was a success. Sometimes the immediate goal is clear but the secondary and tertiary goals are not, but are expected. An event planner can help you identify and define your goals and help you make sure they are achieved. A planner can even help you with a post-event evaluation to measure the return on your investment.
- Set a realistic budget.
One of the biggest challenges when planning an event is the budget. Many people start planning with a general idea of what they want to spend but do not have a realistic understanding about the total expenses until the actual planning begins. They start investigating the venues, invitations, entertainment, etc. and find out that everything is just a little more than they thought it would be. All those little extra fees and unexpected costs add up and can quickly exceed the amount the planning committee approved. Others don’t start with a budget and back into it, especially if they are charging a registration fee or looking for sponsorships. Either way, both can lead to problems that will wind up reducing the quality of your event. By hiring an event planner from the start, you ensure a responsible and accurate budget will be developed before any final decisions are made or contracts are signed and that should the need arise the budget will not be overspent without notice and consent. Also, an event planner often has access to and relationships with various vendors and can help negotiate better prices for certain items within the budget.
- Invite the right attendees for your event.
Depending on the type of function you are planning you will want to make sure that the people you are inviting to attend have a reason and desire to attend. For instance, if you are planning a networking event for your business, you should not only invite your employees and their families. Rather, you should invite your employees, clients and prospective clients so that productive ideas can be exchanged between your employees, clients and potential clients. You can further focus the list if you are looking to target a specific prospect base. Use your event planner to help you narrow down a list if it is too long or expand it if it is too short. Event planners can help you focus in on the key people to invite to ensure a successful event.
- Create the right theme for your event.
Every good affair has a great theme. Simply inviting people for drinks and hors d’oeuvres may not entice them to attend. However, a casino night might. Not only would you be wining and dining them, but you would be entertaining them as well. Your guests would see it as a fun night out, not just another obligation. When picking your theme, make sure you take into account your attendees’ backgrounds and tastes, so none are offended. From your theme, you can develop the décor and a design for your invitation. If you aren’t sure about what theme will work best for your affair, an event planner has the creative skills and knowledge to develop ideas and design the perfect theme for you.
These are just five of the ten tips located on RM Creative Events Management’s website. For more tips visit
www.rmeventsinc.com and stay tuned for a series of monthly articles that will further elaborate important steps to help you plan your own event. The first article “Why Am I Planning This Event?” will be available online in May.
About RM Creative Events Management, Inc.: RM Creative Events Management, Inc., founded in 2007, provides quality and personal touch event planning services to businesses, organizations and individual clients in the greater Philadelphia area. It is a proud member of The Eastern Montgomery Chamber of Commerce (EMCCC); The International Special Events Society (ISES); and The National Association of Catering Executives (NACE), BNI – Delaware Valley Region and the BuxMont Chapter of eWomenNetwork.
About Rishona Myers: Rishona Myers, President and Senior Event Planner of RM Creative Events Management, Inc., has nine years of experience working with small businesses and non-profit organizations. She worked for four years as a Special Projects Coordinator for Hadassah of Greater Philadelphia, a chapter of Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America. At Hadassah, Rishona worked with hundreds of volunteer women in the Philadelphia area to coordinate annual fund-raising, educational and advocacy events.
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