Our guide to organising an event

(Posted on 03/12/15)

 

Organising an event requires wearing many hats, talking to a lot of people and taking into consideration a wide variety of things, but don’t be daunted: our simple, 10-point guide can provide you with a useful starting point. Here’s what you should do.

 

Create a specific goal

Allow yourself to plan as effectively as possible by first understanding what you need to achieve specifically. Is it launching a new product, or securing x number of charitable funds? Quantify this goal if you can.

 

Identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

Thinking through these four things will help shape your ideas to give your event the best possible chance of success. Think about potential competition and how you can either avoid it or provide something better.

 

Tailor your event to a target audience

It may already be obvious who your target audience is, but if you don’t have one yet then you will need to identify one. Events usually work better when they cater to the particular interests of a group of people or demographic.

 

Choose a time, date and location to suit your target audience

Think about when/where your target audience is most likely to attend your event. Some people may be attracted to a particular location, whereas others might be actively looking for more things to do at certain times of the year. 

 

Create a highly detailed, logistical plan

The devil is usually in the detail, so you need to make sure everything is taken into consideration in early stages planning. You don’t want to be wondering where the spare batteries are if your microphone stops working!

 

Include a budget

Budgeting is very important as you don’t want to encounter surprise costs later down the line. You want to keep costs low, figuring out what minimum expenditure is required to achieve your goal, or how much is needed to make a profit.

 

Include marketing ideas

Make sure you have a good idea of how you will motivate your target audience to attend your event well in advance, identifying strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats similar to above.

 

Get more hands on deck
Delegating work will help you manage your time better, allow your event to run smoothly, make the most of other people’s abilities and give you more contacts to help sell tickets.

 

Stay organised

Events usually take months of preparation and you will have to get the ball rolling far in advance in order to make yours a success. Use tools such as Gantt charts and Excel to help you plan out what tasks need completing when.