Exhibiting an event may seem like a stressful task but it is definitely worth all the stress. It all starts with the planning, without successful planning and promotion skills an event can fail before it has even started. A few things for planning are to have a budget and try your best to stick to it. Throughout the planning process keep an updated sheet of all the expenses and what you have left for what. Also make sure to have a backup plan. Things fall through, vendors may cancel so make sure you know what to do if this happens. This can save you a lot of time and stress on the day of the event if you already have a plan.
In getting the word about the event out, you want to use all successful promotion techniques. This includes social media. Facebook is a great way to do this. You can create an event on facebook and invite everyone you know and leads them to the website where they can receive more information. Other ways to inform the community is by advertising the event in local newspapers and magazines.
Throughout the planning process make sure to have a detailed checklist. This is your backup brain, if you forget something your list will save you. On your list include each activity, when it is suppose to happen and who is in charge of making it happen, whether it’s you or a co-worker. For the event you want to make sure that you know what the purpose of your event is. What are you trying to get out of this? Are you trying to develop more customers or thank customers? Once you know the purpose of the event you can go from there.
Don’t plan the event two weeks before. Allow three to six months of planning prior to the event, depending on the size of the event. Quick planning can cause sloppy work and a lot of mishaps during the event. In order to make sure the event is successful you need to develop techniques prior to the event. You can base event effectiveness on attendance, sales or increase in business profile. For wedding planning, we would focus on the amount of new weddings we gained from the event.
Another way to successfully plan an event is to attend similar style events. Check out what they have done, talk to the person running it for any tips and tricks. A lot of times they will tips for you that completely crossed your mind. This gives you the insider information.
On the day of the event it’s important to remain calm. Try and designate things to other people, you cannot expect to do everything by yourself. Allowing other people to help you will allow you to take a step back and analyze the overall event. The host should be able to go around and communicate with the audience. This will also allow you to get a general consensus of people’s perception of the event.
After the event is over give yourself a pat on the back. You did it, but before you are completely done there are a few things you should do. One, is to make sure you thank everyone one for their help, vendors, sponsors, guests etc. Two, post pictures of the event online. Show people what they missed out on. It will also serve as a reminder to the people who did come, what a good time they had. Evaluate the event, was it successful? Did you fulfill what you had planned? If not, try and think of what you need to change.
Exhibiting an event includes a lot of steps. It is not always fun and games but try and make the most of it!
