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While updating all those spreadsheets, checking and double-checking the details until your brain hurts, do you ever think there must be a better way to plan events and festivals? Do you ever wonder if other planners are doing the same thing or have a better way? Do they know something you don't? What you are feeling is FOBO: The fear of better operations. Does event management software cure FOBO? There are loads of Event Management Software products on the market, lots are gr

What do we mean by tech rehearsal? This is the pre 'show' run-through. You have set up the room, everything is ready: Now you do a tech rehearsal. This is when you go through every element of the day: audience walk in, how you will kick off, each presentation, what you do at the breaks, and how you will close. 1. Ironing Out the Technicalities Tech Rehearsals are your best defense against technical mishaps. This is the time to test audio-visual equipment, lighting, and any o

Step 1: Agree on the critical path Yes it sounds dramatic — but the “critical path” is simply the process of identifying key dates in the planning process, eg. the date you need to have the branding ready, finalise the program, start marketing the event etc. The first thing to do when planning is to agree on these key dates (AKA the critical path) with the team. All the other hundreds of tasks that are associated with delivering an event will be scheduled according to these d

Step 1: Get the lead team together Who should be in your lead team? You need someone to be clearly responsible for each of the main components: Content Promotion Logistics You will also need an overall Event Lead. The Content Lead Being the content lead is more than just putting the program together — it’s leading the process in deciding on the flow of the event, the vibe, the branding, the messaging, even the catering and the take-aways . It is the how of “how will I get the

Step 1: write the business case for your event Many events go ahead without a business case — some very successfully! But miss this step and you risk wasting a lot of time down the track and missing opportunities to maximise your return on investment. A good business case will give the planning process direction and clarity as well as help you make decisions on content, promotion and logistics. Business Case Questions 1. What is the business objective? Keep your answer high l

Attention span is decreasing; a recent media report from GWI stated 91% of category respondents used a mobile while watching TV. This is indicative of what we know to be true. We skim read, we jump between media channels, we do everything at speed. This leaves little time for deep thought. But deep thought is where the magic happens. Deep thought is where ideas are formed, where innovation takes place, where strategies are formulated that can change the fortunes of your busin

What would a film be like without a sound track? Would the scary bit work without the haunting music? Would your tears of happiness flow as much without the uplifting romantic backing track? The answer, of course, is no. More subtly, lighting has the same effect on our mood. Both tools we have at our disposal at nearly every business event we hold, but do we use them to good effect? As business event planners our first concern is normally operations, logistics. I would be cur

Google 'Gen Z are rubbish at networking' and you will get a lot of opinions, mainly in the affirmative. But every past generation seems to look poorly upon the rising generation. Even the ancient greeks despaired of 'the youth of today'. But changes in work habits have changed the norm when it comes to networking. This is very relevant to event planners as networking is one of the main reasons people attend your events. The need is there, even if they don't know it Work from

It's the day of the event, registration is about to open and you are nervous. Will they turn up? How many will turn up? With all the sophistication around data analytics the one measure of success stays true in events: Bums on seats! Getting those Bums! Maybe not the most flattering way to refer to our audience, but how do you increase the chances of having a full house? Marketing is the obvious answer. The question then is, what exactly are you marketing? You have your own r

Event apps are great. Every year there are new features available, new ways to network, to engage and gamify the attendee experience. There are also new ways to collect data, to gain a deeper understanding of your audience. But all this comes a a price, in both time and hard cash which puts the app out of reach for most events. In fact, in our estimation, apps are used on less than 5% of events. The Other 95% The other 95% of events still need to share programs or agendas, b

There will be wide ranging views on the question 'What's the most important decision when planning an event?'. Venue location is always up there, budget, time of year, maybe even objectives. Not many would say where and how you build your program or agenda. But it turns out this will have a massive impact on planning. It's the why The program or agenda is the reason you are doing the event, to deliver an experience to your target audience. All planning decisions revolve aroun

We asked a few seasoned event producers to give us their thoughts on speaker briefs. This is what we learnt; Most speaker briefs focus on logistics: Where the speaker needs to be and at what time. But a good brief can have a dramatic effect on the quality of speaker performance. A good brief can be the difference between an average performance and a great performance from your speakers. Put yourself in the shoes of the speaker A speaker will have a topic, they can know their

It's always number one on the event planning check list for business events: Set Objectives. We go through the motions, set the objectives but if we are honest, can you remember the objectives by the time you deliver the event and do you really measure return on objectives [ROE]? We asked a number of marketers and event professionals who did not want to give their names and the answer was NO! Why objectives don't work most of the time The feedback we got was objectives are o

Here is a common problem raised by our event planning community: Help! Event planning can snowball really fast. Constant changes, unforeseen issues, immovable deadlines can leave you feeling overwhelmed and in need of help. But how easy is it to get that help. By the time I explain I may as well do it myself How many of you have said or thought this? How many of you have offered to help a colleague only to be told this? With so many moving parts in event planning it is easy t

We’ve never met an event planner who doesn’t use spreadsheets. Spreadsheets for the master program. Spreadsheets for tasks. Spreadsheets for schedules. Spreadsheets for speaker management. Spreadsheets for vendor coordination. They’re fast, familiar, and easy to set up. But they’re also one of the biggest reasons event planners lose sleep. Why? Because every single event change, and there are always changes, means manually updating information across multiple documents, sched