Continuing Education

Developing a strong foundation to plan and manage successful events

By Kathy Felice, Instructor in Mount Royal's Event Management program

Follow this advice to help make your event a success

Event planning can be part of every interest and profession. School staff can organize a talent show. A hospital can raise funds for a new piece of equipment. A gym can run a membership drive. A community can celebrate the holidays. The possibilities are endless.

Find the why

Events are an excellent means to meet a need. For example, in a not-for-profit organization, the need may be a lack of funds to run programming. A solution is to organize a fundraising event. Or, if a newly established business has come to town, they need to let people know they have arrived. The need is to make the community aware of their services. Both fundraising and awareness fall under the umbrella of the Purpose of Marketing. Educators may need to update their skills and learn about the latest trends. An event that may meet this need could be a conference with a high profile key note speaker and group workshops.  This event would meet the Purpose of Education. Holidays and personal events that bring people together for the Purpose of Celebration could be planned by families, or companies, or cities. Events that bring people together on a regularly scheduled basis, such as high school or college reunions, fall under the Purpose of Reunion.

Set your goals

Once the Primary purpose and perhaps a Secondary purpose are decided upon, measurable goals must be set. What will be different as a result of this event? What do you want to accomplish?

In fundraising, it would be a specific amount of dollars. Awareness may be a specific number of people in attendance, or the number of new members. A high percentage of attendees that indicate they learned a new skill may meet the goal of an educational event. The representation of a specific number of attendees from specific decades may be the goal of a reunion event. Goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely (SMART) must align with the purpose of the event.

Determining the Purpose and setting the event Goals provide the foundation for a well planned and executed event.

Incorporate the key components

After consulting with the event owner, a brainstorming session with vested individuals can be used to develop ideas for the inclusion of the key components: Theme, Site, Hospitality, Entertainment, Budget, Human Resources, Technical Needs, Marketing, Health and Safety and any Legal concerns.

With a wealth of ideas, a reasonable budget, a defined target market, a workable date, and a tentative number of attendees, tasks can be determined, responsibilities delegated and planning dates met.

Based on current industry standards, professional planners will develop and implement detailed critical paths and production schedules covering the event as a whole from conception to completion and follow up. Each of the key components will be covered in great detail all the while ensuring they are in alignment with the purpose and set goals. For these reasons, it is important to choose your event team wisely.  Individuals skilled in finances or graphic arts, volunteer management or tech, can be very valuable. Not only do they bring excellent ideas and a particular skill set, they also lower the overall event expenses.

Measure success

Evaluation of each event is concentrated in two areas. The first being the event components. Through observation and the collection of data from attendees and vested partners, suggested additions, deletions or modifications can be documented and reviewed for the following year’s planning.

The second, yet most important part of the evaluation process, is determining if the goals were met.

When the original goals are written in the SMART format, they can easily be evaluated as to their success. Did you raise the amount of dollars you set? Did you reach the number of attendees? Are 80% of your customers satisfied?   

When the event meets with success, the purpose has been met, the need filled, and the event owner is satisfied.

This typically results in additional business coming your way!