Event Management - Managing them without Histrionics

Events! In the corporate world, this word most often stops everyone on their tracks. And for different reasons too. To the accounts department it means expenditure, to the marketing team it means "tom-toming"  their messages further,  and to the sales it means a break from the usual routine. 

What it also means to those behind it is sleepless nights, high blood pressure, increased pulse rate, alternately bullying, cajoling or begging, praying (real hard), histrionics, a forced calm and finally an exhausted `let me sit by myself alone for two minutes and let it all sink in’ .  

Take a trip down memory lane.

Remember the time you organized that massive press conference for the launch of your product. You spent money and time choosing the right hotel, in creating the right ambience for your upscale creation, an exotic menu to go with it, the specially designed invites, the expensive gifts bought and wrapped appropriately, the Hawaiian dancers who did a jig just before the product was carried on stage by the celebrity. All set and ready to go. And then Kaput! The main speaker, in this case the Managing Director, is caught in a traffic jam near the airport and there is no way he can make it to the podium in the next couple of hours. And worse, there is no one else to replace him. What do you do?

Did you have the presence of mind to let him talk through his mobile to the audience from his silent AC car while you visually took the viewers through the slide, or did you apologize for the absence giving the very genuine reason and got on with the program as scheduled, minus the MD’s presentation?  Or else did you rise to the occasion and got on to the podium yourself after all you did make the presentation slide-by-slide for him?  

Events , whatever kind they may be, can be very simple to run, like a special employee lunchtime cookout, or more complex, like a three-day meeting for your priced customers and prospects. The bad news is that they can go wrong. The good news on the other hand is that you can pull-off an event successfully in spite of a few set backs. All you require is a little of PPP - Planning, Presence of mind and Preparation time.

Whatever be the level of complexity of your event, here are some tips to help you minimize the pain and agony of those unexpected last-minute surprises.

Plan the Basics

1.      Be very clear what you want as the end result of your event.

Whether it be a customer meet, a press conference or a training,  it is absolutely critical that we know what we want to gain from this event.

Whatever the reason for the event,  if all participants are kept well informed about the agenda and the end result, we stand a better chance of achieving the target without any last minute surprises.

2.     Be realistic

Once you’ve got the ideal results on the table, determine what is realistic given the  time and resources we have on hand. Make sure you align expectations between you and your client or manager somewhere in the initial stages itself.

Several years ago one of our team members chaired a three-day conference on ` Providing Quality Professional Experience & Making a Profit for the Association’ . It was to be a paid event targeting marketing and sales professionals from the IT industry.

Although several of the board members wanted to focus on attracting over 300 paying attendees, she knew from past experience not to expect more than a 100. It would be much more smart to focus on a `Quality Experience’ for those who did attend than worry about the numbers that didn’t put in an appearance.

And she  made it a point to mention this issue at an opportune moment to avoid disappointments later.

      3.     Establish a budget. 

How much will the event cost? How much do you really have to spend? When figuring out how much your event will cost think about the quality of desired end result, the quality and quantity of materials and the timeframes.

Review your timeframes to see if they will have any impact on the budget. For instance, if you decide suddenly to have a special event inviting key customers,  you are up against costs that are easily avoidable. Each invitee would have to be sent an invitation by courier - Federal Express if they are coming from abroad! The venue will have to be taken at the cost offered as there will not be many venues available at such short notice, and you will most probably pay the price in full knowing well the food would be average. Not to forget that you may not even be able to get hold of a good speaker and may need to go with whoever is available, and whwtever be the price they come at!

Compare this to the better alternative -  If you had spread out your timeline,  you could line up a good speaker of your choice, e-invites followed  by reminders could have been sent, an exotic yet relatively less expensive venue could have been identified, and that way not only would the invitees have been happy but we also have saved enormously on cost. And,  the chances of goof ups are few.

      4.    Decide how to accomplish and schedule completion for individual tasks.  

 Once you know what your goals are, the next task is to figure out the sub-goals, such as theme, speaker, agenda and invitees, as well as details such as transportation, meals, entertainment, lodging, registration and collateral.  Identify activities that can be outsourced, and vendors who can be relied upon.

Establish task timeframes. Determine how long each task will take, and which tasks are dependent upon previous tasks. Break these into tasks with deadlines and delegate. It may be a good idea to plan significant events rigorously using tools such as MS-Project. Managing an event is no different than running a software project.

     5.     Assign responsibility for each sub-goal within the organization

Who is responsible for the individual pieces of the event? Assign responsibilities in your event plan and  send copies to these identified personnel with their tasks in bold. This will save your neck in case anyone forgets or just simply goofs up!

Anticipate this scenario and have a secret plan B in your cards. Thus, participants are not left twiddling their thumbs just because your colleague forgot to remind the caterer about the advancement of the lunch timings. Unfold plan B, in the form of an  interesting 15 minute talk on `tough customers & interesting replies’ which actually develops into an interactive session that extends well into lunch time.

           Create a master plan. 

              Based on the checklist develop a master plan which includes the budgeting, Plan A and Plan B. Incorporate
              all the key elements. 
              Use this as your master event guide.

     6.    Regularly review master plan and communicate consistently. 

Review the plan to make sure that the key elements are in alignment. Make revisions as and when needed. Make a note in your status reports of any changes. Make sure you get necessary approvals before making changes to your plan.  Keep your boss informed of all these changes and keep all other concerned parties in the loop. Decide how often you will submit written status reports. The same holds good for your colleagues who are contributing  towards the success of this event. For even if your event is being run informally, you will still need written status reports to justify your activities and to create a history for future events.