We all know that feeling you have when you leave the house and feel like you’ve forgotten something. Phone? Check. Keys? Check. Wallet? Check. Suddenly, you realise that you left the patio doors open and you race home to close them. Thankfully you had that feeling to remind you, but don’t worry, even the most experienced event planners can forget a crucial detail.
It doesn’t matter if it’s your first-time organising an event or you’re a seasoned veteran, you can miss something at any step of the way. Here at Hippo find the best methods is to vocalise your check lists – run them by a colleague. Two minds are better than one after all.
After working on hundreds of events, we’ve learnt lessons that every event planner ought to know, so we’ve pulled together the below list to highlight some of the perhaps most forgotten aspects to remember when organising your event.
See It From The Delegates Eyes
I can’t stress enough the importance of taking a step back every once and a while. Your to-do list will inevitably be endless, and the stress levels will be high, but by taking some time to take a step back and walk away from your laptop (even go for a walk) to think about the event will do you all the good in the world. Think about how the delegate will see your event from start to finish. It’s very easy to see it from your organisers standpoint, but how will an attendee perceive everything? Walk through the event in your mind with your ‘Attendee goggles’ on.
What You Bring On-Site
The obvious items are not those which are forgotten – your crew clothes, the collateral, the lanyards and badges etc. – but it is the not so obvious items which are. Focus on what you (key word) will need for the event. Do you need some extension leads for your crew office? Do you have enough ink for your on-site printer? Will you need to laminate anything? Highlighter pens? Spare laptop? Crew snacks for energy? Think about the small items that will make your life 10x easier on-site if you have it prepared ahead of time.
Wi-Fi
We take wi-fi for granted nowadays, and we assume everywhere has a perfect connection. Sadly that’s not the case, and many hotels and venues give you basic wi-fi and you have to pay for additional speed and bandwidth. If you are streaming content, you’ll need a faster connection. Is your event Hybrid? If so you’ll need a very strong and fast connection. Also, don’t forget to find out and display the Wi-Fi password around the event space too, so delegates can easily connect.
Communication
Have you come up with a plan for how your event team are going to communicate throughout the event? Watsapp groups are common place, but we’ve never been a fan of them as it just looks as though you’re texting your mates mid-conference, so do you need some walkie-talkie headsets? Trust me, this will make your life so much easier on-site to have instant communication the entire time.
Don’t Forget The Purpose Of The Event
Try not to ever lose sight of why the event is being held in the first place. It’s so easy to get bogged down in the organising and detail of the event that we often forget why it is this event is taking place. If it’s for your customers, then have you provided them with everything they need? If it’s internal then have you considered how you’re going to cascade the information post-event? It’s easy things to forget but you will remember if you take that moment to step back and remember why the event is being held.
Give Yourself A Break
Hands up, this is one we’re guilty of ignoring here at Hippo. Running simultaneous events all at one time is no easy task, but it’s so important to give yourself some rest time. You’re exhausted, your brain doesn’t work as well and you’re not thinking straight. You go into survival mode. Stress only motivates up to a point. Give yourself enough down time and relax. Do what makes you relax and forget about work.
Always Debrief
I’ve left this one ‘till last for a reason. Clients often see the conclusion of their event as being when delegates leave the venue, but it certainly isn’t. A lot of events are repeated events, and within a matter of days you will forget what went well, what worked, what didn’t and what tweaks you need to make next time around, and so on. It’s so vital to jot these details down as quickly as possible post-event, so you can refer to the notes when it comes around the next time. I promise you, you won’t regret this, and I can equally promise you that you will forget these details if you don’t write them down in a debrief.
Hippo offer Event Project Management and Global Venue Finding services. Contact us today on 01372 460 100 or events@hippoevents.co.uk to see how we can assist.