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You may think running an event is a breeze, but do your guests really feel it’s been a success? There are many factors that, if not done properly, can make creating a successful event difficult.
With this in mind, let’s consider what experts in event facilities SRP Hire Solutions believe makes for a great event, including what you should do and when.
Start Early
Identify the event’s purpose, find the venue and enquire about hiring essential facilities. Then plan for other essentials, source suppliers, check availability, and pay deposits to ensure you get all the benefits.
Give yourself at least four months and, better still, six months to plan a significant event. Whether it is a music festival, corporate event, recurring event or even a birthday party you will need to have the right amount of time for proper planning.
Getting the best venue and hiring facilities requires booking up to a year ahead, especially for busy times of the year. For ease, why not look for one company you can approach for all your event-hire facilities, such as portable toilet and shower units, including luxury ones, if you want to raise the level of facilities on offer?
Cost
Set a realistic budget early on, and include a contingency sum so that you can save money down the line. Once you have budgeted for essentials, you can see what’s left for extras.
Costs generally include covering things such as:
Venue – including hire cost and insurance
Catering – tea van or full-on meal catering
Decorations – what do you want to buy to give your event flair
Entertainment – performers, exhibitors and PA systems
Marketing – How much will it cost to promote your event
Labour – Your staffing needs
Contingency – Aim for a minimum of 20% to handle unforeseen events
Planning
As they say, ‘fail to plan, plan to fail.’ Wouldn’t it be awful if your event failed simply because you didn’t plan sufficiently? No matter how much you think you’ll remember, having it in writing with dates and timescales will be invaluable if it gets hectic. You will need to remember to check the availability of facilities and people and to pay outstanding balances when they are due, or you could find yourself needing more staff and essentials.
An event plan will help you identify tasks you can delegate but remember to check that it’s all coming together when you aren’t directly involved. There is plenty of event planning software available to help you make it a success.
Health and Safety
Refrain from falling foul of legal and expected health and safety aspects for visitors and staff. Ensure you check out your duties and responsibilities as the event organiser, Resources from the Health and Safety Executive are a great place to start.
Successful event planning covers all bases and organizers need to ensure that all visitors are well looked after.
Build Your Brand
You may only be holding a one-off event, but your branding is what your potential visitors and guests see first and judge you by, especially for repeated events. It will also build longevity and a reputation for future events, so it’s worth ensuring you have a strong brand that gets you noticed.
Branding of your event will make it feel much more professional to suppliers, visitors and most importantly to investors and sponsors if you plan any future events.
Sponsorship
This has to be a two-way benefit for you and the businesses you choose, so think about how you can help them and how they benefit you. Depending on your event size, one or a handful of sponsors can be invaluable. Suppose you have a similar target audience; that can tempt them into offering complementary services or having a presence at your event. In that case, their promotion will raise your event profile, so it’s worth considering.
Sponsors who have shared interests in the topic of your event will increase loyalty from both them and visitors. Well known sponsors along with local businesses can enhance your reputation and boost your credentials that is important when putting on any gathering.
Marketing
The key to any event is attendance, so once you have planned the occasion of the decade, it’s time to make sure people know about it. From pre-launch through to post-event marketing, target your ideal audience in ways that you know they engage with your business or events of a similar style to the one you are planning so that you know exactly what it is when it is and how great it will be.
Our last words on planning a successful event are ensuring you understand how to deliver the event to your target audience. The more perfect the fit, the more successful your event will be.
