How To Plan A Business Event

So you’re planning on hosting an event to showcase your business and generate sales, but you’ve never done anything like this before or your previous efforts have not been as successful as you had hoped. How do you navigate the waters without sinking the ship? As the owner of an event planning service and a hospitality consultant, I have some great advice for you; keep it simple stupid.

Here are the top 5 most important things to remember when planning a business event to make sure it is a success.

Corporate Event Planning

5. Do Something Unique

I can’t tell you how many business events I have been to over the years, but I can tell you that many of them made little to no impression on me. The ones that did were few and far between. So how did they do it? Well, they all did something very unique that stood out, made me want to talk about it, and left me wanting to know more.

Right now, you must be asking yourself, “but what could they have done that was so different that it had such an impact on someone who plans business events regularly?” Ladies and gentlemen: the story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent! Last year I was invited to an event for a new dating site called DateDotCom. I began reading the invite and immediately thought this would just be another networking style event where I would walk into a large room filled with boring, desperate people looking to find their soul mate. As I got to the bottom of the email, I realized they had planned something very interesting. The dating company had already matched me up with someone and provided me with a picture and quick description. Rachel was a 26-year-old banker from New Rochelle. I was told that I should arrive alone at the event by 9pm, find Rachel and begin the competition. What competition you ask? The founders of DateDotCom had planned a scavenger/information hunt which you could only begin once you and your match found each other; we each had half of the list and couldn’t participate without each other. The hunt led us to find out about each other and about the dating service. It was genius. I spent the entire evening running around, joking, and flirting with my match while learning about her and, more importantly, about DateDotCom.

It was a very simple concept, but it had a lasting impact. I left the event knowing all there was to know about the dating service and although we didn’t win the grand prize, I got to spend my evening having a great time with a beautiful, fun, interesting woman. The next day all I could talk about was the really cool event I had been to the night before. So what is the lesson to be learned here? Think outside the box. Plan something that engages the attendees and makes them learn about your company without realizing they are doing so.

4. Keep Costs Down

This piece of advice is a no brainer; spend as little money as possible on the event to make it a success. All you need to do is cross the threshold and you’re there. Remember, a marketing event is still marketing and at the end of the day it costs money and impacts your bottom line. You want to make sure you get the biggest bang for your buck.

Most people don’t know that there are many free event planning services out there which can help you secure a venue, vendors, and even help you come up with a concept. And, it’s all free! My favorite service is the one I founded back in 2009 – ThePartyBroker.com. So don’t forget to reach out to services like mine when you begin planning.

3. Get Press or PR Push

Everyone loves to go to a fun event with some type of free booze! You know it and I know I too. Have one of your interns or lowly newbies contact different press and public relations agencies and invite them to come have a good time and learn about your company. Most of them won’t, but the few who do will create an opportunity for you to get some buzz. Make sure your staff knows who they are and go out of your way to make your business event an enjoyable experience for them. If you do this, you can be sure they will be talking about it. Only, when they talk about it, it’s to their readers and followers.

2. Leverage Technology

The days of managing RSVPs and checking guests in at the door on a paper clipboard are over, as are the days of collecting business cards and having an intern spend the entire next day performing data capture. Great services exist which can help you perform these tedious functions.

My own startup,WeGo, helps event organizers and venue staff to manage their invitation, RSVP, and check-in processes. It does so by aggregating RSVPs onto an electronic, tablet-based guest list.

1. Showcase Your Product/Service

The number one area where most event organizer screw up is in integrating their product or service into their event. You’d think this would be impossible but no, it is very common. Organizers spend so much time negotiating with venues and vendors, inviting guests and managing the RSVP process, and trying to get press and public relations to cover the event that many of them completely forget to highlight their product or service.

Don’t make this rookie mistake; follow my advice on the previous 4 points and clear up some time to focus on how to get people to know about what you do or offer.

I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors. May you all plan the most unusual, low-cost, successful events possible!