There’s a checklist of things every event coordinator considers when managing corporate and social events. However, if you’ve ever played the role, you’ll also know that despite all the checklists and meetings and long hours of planning, expect the unexpected! Fresh out of our last event experience, we’d like to share a few tips. You probably already know some of these, but here are five ways to be proactive about covering your a** in the planning process.
- Get all your service providers involved to do a site visit at the same time. At the very start of the planning process – if possible before the venue is chosen – get all the players together. You won’t know if the AV guy needs to set up in the space that the caterer needs to place a carving station, or whether or not the camera crew doing the live taping will have to run cables through an open window which will cause the door to ‘back-stage’ to remain ajar.
- Get everything in writing and don’t take anything for granted. This is one of the first commandments of ‘CYA’ in any profession. Follow every supplier meeting, telephone request from client with a contact report to confirm.
- Consult your protocol bible/ guru. Whether your event caters to 10 persons or 100, there’s protocol on everything from seating to salutations. Find out beforehand to avoid potential disasters, but also have your protocol handbook on the day of your event.
- Have a plan B for plan B! Even children have a backup plan for when things don’t go their way. As an event manager, you’ve got to be prepared to activate plan B and C at a moment’s notice.
- Brief everyone. Everyone who has a role to play should be thoroughly briefed on how the event will be rolled out and on where they fit into the programme. It’s important to not just brief persons on their specific roles, but explain the big picture. This will make your job and the job of your stage manager so much easier.
Got tips of your own? Please feel free to share.
