The small details add up

When creating an event there is always that moment where every single detail seems to be up in the air, half planned but not quite complete. Finding ways to maximize the details can be what makes a good event great and a great event extraordinary.  Now when I mention details, this encompasses a number of different areas.

In communication:

The need to consider details starts with each initial communication to any contact.  How are you presenting the event from the very beginning?  Are you ensuring your vision and purpose is clear?  Doing so can open up opportunities for your suppliers and vendors to make suggestions they feel will compliment this.  The truth of the matter is, you cannot be an expert in every single area of an event, so this feedback from suppliers can draw in ideas that you may not have been  able to generate on your own.

In decoration:

You never know when that one small extra item will be the perfect touch that pushes the event over the edge.  It is always ideal to have people saying things such as "Did you notice the napkin rings that went so perfectly?" or "The picture in the bathroom was a hilarious."  To make a theme or idea clear at an event consider how you can do so in ways that people would not expect.

In wording:

Now I separate this from communication as here I am referring to wording of any written material presented to those attending your event.  From invitations (which is the most obvious and usually taken care of) to signage, entertainment and menus, ensuring the theme or tone of the event is reflected here can make a great difference.

In supplier and venue selection:

When selecting any supplier or vendors for an event, it is important not to only compare your options based on cost.  The time I find most critical to do so is for charity or cause events.  This is because having suppliers and vendors that can align with your cause, I truly feel, drives them to bring even more to the event.  Now of course this needs to be weighed against creating the best return for your charity/cause as well and most  every situation is unique.

*Note, I do not suggest someone loses site of the big picture of an event, or stresses over trying to ensure every single last small detail is capitalized on, but rather to help ensure they simply take moments to delve a little deeper every now and then.

I'm sure I will be back at some point to reassess how I feel about these points as I often find as my experience in events grows so does my perspective on a number of topics.  Please feel free to let me know any thoughts you may have in the comments.  I'm always excited to hear and discuss events with others who have a passion for event planning. :)

Your Ambassadors Are Your Event

After a recent experience working an event as a brand ambassador it is clear to me that it can be easy even for experienced experiential marketing firms to miss the small details.

I truly feel that it is critical to ensure that you take care of your brand ambassadors to ensure that they are in turn creating the best experience for your consumers.  Key considerations include:

• various scheduling options should be considered, weighing the value and cost of long shifts with breaks or shorter shifts not requiring breaks 
• if breaks are required and the event is ongoing with no clear opportunities to take breaks, take the guess work out and schedule breaks to ensure appropriate breaks are taken, helping to ensure reps are at their best the entire time 
• develop clear check in-check out schedule, whether by text or simply a designated paper, allowing for management of hours worked and breaks taken
• determine clear sampling plan (if applicable) based on expected traffic and amount of product available
• provide what you promise your reps, don't want to be the one to make them uncomfortable or disappointed because you didn't follow through, for example promising hat or gloves when running an event outside 
• create opportunities for managers to follow up with reps and create coaching experience, reps should always be growing in their ability to interact with consumers 

Happy and satisfied reps create the most memorable experiences for consumers.  

Supporting Events with Great Files

When creating an event one feature that helps to ensure smooth execution is your supporting files.  How you collect and organize your information can affect the overall experience you have with your event. The event management industry is ever changing, you need to be able to look at your information quickly to make fast and accurate decisions.

Now before I get in too deep here, you may be asking exactly what type of files I am referring to.  Some supporting files can include (but not limited to):

• registration (either ones you create or how the software you utilize organizes information) 
• vendor contact information 
• sponsorship 
• critical path 

If your files are clear and well organized it will allow you to determine the progress of your event, give updates to your client with ease and generally save you time and frustration.  This may seem straightforward, but when you get busy with an event it can be difficult to take that time in the beginning and think about the most effective way to organize your information.  

A few small things to do to help your files stay organized (even if you aren't an excel wiz!):

Create your documents before you start putting in information.  When you take down information for the first time into a Microsoft Excel document for example you aren't really thinking about how you will be utilizing it later on, so building a document around this first take can result in difficult formatting changes later.  Often  there is a lot of information that is great to know and have on hand, but consider what is going to be the most important feature you will be looking at when using that document, make it your starting point and organize your file accordingly.

If creating a document in Microsoft Excel utilize all the features to their full potential.  If you have a long list of suppliers for the various aspects of your event a simple sort and filter can allow you to jump easily through the list.  Additionally, formatting a contact list of participants in such a way that e-mails of those confirmed are exported to one sheet and e-mails of those still on the fence go to another allows you to send mass e-mails to these separate groups without any frustration.  As a bonus, this list is automatically updated as you change their status in the main document!  (TIP: Google is your best friend when it comes to learning how to use Excel functions, there are tons of easy and straightforward videos to show you anything you want to do!) 

And lastly, make it look nice.  There is nothing worse than having stress of an unorganized file add to the craziness that event planning can already be.  Adding your favourite colour here and there can just simply be relaxing.  

If you are having trouble getting organized I'm always willing to give any suggestions I can.

Good luck!   

Felt it was fitting.

If you have not yet seen the video, you must watch it.  It will likely say things you at one point considered.  I add it here, as it took me a long time to realize how to actually do this in my own life.  For me this blog is one way for me to try and reach my goal of doing what I love.  Through this blog I hope to push myself to advance in my skills and create for myself an understanding of what I am capable of.

What will you become a master of? 

If it seems impossible you aren't considering it the right way. It will be simple, not easy, just simple.

A Second Race Around the World

As I mentioned previously, I am quite the Amazing Race fan, still wishing I had taken the time to apply for The Amazing Race Canada.  My love of the show came through in another event  I was part of creating, this time for local youth at a community center during May Youth Week.  Involvement in this event was strictly voluntary and I loved every second of it.

This time creating the event of my dreams was some what restricted as I learned really what it meant to handle restrictions and liability concerns.  As one would guess, this came as a result of the event being delivered by the city and city staff overseeing the event.  I was still able to stay within the race around the world theme, but on a slightly different note.

For this event I created "passports" for the teams of 2-3 children to use as they traveled to different countries located in different areas of the community center.  To keep it simple they were able to visit the areas in any order they chose, but understood that if another team was there they may have to wait for them to finish first.  Once they collected all the required stamps they were able to make their way to the finish line for some celebratory pizza.

Some of the countries and events included:
-learning a traditional German dance from a video (performed by myself and my oh so helpful boyfriend)
-turning their partner into a mummy in Egypt
-take shots at targets with a soccer ball in Brazil
-recreating a masterpiece painting in France

The event ran very well and the children had a great time, even though we had to have "border patrol" in the halls making sure they weren't running from room to room.

Some of the key skills I developed while creating this event included the ability to be a leader in situations where I am meeting and working with people for this time.  This event made me much more confident in the future when working with volunteers and on teams that had to accomplish a number of tasks shortly after meeting.  Prior to this I had always been more of a supporter, doing everything I could to ensure those around me were getting access to resources and completing tasks as required.  This position allowed me to realize when I need to step forward and take some control to make sure events run smoothly and successfully.

The event also allowed me to be quick on my feet with developing multiple solutions when faced with red tape so to speak.  To put this in perspective my first idea for this event was to have it in a local park and work with local businesses to allow the youth to come into their stores to receive clues.  I was really hoping we could work on challenging the stigma that all the youth in the area are up to no good.  But I suppose I can keep that in the back of my mind and who knows maybe some day I will have the chance.

It was also my first time working in a much stricter environment with regards to safety and ability considerations.  It was very important for this event to be accessible to anyone who would like to play without creating the possibility of exclusion.  I have become much more attentive to how I word anything that  a participant will need to read during the lead up and execution of an event.  This I found has been very beneficial as not everyone is aware of how what they say can or rather cannot be interpreted by others.

It was an amazing event to be a part of and the smiling laughing faces of all the youth involved was more than enough to remind me why I love doing this work.

"A child's smile is worth more than all the money in the world." 

The Haks Do "The Amazing Race"

One of the most fun events I had the opportunity to plan, was not for work or even volunteering, but was the time I planned a mini "Amazing Race" for my family reunion.  A long time fan of The Amazing Race (new season starting Feb. 17th!) I created this version for my family just because I knew I would enjoy doing so.

When starting this event, I knew I had to do it justice, down to the smallest details.  My family was divided into four teams and after the "opening ceremonies" raced around my property, the park across the street and the fire department next door looking for clues and completing challenges.  Everything from searching through wine bottles, completing puzzles and digging through bowls of macaroni without using your hands was included.  I had road blocks, detours and clues found by GPS coordinates.  One of my favorite clues was having my cousin who was in France at the time record a video message as a surprise to kick off the race.  (Had a few people in tears after that one!)

Although I would say it went off successfully and everyone had a great time, I definitely learned a lot from the experience, here are just a few items from a longer list:

     1.  The importance of training those volunteering/working at events, preparing them for what is to come and ensuring they will follow direction.

In my case, this was my parents.  The morning of the event I had to explain to them the path they would take as I required them to move from station to station as the teams passed through them.  It was last minute and this caused some confusion and improvisation that led to some teams feeling others received an advantage.  It's important direction is clear and given in enough time to allow for processing and answering of any questions.  Great event staff and volunteers can often make or break an event! 

     2.  The importance of clear communication with those attending your event. 

Although I was just preparing this event for my family, I still discovered I could have done more to make the "rules" and expectations crystal clear.  I discovered it is better to push to the limit of over clarifying and simplifying just to be sure people don't become lost while participating in your event causing them to become frustrated.  You want people to enjoy your event through and through so anticipate potential areas for misunderstanding ahead of time. 

     3. Staff events appropriately.

As mentioned above to run the event it was only myself and my parents, which was not an adequate number of people.  Had I thought ahead I would have planned to bring in some more resources (I used to babysit enough kids in town after all!) to ensure that the event will run smoothly and as intended.

 
     4.  Get feedback.  ALWAYS!

At the time my family may have thought it was strange that I was walking around asking what they liked and didn't like, but even for a personal event this information was super useful!  In doing so I came to realize how differently people interpret information.  Which leads me to one of my final learning points:

 
     5.  A second set of eyes should always be required.    

Due to the fact that what you understand can be so different from someone else's interpretation share what you are working on with others (or share as much of it as you can).  This will always help events run smoother as any uncertainty can be taken care of. 

I know this is not anything new, but as I was starting out this was all very important information to learn and remember.  And if you are looking to plan any kind of event for your family or friends, I'm very willing to give advice or look anything over! :) 

Happy Planning! 

Trend Watching

While at my current internship (with an amazing company I will spend some time talking about later) I was introduced to a wonderful site called TrendWatching.com.  Each month they post a trend brief about new and current consumer trends, insights and business ideas.

The ideas build on one another and push you to think critically about the dynamic ways consumers are changing and the variety of implications this has on businesses.  Relevant real world examples are provided and discussed, allowing for thorough understanding of the ideas expressed.  Topics range from being Flawsome, to Virgin Consumers and Newism making it easy to find one of interest.  The fact that it is written in an upbeat, straightforward manner is just the icing on the cake in making these articles enjoyable to read.  

I know I will continue to visit the site as I have a lot of catching up to do! As a newcomer to the site, I'm excited to read about trends from past years, consider how they played out and share my discoveries here.  

Stay on top of the trends and please feel free to share your commentary on them with me here!

Cheers!