Outlining your event and getting an overview is an important step: it’s how you and your team understand what an event should look and feel like, and the level of work that’s going to be involved. You can decide if you need to bring in extra help like consultants, an event coordinator, vendors and/or suppliers. It might feel tedious, but working through each of the nine elements will make you feel more prepared and less like you’re flying by the seat of your pants.
Grab a pen and paper and work through the key elements of events to work out what your event will consist of.
Each element in turn, affects the others, so once you’re done, go back through and see what ideas you have that would change something. For instance, if in technical, you determine how many screens, microphones, podiums, and speakers you’ll need, go back to the site section and make notes that reflect you’ll need space for these things as well as the power access to make it all work. I recommend reviewing these nine elements several times throughout the planning process to make sure you don’t miss anything. I’d hate for you to have to run around like a chicken with a head cut off on event day – mostly because it kind of freaks your guests out.
These nine event elements are your framework for planning your event. Brainstorm everything you can for each category. Set appointments in your calendar to review your original brainstorming list and go through all of it – you’ll see that each time you do, your event becomes more cohesive, more thoughtful and you’ll provide the best experience possible for your guests.
If you need help planning through these elements and making your event the best it can be, email me today here.
1. Site
Where do you want your event to be? Start with a list of what your site needs to have.
Think about:
How many attendees will you have?
Will there be presentations, break-out sessions?
Are you serving food? It can be a sit-down meal or food stations that people walk around to – the amount of space you need will change.
Do your homework. There are fantastic websites like C-vent that will help you find venues that fit your requirements. Visit your potential sites with your list in hand and check off or make notes of what you like, don’t like, and be able to match up your requirements as you go. Don’t forget to ask about things like power outlets and capacities, what options they have to assist you with technology, catering and décor. If there are any poles in the room, make sure that they don’t block views because the person who ends up sitting behind said pole will be silently plotting your demise.
2. Theme
What is your event’s overall theme? There are all kinds of options from the cheesy to the classic. Consider what will go over best with your audience and what will highlight your goal in the best way. Don’t be afraid to go to out of the box! Theme is important because of how it will affect what you want for all of the other elements. If you have your heart set on a fall harvest theme, you can reflect that in all of the other elements by serving apple cider, using leaves, pumpkins and other fall produce in your décor, and plan activities like pumpkin carving or a hayride. You might then turn your attention to large spotlights in key places, scream or fog machines and other outdoor-friendly technology.
3. Hospitality
Hospitality breaks down into three major categories: Catering (all food and beverage accounted for and considered), Travel Arrangements (transportation and lodging), and customer service.
Catering needs to be broken down by each time it is needed. Meals, snack breaks, and beverage bars should be considered. Plan for when you will need a bar, a full meal, table settings, and how many people you will serve at each. Then plan for what style of meal you are interested – buffet, food stations, seated, etc. Decide on where and when each meal or snack should be served.
Planning for your guests travel depends on where you expect your guests to be coming from. How many parking spaces will you need? If you can arrange for free parking, it is always preferable to paid as it is one less hassle for your guests. If your guests are coming from farther away, you may need to have hotel options ready for them – and if you can have a group discount offered, all the better. If many are flying in, also think about arranging shuttle transportation to your event site from their hotel or the airport (numbers depending).
Customer service seems like a small detail but it’s something that deeply affects your attendees’ experience. Try to remember everything you’ve needed assistance with at an event – registration, finding your way to certain activities, checking the schedule, using the event’s app, and numerous other things. Plan to have a place or people who guests can easily find to ask questions and get help. Also, think about the kinds of questions that you think your guests will ask and ensure that whoever is at the customer service station has all of the answers.
4. Decor
Anything that adds to the experience but is not particularly functional falls under décor. The key to great décor is to ensure it appeals to all 5 senses, not just that it looks pretty. Let your décor help you to tell a story using colour, texture, sight, smell and sound. Establish a general colour scheme (I recommend no more than 4 colours) that will be dominant throughout your event. Utilise consistency to help the eye move through the room and tie everything together.
Décor needs to help and never hinder. It shouldn’t cause tripping hazards, make it awkward to participate in activities, or create visual blocks that prevent the guests from seeing things happening at the event. Do your best to make sure your décor cannot annoy someone in any way.
5. Entertainment
Entertainment consists of both activities and performances. Each one has its own requirements for space, technology, décor, as well as health and safety concerns. Your performers and activities should reflect on your goal and appeal to your audience. Once you’ve decided on the activities you want to host, go through the process of determining all of the materials and space you will need.
When searching for performers, there are numerous websites. If you’re on a budget, I recommend using Kijiji and Facebook to ask for performers, quotes and recommendations. If you’re looking to go bigger, you can use sites like Gig Salad or contact talent agencies that represent numerous acts and can help you sort through your options.
6. Graphics
The ‘graphics’ elements of events is anything that is visually created by you and your team for the event – if you have an event logo, a brochure, a website, printed signs, a PowerPoint presentation, table cards, printed invitations, emails to attendees and potential attendees, etc. these are all a part of graphics. Your event has a brand. Remember the 4 dominant colours we talked about under décor? These need to be the base of your graphics as well. Your graphics are the first chance you have to set expectations for your attendee and tell your guest what will happen, what it will look like, and what it will feel like.
Consistency is extremely important – this is one of the things that helps to separate a professional and serious event from an amateur one. Don’t have a different look for your invitation and your table cards and a third visual motif for your PowerPoint presentation. At a fast glance, your guests should know they all belong to the same event. You picked your colours for a reason, love them and use them for everything.
7. Technical
Your technical requirements are – shocking – anything technologically related that you’ll need for your event. Speakers, microphones, projectors, laptops, extension cords and more need to be accounted for, rented or purchased and ready to go. Mentally take a walk through each part of your event and make a list of every technical thing you’ll need. It’s not only the computer related equipment, it could be generators to run the bounce house (and the gas to go with it!) or arrangements for pyrotechnics like fireworks. If you want any kind of recordings, camera equipment also goes on your list.
Once you have your list of everything you’ll need, source it and arrange for it to be picked up, delivered, or flown in by swans – as long as it is on-site for event set up.
8. Operations
How everything is going to run, who is in charge of what, when things are going to happen and where – all of these extremely exciting (Okay, maybe just for an event nerd like me) logistical elements are summed up as operations.
Talk through your event. How does registration work? What time does the band go on? Who is responsible for keeping the speakers on time, making sure they get to the stage and are ready to go? Create a schedule of the day with every item/activity, when it is going to happen, and who is responsible for overseeing it. This is your production schedule. Every part of your team needs to have this, understand it, and follow it as closely as they can.
9. Health, Safety and Legal
Risk Management is a crucial part of any event. Sit down and make a list of everything that could possibly go wrong. Next, order all of the things for most likely to least likely. Prevent every issue you can and have easy to enact solutions for as many problems as you can think of. Make sure you have any items you’ll need for the solutions in your event kit and that all of your staff know what to do in each situation.
There are several types of insurance you can look into to add levels of financial protection to your event. You can look into cancellation insurance or weather insurance. General liability insurance may be required by the venue or provided by them so make sure you know what you need. I like to copy and paste the insurance requirements section out of any venue contract into an email to my insurance provider because it’s all babble to me.
Legal means being aware of all legal rammifications: who is liable for what? Do you need a liquor license or does your venue have its own license that will cover you? It means reviewing and understanding all of your contractual obligations – then follow them.
Comment and tell us which of the 9 you struggle with the most!