Organizing a bulletproof event may seem too far-fetched. And even though many institutions do their best, to combat high pressure, make fast-paced decisions, and work on a tight schedule, they still end up making mistakes in event planning. It’s possible to make everything peach perfect, but it takes careful planning, slow-paced work, patience, diligence, and recognition of common mistakes. Errors might be part of the learning process, but not learning from them is what will differentiate your next successful event from all others. Here are some most common mistakes in event planning and a few tips on how to avoid them in order for everything to run smoothly.
Not keeping track of deadlines
The most important feature in event planning is the date. Once you have set up a date, the entire planning process should commence. If you fail to deliver all the things by that time, you are going to experience a severe problem. By not booking the caterers, presenters or speakers, décor, and entertainers in time, you would encounter a problem that is going to be resolved very hard. For that matter, make sure that you have signed all the contracts in advance, that you have contacted every vendor and that you have sent out the invitations, etc, in time for the major event.
Lack of professional assistance
If you have an important event to host or plan, you have to bear in mind that this requires eligible work. Very often you need to seek help from external experts who would help you coordinate things and make sure the event project is going according to the plan and the checklist. Most businesses fail to recognize the sheer importance of hiring some external company for the “heavy lifting” because with a high-level team you can rest assured that everything will be top-notch. Hence, if you want to have a successful event, you can find some professional event management companies to hire in order to have a meticulous event.
The end goal went south
Never lose the focus of the event. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a huge mistake, but unless you accomplish what you envisioned with the event, what’s the point of it all? Every invitee should know the clear purpose of your event, whether it’s team building, celebration, or promotion, all attendees have to give a brief insight of what the topic of the event should be. You don’t need to go into detail, but if you are trying to measure success with the event, for example, try to be direct and obvious with your end goal.
(Not) Anticipating the attendance
There are many things that you should have in mind when planning an event, one of which is attendance. Probably, one of the worst fears for any event organizer is almost nobody showing up. To ensure this doesn’t occur, you need to boost up your marketing to promote your event by any means possible. Hand out fliers, launch a last-minute promotion, send out gifts with the invitations, and be maximally included in the organization process. In the end, if attendee numbers get low, you can ask the venue to relocate to a smaller space or partition the central area.
Failing to keep track of changes
Unfortunately, you can never be absolutely assured that everything would be immaculate because most events will have changes in plans and scope before the big day. However, unless you keep track of the smallest change you may end up totally losing track of the entire event and risking it being a massive failure. The changes can be in the budget, venue, and even food and entertainment. Luckily, you can keep a formal tracking list and have all changes documented in the right order. This will help you not to lose control, and to be attentive to the time, budget, and any other changes.
Suffering a budget blowout
It’s only logical that you take budget into careful consideration in event planning. There are times when you can come about unpredictable expenses, but fully underestimating the total production and organization requirements can be a huge costly mistake. You can fill up some budget mishaps here and there, but when you are not clear with the vendors or suppliers about the prices then you have made a significant mistake. Make sure that you understand all things related to the contract before signing. Especially pay attention that there are no hidden costs.
Lack of experienced event organizers
If you wish for the event to run smoothly, you might want to have experienced event planning personnel by your side. Event planning can grow out of control rather fast without having a knowledgeable person to tell you what things to consider and what to exclude. As already mentioned, it’s vital to hire professional event managers with eligible certifications and experience who would ensure everything is going to be perfect. Only by having adequate people by your side, you can rest assured that you won’t make any mistakes in event planning.
Not getting any confirmations or feedback
Sending out emails, boosting marketing strategies, and spreading the word won’t be enough unless you get provided with some confirmation and feedback. First, by not building an email list, you won’t know whether you’ve got all things right. It would be useful to ask your attendees to write some feedback and let you know how practical and educational the event was. Secondly, by getting some confirmation, you avoid misunderstandings and protect yourself and your business. In this way, you can generate an email list for a new event, build a strong community, and ensure you organize the event perfectly.
Altering repeatable processes
The last thing on the list is avoiding making mistakes that tend to repeat. These are typically small and seemingly unimportant mistakes like setting a short budget, missing out on a secondary objective, or not raising enough awareness for a certain problem. Note down some of the repeatable processes for scheduling, allocating resourcing, and communicating them with the stakeholders so you won’t ever come across those mistakes in event planning.
All mistakes can be avoided with a little bit of care, attention, and meticulous planning. By avoiding some of the above-mentioned common mistakes in event planning, you can ensure a successful event.
