Tips to Get Your Event Up and Running Smoothly
By Mary Grace Thomas
The other day, I came across this great article “Event Budgets Up, Time for a Refresher Course” on Chief Marketer . The author gives a “refresher” of the best way to get an event up and running smoothly. What’s interesting is that the budget for events has increased by 8% this year, which is huge compared to the years before. It appears that the sharp increase correlates with the desire to present a more elaborate event and show for the audience. So much is shared through social networking and the high profile events are apparently stepping up their game for the cameras. Meeting planners want something that is vivid, high definition, and captures that audience in an instance. They need to stand out. As they said there is “added pressure on the experiences to produce quality leads, metrics, and plenty of sharing through social media.”
Doing things before the event are crucial to the success that follows. Using social media that corresponds most appropriately with your event will benefit you most. For example, use Facebook or Pinterest for a visually inspiring event. Images speak louder than words in the events industry.
Another important point is about goal setting. The progress and success of an event cannot be measured without setting goals in advance. Knowing what has to be accomplished, with a particular budget in hand, is important in laying out the groundwork of an event.
Utilizing social media during the event is helpful for the publicity of your event, business, and it also gets the visitors to connect with one another is a different way. Networking is key and this will give them another means of doing so. I really like the hint to “provide a location to take photos that can be loaded to Facebook and Twitter and shared.” Again, this is utilized best for events that are highly visual. Not only that, but it will show the high spirits of the attendees, making the event look like an even bigger success. These images will enhance your Facebook and Pinterest posts because it will illustrate the strong bond that exists between the company and the visitors.
Using social media as a part of the event is also very current. With the younger age groups, smart phones are used non-stop. By giving this group of individuals something to access while they are at the event, they will have a way to express their feelings about the event, potentially providing feedback or suggestions, which may be very useful for the future events. It also shows the audience that you are paying attention to their needs and wants and that you are following the current trends in events.
Altogether, this article gives great pointers on things that should be done before and during an event in order to fully utilize the social experience with the increasing demand of audience expectations.
