5 Ps - 10 Points ... or almost ideal events

• 28 Dec 2017

Anyone who has at least some experience in this area of event management will tell you that it can look deceptively easy from the outside. Until you try, you will almost certainly not believe event organisers when they tell you how much stress and planning is involved in even the most harmless event.

There are many professional spheres which appear easy at first glance. Take running. It's easy. Everyone can run. Sure, but try running like Usain Bolt. Not so easy now, is it? And here lies the difference between the professional and the amateur. The same logic applies to events.

Event management is a very big topic simply because events come in all shapes and sizes and are targeted at a wide range of audiences. There are niche events for just 15 people, and massive ones, attended by thousands. From a seminar, wedding, cocktail, marathon and forum to a concert - these are all gatherings which need to be organised in a way that leaves the guests, visitors and participants happy.

Whatever the size, each professionally organised event goes through several stages: research, concepting, planning, coordination and realisation, evaluation. Each of these stages contains many elements.

At the planning stage, you have to answer the basic questions like "Why are we doing it?", "What kind of people are we targeting?", "When and where is it appropriate to organise it?". We need to perform a SWOT (strength, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis, check for competitive events in the same pee  Events should be planned long before they are held. No, I can’t organise your event for tomorrow, sorry. And not for the day after tomorrow either. (Here I exclude extraordinary circumstances that may require us to respond today, but they are not representative of the real job.)

At a normal pace, we have the experience to organise a routine small scale event with a simple scenario, which is already in our calendar, within one to two weeks. This is the case only provided that all parties involved know of it in advance and have confirmed that they have no other commitments on that day.

Unfortunately there is no shortcuts guide to organising events It does not matter how many events you have organised so far, each new one is different (even when it is the same as before). First,because every event happens live and cannot be the same as anything before. Second, no matter how experienced you are, it is impossible to predict the infinite variety of possible things that can go wrong. A waitress with a twisted ankle, a ruptured tyre, a flooded computer, presenters sick with the latest flu this season, a power cut, and everything else left standing between you and your nice event.

All the same I will try to recommend a few basic things that can help reduce the risk of mistakes. This is by no means an exhaustive list (10 points can’t cover this), but it is a basis that you can use.

1. Do not underestimate any event. I recommend that you do not miss any of the above stages in the organisation if you want to increase your chances of doing well.

2. Try to imagine the event element by element and moment by moment - everything that will happen, how people will move, what's next, and so on. Like a movie. Or as if you are already there and you experience it personally. This will help you work out if you are prepared, or if something is missing, if the rhythm is good, if the location is appropriate, etc.

3. There are no perfect events. We believe Murphy's law - everything that can go wrong will go wrong. But it is one thing to break a whole tray of glasses, it is another to miss the weather forecast and the expected strong wind  breaks down the setting and endangers people. Try to limit the potential risks to manageable ones and those that no one will notice.

4. If something goes wrong, the most important thing is to keep your self-control. Whatever happens, your responsibility and obligation is to solve the problem. You'll need lightning fast reflexes, immediate damage assessment, and quick judgment of reactions. You usually have about a minute or two to start acting. And the biggest resource is your team. So work with professionals. Not with the cheapest, the most expensive, the most beautiful, and so on, but with the company with the best reputation. Reputation is one of the few things in this world that cannot be bought. It has to be earned.

5. Try to have Plan B at least for the main components of the event - a spare car, a replacement waiter, more glasses and other utensils, extra wine, spare equipment. Once we had two different laptops failing to work with the other available technique and we had to use a third one. These are predictable things that can save you nerves and make the difference between the success or failure of an event.

6. Of course, there are things that you and others cannot control, so do not try to control everything. This will only stress you and take away all the pleasure of a job well done. Do not confuse good preparation with total control.

7. Do not be afraid to try new things. Being original is always appreciated, as long as it is not an end goal in itself. Therefore, consider the form, the concept and all the elements with the goals of the event and the audience in mind.

8. Among the inadmissible actions are the lack of pre-planning and preparation; the expectation that everyone will come (because our event is most important); making food and drinks a major attraction; product / brand intrusion; corporate egocentrism, etc.

9. An event does not end with the departure of the last guest. It has to be evaluated. This assessment should include both internal analysis and various forms of guest feedback. When making an assessment, I advise you to be very honest if you want to develop and learn because many "defects" can remain hidden for guests, but you are aware of them. Analyse them and put them in the "Experience" column to make sure you do  better next time.

10. It can always be better. Try to prove it every time. And good luck!

Author: Radina Ralcheva, Group Account Manager at MC GROUP, Berlin