Five Significant Ethical Issues In The Event Industry

As with any industry, event planning has its own set of sticky ethical issues to deal with. As an event manager, you’re eventually going to be faced with a moral dilemma (or two, or three…) over the course of your career. How you deal with them will not only define you as a professional, but as a person. It’s important that you’re made aware five ethical issues you might face in the event industry – and equally as important that you approach them with integrity. Honest Representation A few weeks ago we wrote about the most significant challenges a wedding […]

Protecting High Target Theft Areas At Trade Shows

It’s inevitable – if you gather hundreds or thousands of people together, a few bad eggs are bound to show up and make trouble. That’s especially true in the business of professional conferences and large events where there’s always valuable electronic gear everywhere. Expensive, often small technology attracts thieves like flies to honey; if you don’t create the impression of a secure venue you could quickly find your event targeted. It’s the event’s organizers’ job to best ensure that theft doesn’t happen. Hiring a security staff may be important step, but it’s not the only step that needs to be […]

Tasty Meal Ideas for Your Next Networking Conference

Let’s talk about food! One of the more fun parts to plan of any event is the food. An event planner must find the perfect caterer for each unique event to keep your guests happy with food and drinks. Networking conferences are great for attendees to meet potential clients, customers, and business partners. Networking conferences are often all about moving around and meeting new people, and mini-events like meals, round table discussions and cocktail hours often help create an environment conducive for meeting others. We’re going to skip over the itinerary phase and assume you have a schedule that includes […]

How Woodstock Changed Event Management

Way back in 1969 at a farm outside of White Lake, New York, four young men hosted a music festival. Hundreds of thousands of fans attended, and what followed was one of the most legendarily debauched events of all time, one that ended up being an icon of the 1960s. We called it Woodstock. From an event planning perspective, Woodstock was also one of the most poorly planned, poorly executed events of all time, fraught with missed deadlines, legal blunders, and a trail of liability. The festival was originally organized by John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfield, and Mike Lang. […]

Five Awesome Fundraising Tips For Charity Events

Charity events are pretty awesome. Done right, a fundraiser can put a metric ton of money towards a good cause, elevate the profile of a cause, and build a strong brand reputation. Done wrong, however…it can be a complete money-sink, and could be as likely to make people despise as much as love an organization.

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What Was Your Last Event Missing?

What was your Last Event Missing? Tips for Finding the Answer. When you look back at your last event, would you consider it an across-the-board success? You may agree that things went really well, but that you also came up short in some key area. While there is nothing you can do about the past, you are in position to change the future. For this reason, you must know what your last event was missing. With this information in hand you can address any concern, but most importantly, you can make strategic adjustments when planning your next event. How to Pinpoint […]

How to Get Feedback from Event Attendees

As you head into an event, regardless of how big you expect it to be, it is safe to assume that you have lofty expectations. While there are steps you can take to better your chance of success, you know one thing to be true: your event is only successful if your attendees say so. There are many benefits of collecting feedback from event attendees, including but not limited to the following: Ensure that you hit the mark on most or all of your goals Ability to reply to a negative outcome if appropriate Ability to announce your events success […]

Event Technology Security Tips: Protect Your Event and Attendees

Technology plays a critical role in modern events, from smart devices and projectors to laptops and high-tech networking systems. Yet, with so much valuable equipment at play, event technology often becomes a prime target for theft and cyber threats.

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How to Throw a Great Trade Show After-Party

Hosting an after-party at a trade show can be just as critical as the event itself. Attendees are often looking for a relaxed yet engaging environment to unwind after a day filled with networking and presentations. As an event organizer, you have the chance to create an experience that leaves a lasting impression.

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Five Planning Tips for Trade Shows

Trade shows can be among the most powerful, mutually advantageous events centered on brand awareness. They create large-scale opportunities on all fronts: the brand running the show gains access to a network of potential partners, vendors find a huge selection of prospective clients and attendees can either meet future employers or vendors who are selling exactly what they want to buy. Of course, even though trade shows are incredibly powerful, a poorly run show can completely destroy your event management company’s reputation, ensuring that few brands and vendors will consider attending any future events you may decide to run. For […]

6 Tips for Serving Alcohol at Events

Serving alcohol at events can enhance the experience but also introduces significant risks. Proper planning and precautions are crucial for a successful event. Here are essential tips for serving alcohol at events to help you manage responsibilities and minimize risks. So, let’s get down to business. How can you keep attendees happily buzzing along while also minimizing the risk in serving alcohol at your event? First, Know Your Plan Before serving alcohol at events, create a detailed plan. Consider the event’s size, the number of bars, types of drinks, and whether you’ll serve hard alcohol. Decide if the bars will […]

Event Catering: Tips for Perfect Food Options at Your Event

Planning event catering isn’t just about hiring a catering company. It’s crucial to delve into the details and ask key questions to determine the right catering partner. To ensure your menu is a hit, follow these essential steps.

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Avoid These Top Five Foods at Your Event

This may seem like a lighthearted piece, but important non-the-less. When you’re planning what food you want to serve at your event, consider more than just what’s in season, or what your attendees might enjoy. You also need to take into account whether or not the food you have in mind is the most practical choice. Certain meals are better left to restaurants than conferences, while certain events may not work with a particular menu option. The problem should be fairly clear: if you serve the wrong type of food for your event, it’s going to be messy! Clothes will […]

Fun & Unusual Technological Tools for Events

Have you felt at any point as though your events were missing something? Have you contemplated how to add extra flair to your conferences; something that would help distinguish your event firm from the competition? There is no shame in the desire to stand out from the crowd in the event management industry. Using a bit of unique or unusual technology – making use of some gadgets or gear that your competition might not consider using – could be just the ticket to make your events more memorable. Presented here are just a few unusual and fun technological tools to […]

Mastering Event Ticket Pricing: Best Practices

Budgeting is a major component of an event management professional’s job, and the difficulty of budgeting is most definitely connected with knowing how best to set ticket prices. Set a ticket price too high and your attendance may suffer; or the price barrier will further drive up your marketing costs as you work to reach a larger audience!  Set a ticket price too low and you’re basically condemning your budget to drop into the red; it’ll be impossible to breakeven. In other words, you’ve got to strike a balance between “reasonably priced” and “budget friendly.” That’s about as easy – […]

The Novices’ Guide To Event Management : Part Six – Budgeting

Last week, we talked about the processes involved in making your event firm known to the world. Today, we’re going to be looking at something a little more difficult to deal with: your budget. In all honesty, budgeting is actually where the vast majority of event management businesses fail. It all starts with figuring out how much you’re going to need for your startup costs, and going from there. Generally speaking, if you’re starting up a new firm, you’re going to have to manage some if not all of the following expenditures: Rent/Building Costs Equipment Purchases Licenses and Taxes Payroll […]

Important Event Registration and Check-in Tips

You focus on every detail when planning any event, right? Don’t overlook your registration and check-in process. This is most likely your attendees first interaction at your event and it sets a stage for their whole experience; never-mind that everyone wants to get to the business at hand. Realize the importance of planning a well-organized check-in and registration area.

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Increase Event Attendance with Twitter: Top 5 Ways

As you consider ways to increase attendance at an upcoming event, you should be leveraging your social media platforms. More specifically, there is a good chance you will rely strongly on the power of Twitter. While there are many things you can do with Twitter, most people approach it as a task, and overlook strategy. There is more to this than sending out tweets, hoping that people see what you have to say and subsequently sign up to attend your event. Here are five things you must do if you hope using Twitter will help increase your events’ attendance: 1. […]

7 Ways to Promote An Event on Facebook

If you’re hosting an event, Facebook is an excellent way to get the word out. Even if you’re not using their built in Facebook Events feature, you can still easily promote an event on Facebook.

Here are 7 highly effective ways to leverage the power of Facebook to promote your event. And a bonus tip… but don’t skip ahead!

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Why Modern Event Planning Requires A Flair For Storytelling

Back in the 1960s, sociologist Marshall McLuhan expressed some downright revolutionary insights. Technology, he explained, would one day advance in such a way that the whole world would be interconnected. Communicating with someone on another continent would be just as simple as walking over to the neighbors’ house to borrow a cup of sugar; perhaps more so. To give shape to his theory, he coined the term “global village.” In essence, McLuhan conceived the notion of a worldwide communications network; a tight-knit global community which transcended physical distance. With the birth of social media, it’s safe to say that his […]