Technology has the irritating tendency to gleefully implode at the most inopportune moments. Any event planner that’s spent some time in the industry knows exactly what we’re talking about. No one gets away without a mishap.
Of course, busted tech is almost always the result of human error somewhere along the line, but that’s beside the point.
I’m sure you’ve heard it said before that in the business world, it’s all about who you know. Cliché or not, this old adage holds true in the event industry. Personal talent and passion will only get you so far if you can’t connect with the right people.
We’re pretty much living in a science fiction novel. Maybe it doesn’t really feel that way because technology has a way of creeping up on us. We don’t freak out about technology because achievements that would’ve caused us to have an aneurism a century ago rollout over time and become routine, first in one use, one industry and then some spread throughout our daily lives. Nowhere is this clearer than in the robotics industry, where recent advances have led to some downright revolutionary changes in how robots interact with their environment – and with human beings in particular. And then…
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.…
As I’m certain you’ve been told time and time again, your event management firm should have a Facebook page. As the world’s leading social network, it’s generally one of the best places to connect with your clientele, and an even better place to promote your events. Why would you ignore Facebook? Certainly, people offer some general advice on how to use Facebook – post funny, relevant, interesting content; be active and approachable, tease your potential atendees with content well in advance of an event…you get the idea. This advice is largely true, but we offer a bit of practical, tactical…
Even if you’re completely confident in your capabilities as an event planner, there’s so much to be said for learning from those around you. There is so much insight to gain by watching someone who’s better than you, and working to figuring out why – and there will always be someone better than you. Here are five leading event industry personalities that we follow and suggest that you follow as well. They offer insight and advice through their blogs, books, social media profiles or you can discover what makes them stand out by paying attention to their work. Andrea Michaels…
Today, I’m happy to announce probably our largest update since we launched our self-service platform in May of last year. Not only are we announcing the general availability of several features like Embedding of your Tweetwall, direct monitoring of Instagram, Announcements, and Polls, we’re also announcing the general availability of All Access.
Wedding planning is unlike any other event planning due to the intense emotions involved. While organizing a wedding shares similarities with other events, the emotional stakes make it uniquely challenging. These wedding planner challenges can range from managing demanding clients to balancing budgets.
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.
Everyone thinks they know what it takes to be a great leader. We have a personality checklist: Possess a great deal of confidence and have strong point of view. Be great at what you do, stand out from the crowd and people will follow. Good social skills are really valuable; easily form relationships with whomever you meet. Of course, in business we look for a few tangibles: Know how to optimize resources and delegate. Have a good head for numbers, or deep understanding of politics etc. A business leader often has a creative outlook and a willingness to take calculated…
It’s official – Gaming has gone mainstream. These days, it’s rare to meet someone who hasn’t played at least one game. With gaming’s popularity has come a lot more game-industry events, conferences, and trade shows – all being covered by mainstream media. If you’re in event management you may be thinking about opportunities in this growing space. There’s a lot that goes into making a trade show successful – and gaming trade show is no exception. Here are a five factors to take into account when running a video game trade show. Does your event focus on players or developers?…
Gaming is not what it used to be. It’s no longer a niche, and most of the time you don’t even have to question if someone’s a gamer—it’s more like, what games do they like play? Welcome to the popular world of Esports, where professional gamers are well on their way to being considered on par with professional “traditional” athletes, both in earnings, and in fanbases. We’re even starting to see universities offering League of Legends scholarships.
As an event management professional, you are not the gadgets you use. You are not your Smartphone or tablet, your event planning software, or your presentation tools. You aren’t controlled by your technology. At the same time, gearing yourself up with the right tools can be the difference between success and failure when planning an event. You might not be controlled by your technology, but you can be made by it. There are a few requirements you’ll want any event management tool, gadget or application you use to fulfill; if they miss even one, there’s a good chance they simply aren’t…
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…
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…
Time management proves critical for event planners juggling multiple tasks and deadlines. While strong organizational skills are vital, leveraging the right time management apps can enhance productivity and efficiency.
In any field, you’re only as good as what you know – experience and tricks of the trade help in any profession and this includes event management. There are courses to take, websites you can read, and experts you can talk to – these are all excellent resources, but they take a good deal of networking and time. One of the best and easiest resources to tap into if you truly want to learn from the best is still a book. In other words, it’s time to start reading. Today I’m sharing five of my favorite written resources for budding…
In any industry there’s always a whole plethora of problems that need solving and a promising crop of innovators waiting in the wings to solve them. Maybe it’s a quandary brought about by a newly developed technology. Maybe there’s a need that’s not being adequately met by current technology. Or maybe there’s just something that always could have been done better. Event management is no exception to the rule. There are problems that need solving particularly given the high-tempo, competitive nature of the industry. Courtesy of Julius Solaris of the Event Manager Blog, here are a few of the most…
The best part about open-source applications isn’t even that they’re free – it’s that open-source applications are community-driven; anyone can access and modify the source code in whatever fashion they choose. As an event management professional, you should relish that sort of freedom; in the right hands, open-source is an incredibly valuable tool. Unfortunately, the open-source event-planning scene is still in its infancy, so there aren’t a great many event management applications that fall squarely under the open-source umbrella. Even so, there are five open-source applications that tech savvy event planners with an interest in tinkering about should check out.…
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.
