What Makes an Event Planning a Failure and How to Avoid

NVOLV — Mobile App for Events
nvolv
Published in
3 min readNov 28, 2017

Events are comprised of glitches and hurdles. Even the most experienced and well-versed event planners fall in the hands of such gimmicks. Not to worry about it because there is something that can be fixed before it happens.

When it comes to event planning, none could expect the unexpected and failing of an event is for granted. However, these failures are a great lesson for the new and expert event planners. If you are one of those, make sure that you take the necessary steps to avoid those hitches. Without any further delay, you can check out the following tips to avoid any failures during event planning.

Identifying the Right Client

The first thing that event planners need to know is talking to the right person. Most of the companies do not send high level management to manage and settle things rightly. They usually send low level reps to talk on their behalf. A majority of them is quite skilled but some companies don’t authorize them to take the decision on their own.

You need to know the right person who has the decision-making authority. The decisions you might take after the initial discussion might not be suitable for higher authorities. The best way is to talk to the higher authority instead of depending on intermediaries who are there only listen to you and say yes on every call. Avoid this in every situation and speak to the decision makers on either email, telephone or face to face.

Understanding the Objective of Client

Clients of similar industries have different objectives with multiple goals. Objectives like revenue growth, brand awareness, social activity, lead generation and attendee engagement are few to name. Ask them what their priority is and work on it for successful event.

List down the important points that needs to be addressed through this event. What are the KPIs, write it down and get it approved. Not discussing the KPIs with your client will lead you to plan the event according to your past expertise. Avoid these before your event fails drastically.

Not Selecting the Right Venue

Picking the right venue for your event is the most important thing you need to take seriously. The settings, the theme, seating arrangement, food stalls and decoration is few of the details that needs to be taken very seriously.

It is compulsory to select a venue that fits all your event needs and adds a lot of value. Some other things without which event is incomplete are projectors, Wi-Fi, LCD screens and other tech products. Choosing the right venue and arranging the things beforehand will help avoid failing to conduct an event.

Running out of Time

When it comes to event planning, time is important than any other thing. Imagine yourself stuck in the middle of setting the chairs for guest, and the event time is just a few minutes away. It will ruin all your event management.

Make sure to prepare a checklist and appoint persons to take care of those specific areas. Moreover, you need to set a deadline when everyone should have completed the allotted work. This would help you to set up everything before time.

Not Having a Backup Plan

Not having a backup plan can ruin all your hard work in the last minute. For instance, if the sound system doesn’t work rightly or the projector does not show up rightly, what would you do. Everyone is waiting for the event to start, while you are struggling to arrange those things in hurry.

It is better to have a backup plan for everything. From food arrangement to seating plan and equipment setting to power backup plan, every nitty gritty must be taken into consideration.

Conclusion

Planning an event takes last breath and ignoring even a little part would ruin your event. Make sure to give some time to think of how you can avoid these discrepancies to run your event successfully.

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