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Keep calm and plan ahead: how to navigate event organisation
October 5, 2023
Whether planning an upcoming company Christmas party, a networking event or bringing a client’s vision to life, there are plenty of rules to follow – and a fair few pitfalls to avoid – on your way to a successful event.
This year has been one big ‘return to normal’ with event spend forecast to rise by 83% through 2023. We have seen Cannes make its proper comeback, a full summer of music festivals, and stadia filled with sporting experiences like the Women’s World Cup. The benefit of all these in-person experiences? The face to face connection. This means something different to everyone, and every event. A panel can deliver the next great idea into the hands of a creative person or a networking night bring together the right people and a new business partnership is born.
Whatever the event, there is one constant to creating a successful one – and that is forward planning.
As we approach the upcoming silly season of festivities and look to connect with our peers and colleagues, ensure you’re making the most of your invested time and money, by bearing in mind a few event golden rules.
Preparation is key
Set your intentions from the start and be clear with your brief. This may require scrutinising a client’s expectations, or interrogating your own goals for the event. It’s important to figure out what the goal of the event is and what you want attendees to come away with, whether it be specific learnings, insight about a business, or simply the positive sentiment of having a good time.
No matter what it is, with a series of guidelines and goals to refer back to, the event will stay consistent. Recently, we’ve seen how this can go wrong – at London Fashion Week, Burberry took over Norman’s Cafe for an experiential event, while simultaneously replacing the Bond Street tube name with its own. By straddling the wealth gap, it made for confused brand messaging, inspiring an almost instant backlash from the public.
Instead, start early so you have time to consider the event as a whole, and allow sufficient time for the groundwork – it always takes longer than you think but with enough prep, everything that follows will seem a lot easier.
Always be flexible
With your plan in place it would be easy to assume everything will then go smoothly. Hopefully it will, but don’t lose hope if you encounter a few disruptions along the way. Events are all about the people who put them together, and the people who attend, and with so many fallible humans involved, there is a large degree of unpredictability.
When you’re juggling multiple vendors there’s always the risk that information is miscommunicated or guests fail to read all the information provided to them. While this can happen, it is how you deal with these issues in the moment that really matters. When a few guests couldn’t locate the event space at an experience Pumpkin recently organised, we were able to jump on social media to find them and broadcast the location to those few lost attendees. We also ensured they had a trouble-free exit so they left on a high note.
No one will remember the hiccups if you think creatively and react quickly to smooth the situation.
Rely on your team
The importance of trusting in your team is never more apparent than when it comes to live events.
If you are the client, remember you have chosen the team for a reason – give them space and allow them to deal with the ins and outs of planning and running the event. With this dynamic in place, it frees up a lot more time for companies to focus on their end goal of the event – to build relationships with those invited.
As the Pumpkin team regroups after organising a multi-day event for a client, we can confirm that the adage ‘no man is an island’ is certainly true. Events are busy and with so many moving parts it can be highly stressful, however this allows for stronger bonds to be formed within a team, as you learn to trust in one another and build even greater confidence in each person’s capabilities. Collective team resilience is extremely bonding.
The final quarter of the year is always a busy time, so avoid making it more complicated. Real-life interactions and experiences are to be valued and events are a great way to orchestrate these moments. Give yourself the gift of planning ahead, while allowing a little leeway for bumps in the road, to create some memorable times as we head towards Christmas.
Ella O’Neill