Jodie McLean 0:04
Hey, I'm Jodie Event Manager, business owner, educator and podcast host. I'm an introverted homebody want to be wine master. And I truly believe in the power of events to inspire the light and ignite human potential. Every week, I take you backstage into the wonderful world of business events, and give you the insider scoop on how to take your events to the next level. Before we begin, I'd like to acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional custodians of the lands where we live, learn and listen. Let's get into it.
Welcome to Episode 15 of the events Insider PodCast. It's good to be with you today. My name is Jodie and I am the host of this podcast and today I am coming to you solo. And at the time of recording, I am actually off to manage a wedding this afternoon, which I don't do a lot of weddings, I mostly focus on corporate events, as you would know. But when someone inquires about a wedding, I always like to take it on if I can, and if I'm available, because there's just something about weddings, right? Like they're just they're so beautiful. The reason I love doing events and being an event manager is, you know, I really see the power that events have to inspire delight and ignite human potential. And whilst I normally focus on doing that with corporate events, you know, weddings are just so powerful. They're so beautiful at connecting people together and building a beautiful community off. They're just so beautiful. So I'm really looking forward to that. I also wanted to let you know that there are some big changes coming with events Academy. So I've been doing some big deep thinking and talking to a lot of people and getting feedback and thinking about how I can best serve you guys. So yeah, there's going to be a lot of changes coming, which I will announce very shortly, but there's going to be a lot more coming your way. So that's really exciting. So stay tuned for that.
But today on the podcast, I wanted to answer probably my most asked question, which is how do I make sure my event is a success? Or what makes a successful event? It's, it's my most asked question. And it sounds like quite a tricky, complex question to answer. But I actually think it's really, really simple. And what I think makes a successful event is one that achieves its objectives. Super simple. At the end of the day, that is how you determine a successful event, whether it achieved its objectives.
Now what a lot of people say when I say that is oh, well, I don't think I've actually set proper objectives for my event, you know, I'm just kind of putting it on. Now, if we don't set out clear objectives, then how are we going to know if it is a success. So that's where I want to start today, we need to make sure that we are setting clear objectives for our event so that we can actually look back and go, was it a success? Did we achieve what we set out to do was the investment worth it? Now the biggest mistake I see here is people having four or five objectives for their event, they kind of bundle in all this stuff that they want to try and achieve with their event. But that can make a really confusing complex event, it can mean that you've got lots of different people there, a lot of different stuff going on. And often that results in not achieving any of them. So what you want to do is make sure that you've got one maximum, two really clear objectives for your event, any more than that, and it's just going to not work. So you can have sort of secondary or tertiary kind of peripheral objectives that you might just kind of achieve as a result of holding the event. Anyway, what you want to focus on is having just one or two clear objectives, because that is how you are going to plan your event around. So a couple of examples. So first, if it was something like a product launch, then your objective might be around media and PR. So it might be to get as much brand awareness and reach as possible. So then you want to drill down and get really clear on okay, we want 40 people at this event. We want to make sure we've got at least 10 journalists and say 20 influencers. And then your other objective might be we want eight media features as a result of this event. And that's how you're going to track whether your event was a success. Alternatively, if you had something like a one day conference for your industry, then you might say okay, my objective is to get 100 people there 100 of my prospective client, I want to get maybe 30k in sponsorship dollars or exhibitor dollars, and as a result of the event I want
convert 10 new clients, for example. So that's a really clear objective that you're setting for yourself. And you'll be able to easily manage whether that is a success or not. Okay, so we're really clear on what we want to achieve. And we're going to be able to measure whether it's a success or not based on that. But how do we actually make sure that it is a success. So firstly, we want to make sure that we're developing our event in line with those objectives. So when we're planning an event, it is absolutely not about us. And it's about what do we need to do to achieve those objectives and planning the event around it. So it's not about having, you know, the most beautiful event unless that actually ties into your event objectives. But it's about every decision we make from you know, the venue we pick to the people we invite to the food we serve to the content that we deliver needs to form back to achieving those objectives. So it actually makes it easier for us to plan when we have a clear objective or two in mind, because then every decision we make, which suppliers we engage what the event looks like, how we go about marketing it, all of those things will go back to achieving our objectives. Now, in order to do that, we need to be super clear on who our audience is, so that we can plan it for them. So we want to drill down really clearly on who the person is that's coming. Now, you might have kind of two or three different personas or types of people that are coming. And that's okay, as long as you're sticking to a clear objective. So if we do have a couple of different types of people coming, then we obviously just want to make sure that we are catering to them with what the event looks like, and the experience that they're going to have and the food we serve, and all those sorts of things. But we need to make sure that we're clear on who our audience is, and really understanding them and what they would want at the event and planning it for them. Then we need to make sure that we are managing their expectations about the event. So making sure they understand what the event is, why they should come, what they can expect to learn or who they can expect to meet or what they can expect to enjoy at this event, and being really clear in our communication to them in order to manage their expectations. So, you know, we don't want to go overboard with our communication. But we just want to make sure that we are clearly communicating what it is so that they're coming, ready for whatever it is that they're going to experience so that we can achieve our objectives. The biggest mistake I see is people just putting out an event and being like, Hey, this is going to be amazing come. And it's like I need a bit more detail about this event to know whether it's for me or not. So even if it's, you know, an internal company event, for example, for all your staff, we still need to make sure that we're managing people's expectations, making sure that they understand what the event is what they can expect, you know, it can be daunting for people to turn up to events. And so we want to make sure that they're going to have the best experience possible. And that leads me to my next point, which is the guest experience on the day. So whilst we're planning and as we're getting closer to the end of planning, we want to spend some time actually walking through in our minds, what the guest experience is going to be on the day to make sure that we are covering all our bases, and that we have all the touch points covered. So from the moment that people set out to come to our event, what's their experience going to be like on arrival? What are they going to do when they get there? What's that experience going to be? Like? How are they going to be involved? How are we going to connect people? What are they going to see feel? And do you know, what's the guest experience going to be like on the day because we can plan this amazing event that's in line with our objectives. But if our guests don't have a good experience on the day, then we're not going to achieve them. So really walking through in your mind, everything that you've planned, and what is the guest going to experience from their perspective, and making sure that that's the best that it can be.
Now, once we have all of that sorted, there are just two other key areas that I want to touch on, which aren't often as fun, but it's risk management and budget management and they're super crucial. You know, I really like to focus on who the events for and having our objectives and making sure we're planning it for them and really planning from a point of our guest. But it is really important that we also talk about risk management and budget management because if we don't nail those two things either, then our event is not going to be a success. So for risk management, I don't often like to talk about it one because it's boring, but two because I also think it can get a little overrated. You know, there are people out there that
will tell you Oh, you need to put together your full risk management plan. And look, if your company requires that for your events, absolutely make sure that you do it to cover yourself legally, you know, that's, you know, important if that's a requirement for your company. But for the rest of us, I think sometimes risk management can sound like this big complex thing. And really, for me, put simply, it's just about considering three things. What negative things could happen, how likely is it that they'll happen? And how bad would it be if they did happen? And I just keep it that simple. So for each event, I plan, I just spend a few minutes, literally, that's all I do brainstorming. Okay, what are some of the negative things that could happen with this event? And I list them out? Then I go through and I go, Okay, how likely is it that that's going to happen? And I sort of write them? And then I go, Okay, how bad would it be if that did happen, and again, I sort of write them. And what you end up with is some things that are more likely and would be more catastrophic if they did happen. And they're the things that you want to focus on mitigating. So they're the things that you might need to put things in place to minimise that risk, or have a contingency plan for if it does happen, this is what we're going to do, and making sure that all your stakeholders are across that. And honestly, that's as simple as risk management needs to be like, we don't need to get overwhelmed by it. Just think about what could go wrong, how likely is it? How bad would it be, and let's put some plans in place to minimise that. When it comes to budget management. This is something I'm really passionate about. And I am an absolute stickler for managing the budget. Because if that blows out, then it's not good for anyone. And it is absolutely not a successful event. If we don't stick to our budget. Now, sometimes, an event that you put on, one of the objectives might be to actually make a profit. And so in that scenario, we definitely want to be making sure that we are achieving that objective. But for other events, you know, a company is going to be investing in putting on an event with no return because it's you know, a free event for staff or clients or whatever. But also in that scenario, we do need to make sure that we are sticking to the budget. And from the get go, I always like to ask, is this budget really firm, or is there a bit of flexibility. And understanding that from the get go will help you in your planning whether you've got a little bit of flexibility to go a little bit over if you need to in order to achieve the objectives. But if it's firm, then we need to stick to it and make sure that we are managing it correctly. So we want to make sure that we're setting up a draft budget at the beginning of the event project. And then we've got a working budget that we continue to add and edit and monitor as we go through to ensure that we're managing our expenses. So I just like to do this easily in Excel. And we just have one column for what we budget, and then the other column for what the actual cost is. And obviously, if one area blows out a little bit, then we're going to have to take from another line item. And I just continue to track it throughout the project and make sure that I reconcile it at the end with all of the actual costs. So we can see where we landed. And as you plan more and more events, you'll get to understand more what things cost, and be able to have an accurate draft budget from the beginning that you'll be able to stick to pretty well. Now I'm not going to get into all of my budget hacks and tips. But I do have a free download, which is five ways to maximise your event budget. So I'll pop that in the show notes for you. Now, when everything is all said and done with our event, then we obviously want to go back to our objectives that we set at the beginning and decide whether we achieved them and therefore whether our event was a success or not. But if you do follow these steps, and you do continue to monitor and check along the way, then you should well and truly achieve your objectives that you set out and therefore have a successful event. So I hope that was helpful. If you have any questions, please reach out on Instagram or LinkedIn. I would love to connect with you. But until next week, I will speak to you soon.
Thanks for listening to this episode of the events Insider PodCast. If you loved it, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, share with your friends and I'll chat to you next week. Bye
