JODIE MCLEAN
Well, hello, lovely listener, and welcome to episode 21 of the Events Insider podcast. I apologise that this episode is a few days late. If you're a regular listener, then you will know that we normally drop on a Tuesday, but we're a little bit out of whack with our regular scheduling at the moment. I think, as I mentioned in last week's podcast episode, September, October is just a crazy time for us with client events. So, if you also in a crazy period with work and with any event planning, then I do hope it's going well, and I appreciate you tuning in to this episode.
Today, I am going to be recapping a recent event that we ran, a recent conference that we ran, and I'm always a little bit hesitant about sharing behind the scenes of my clients' events because I appreciate that it's not necessarily my event to share. But I chose this one because it's actually an event that I put on, I guess, as my own brand for myself. And so, it was one of the first few events that I've done that's kind of under my own umbrella, I guess, on a larger scale, like I've put on smaller events for myself, but Yeah, this one, I guess, didn't really have a client. It was for myself. And so I'm more than happy to share all of the good, the bad and the ugly behind the scenes of this event with you today.
So what I'm going to do is take you through, I guess, a bit of an overview of what the event was, what the concept was. take you through a bit of the planning and what that looked like. And then I'm going to share what worked well and what I would change or what I could do better for next time, because as I always teach, it's important to reflect, review and evaluate your events so that you can get better. And the other thing I always teach is that there's no such thing as a perfect event. So we don't want to be striving for perfectionism where it doesn't exist. But we do want to make sure that we're, yeah, reviewing, celebrating the wins, and then also learning from what we could do better and improve for next time. So, the event that I'm going to walk you through is called the Hills District Small Business Expo and Conference. And that name is a bit of a legacy name. So, it's an event that has happened twice before, but under someone else's management. And so, it's something that I kind of, I guess, took over the rights to run this year. And so, it was the first time that I'd put on this event, but it has run twice before. So, there was a little bit of a blueprint of what they'd done twice before. And so, I guess my kind of idea going in was that I wanted to sort of keep it the same and just elevate it a bit more with my own ideas, because I think it's important, you know, you don't want to fix what ain't broke and it definitely wasn't broke, but I could see some areas for improvement just from the outside looking in. And so for me, it was about taking what worked well for them and what kind of spin did I want to put on it to take it to another level for the event this year.
So a bit of an overview. So the event is for small business owners in a specific local geographic. area. And so, it's quite a, I guess, a targeted niche group that would attend. And so, it is both an expo and a conference. So, the event had an expo portion to it, and then it also had a full day conference attached to it as well. So, within that, then there were a couple of different audiences that we were marketing the event to. So, we had people that we wanted to exhibit, so businesses that we wanted to be part of the expo. We had businesses that we wanted to sponsor the event, so typically thinking about, you know, slightly larger businesses or businesses that might want to get in front of small business owners. And then the kind of audience for attendees was around small business owners, so people that would come to the expo and the conference to learn.
So the expo itself is pretty, I guess, self-explanatory. We had exhibitors and it was a pretty simple setup. We didn't do kind of full shell scheme fit outs because it was I guess something that we wanted to keep low budget for people to be able to attend. So, it was a simple kind of table and chair set up and people could bring whatever backdrops and things they wanted to have. So, we had the expo floor with different exhibitors and then we had the conference.
So, the conference had nine different speakers plus myself as the emcee. So, we had what I would call three keynote speakers. And then we had two breakout streams. So we had a startup stream and a scale up stream. So that way we were able to cater to different people where they were at in their business. And I think that that's something really important to think about when you've got a wide ranging audience, because some people as attendees don't like breakout streams. And I can appreciate that because you have to choose which room you want to go to. But I do think when you've got a wide audience. It is important to make sure that you're catering to them specifically. And so, if you've just got kind of one conference room or a main plenary session and just speakers in there and you've got a wide ranging audience, then they're probably going to get less value from the speakers because not every speaker is going to be able to speak specifically to them and where they're at. So by having breakout streams, it allows people to be a bit more targeted to who their audience is. So something to consider if you've got an event or a conference with a wide ranging audience. So, that concept or that blueprint already existed. And so, I did follow that and keep that because I think that that works well to what I was trying to achieve. But what I really wanted to do was give the event a theme.
So, it hadn't really had a theme in the past. And so, what I wanted to do was give it a theme. And so, one of the things that people ask me a lot is how do I come up with my themes or my concepts and how do I get creative with it? And in the Mastering Event Planning program that I run, I do have a whole module on brief to concept. So, it's about taking your brief, which has a whole bunch of questions that we ask ourselves at the briefing stage and how do we turn that into a concept and I walk you through that. But for this one, the theme that I came up with was the future is now. And I can't specifically pinpoint exactly how I came up with that, but I guess essentially I sat down with Canva and Pinterest one day and came up with it. And the whole idea of the future is now as the theme was I wanted small business owners to really take hold of what they were learning today and the opportunities that were available right now and not kind of waiting for tomorrow or for next year, but really taking hold of it now and taking action. So the theme is really something that you want to think about who your audience is and what you're trying to achieve. And I guess kind of mesh them together and come up with what's going to resonate with them, that's going to sound really catchy, that's going to get people to attend your event and it's going to help you achieve your objectives. So, that was the theme.
In terms of the actual planning of the event, it went pretty smoothly and as expected. So, I mean, I've been planning events for over 12 years now, so I have a master event planning checklist that I follow for almost every event. And so, it kind of goes like clockwork now. And so, I did just follow that pretty much to a T. And so, the planning went fairly smoothly. In terms of challenges that we came up against, I'd say there's really only maybe two challenges that I'll talk about.
So, one would be time, just not having enough time. I probably started a little bit too late. Having said that, though, sometimes when you start planning too early, it's too early for people to listen. And I'm finding more and more post-COVID, not always go back to COVID, but post-COVID, I'm finding people are, you know, not listening to things or booking into things really last minute. People aren't wanting to commit to things too early on. And so, whilst I felt like we were rushing towards the finish line, I also think, you know, had we started earlier, it may not have actually really made much of a difference in terms of getting traction with people. because people are doing things last minute. So, that was one of the challenges, but in hindsight, had we started earlier, I don't know that it would have made a difference.
The second challenge that I think we came up against was, and I hate blaming things on the economy, but a little bit on the economy side, I think that we had higher expectations for exhibitors and sponsorship and even ticket sales, and I think potentially people People and businesses are watching every dollar at the moment. And so that was sort of against us, you know, it was really around July, August that we were pushing those things. And I think that's when everything was really up in the air in terms of interest rates and all that kind of stuff. So I think unfortunately, sometimes those things you can't control and you just have to deal with and adapt as you can. And we did adapt some of our expenses in light of what our revenue looked like. But other than those two things, you know, the planning went pretty smoothly. It was just like I was planning any other event for a client, although, you know, in a way almost easier because it was really just up to me to make decisions. Although having said that, sometimes that is a little bit harder because it is just on you to make the decision. And I think sometimes it is easier when you've got a team around you who are kind of giving you advice and guidance and their input and opinions.
So in terms of, I guess, top level, look, the event went really well on the day. I was really happy with it. And I guess before we dive into the nitty gritty of it, I'll give you a bit of an overview. So we ended up having about 65 people attended the conference. We had about 40 exhibitors. And then we had about another 100 people come through the expo on the day. And when you think about the fact that it was quite specific geographical area and specific to small business owners, you know, I was really happy with those numbers. So, we had about 200 people all up on the day, which is a great result, I think, for, you know, an event that I've not put on before. We did end up with four sponsors in the end. I would have liked maybe a couple more, but I was really happy with four sponsors and that definitely helped our bottom line. And I think sponsorship is a funny one, and potentially I'll do a whole nother episode on sponsorship if that is something that you do need to do for the events that you plan. Because I think sometimes people just think, oh, yeah, we'll get some sponsors, you know, whether it's in-kind or financial, but it's not as easy as it sounds. And I definitely didn't anticipate it being as hard as it was. I mean, I've got sponsorship for clients before. It's something that we do do, but I just didn't anticipate. And I think that comes back a little bit to the economy and a little bit to potentially not having the relationships. I think it's a lot easier if you've already got existing relationships that you can pull on. But I think if you don't have those relationships and, you know, your boss is saying, oh, we'll just get some sponsorship, it's really not as easy as it sounds.
So, in terms of evaluating this event or any event, for me, the success of an event really comes down to two things. Did you hit the brief and did you execute it well? And I think top level, yes, with an asterisk. So, did we hit the brief? Yes, but I would say that the revenue probably wasn't where I would have liked it to be. And so that would be the one thing that I would say didn't quite hit the brief, but we had a few different things that we were aiming for and the others we definitely hit. And then did we execute it well? Again, I would say yes, there's definitely things that we could improve on, but overall, I was really happy with how the event went.
The first step to really evaluating an event is to get feedback from your attendees. And sometimes that might not be appropriate if it's a smaller event. or, you know, VIP guests or things like that. But in every other scenario, I always encourage you to send a feedback form, send an email, whatever that looks like or is appropriate for your audience and your event. I always encourage you to get feedback from your guests. And look, it can be as simple as an email and asking for people to get back to you. What I like to do is send a form and often that means lower response rates. But with form, it's really easy to ask targeted questions and ask exactly what you're looking for. So with this event, I'm really happy we got a 9.1 out of 10. So I actually ask questions that they have to rate out of 10. I also ask open-ended questions, but I find the questions where it gives it a number really helpful to actually, I guess, quantify it and give me a benchmark to, I guess, grade it against other events, or if we do it in the future, to grade it against the previous event as well. So, numbers can be really helpful if you can ask those sorts of questions. Things like how would you rate the speakers? How would you rate the venue? How would you rate the entertainment? How would you rate the venue overall or the event overall? So, asking questions and then giving them kind of 1 to 10 or 1 to 5 can really then help you, especially if you run a lot of events, I guess, compare them to each other, see where you're going well, see what people are not enjoying as much and being able to compare them to each other. So, then I go on to ask, what did you enjoy most and what could we do better? And I think the way that you phrase that gives people the opportunity to share their honest feedback, but also it's in an uplifting and positive way. So, you're not asking what didn't you like, what did you hate, things like that. You're just saying, you know, what could we have done a little bit better? And people are then pretty good with their responses in giving constructive feedback. So I then review that and then I sort of debrief either with the client or on my own, particularly for this event, because I was my own client. I then sort of debrief on my own and go, OK, what did I think worked well and what do I think we could do better next time? And you are taking on the guest's feedback as well, but it's also important to think about it from your perspective. So, it could be a case of writing that down before you look at guest's feedback, but I like to take it all into consideration and go, okay, this is what other people said. This is what I would add to that. Do I agree with that? Yes, maybe not so much if there's one or two kind of outlying bits of feedback that you don't agree with, but taking that all into consideration and going, okay, what do I think we did well and would I change for next time?
So in terms of what I think worked well, the first thing is that we had a really strong brand and a cohesive look and feel, so a really strong visual identity. I think that worked really well to stand out. You know, there's so many events these days and it's really important that we stand out, particularly when we're pitching to what is essentially a public audience. So it wasn't, you know, a closed private invite only event. But we were going to the public, essentially. And so, we had a really strong brand, a cohesive look and feel, which we ran across, you know, kind of socials and through paid ads and in emails and things like that. So, I think the brand and the theme, it all tied together really nicely and we kept it cohesive from start to finish. And so, that really made it feel like it was this important, big event that people were going to and they knew what they were in for. And we just kept it cohesive the whole way through. We kept the messaging on point. We kept the visuals on point. And I think that that worked really well.
The other thing overwhelmingly is the speakers. And so I feel like I nailed the speakers. And that has shown through in the feedback from attendees as well, in terms of what they loved the best. It was, you know, far and beyond the keynote speakers, but also all of the speakers. And so, yeah, people really loved the conference part of the event. And they got a lot of value from the speakers. So, I think we absolutely nailed them. And I'm really happy with the choices that we made with those.
Interestingly, a couple of things that people mentioned in the feedback that I wouldn't have necessarily thought were good things. The networking, I felt like it kind of a little bit flopped at the end of the day for the networking drinks that we had. But, you know, more than kind of five people mentioned that they loved that part of the day. That's really interesting to get that feedback, and that's why it's really important to, you know, get feedback from your attendees, because how you perceive something is not how everyone perceives something. So they loved the networking part and potentially that then gives me the feedback that, you know, I need to put more into that. I knew that it probably wasn't what it needed to be, but getting the feedback that people enjoyed that part then informs, okay, well, let's actually put more effort, energy, money behind that part of the event in future, make it even better.
The other thing was the venue, and I hope no one from the venue is listening, but I honestly was a little bit worried. You know, I'd never worked with that venue before. I didn't have full confidence in the venue, but I got a lot of feedback that the venue was great and particularly that the food was really good. Now, to be fair, I hardly ate on the day because I was rushing around. So, again, that's really good to get that feedback from people, that they really enjoyed lunch, particularly it was healthy, you know, it wasn't all carby. And we did have a large proportion of people were women. And so, not to stereotype, but they do particularly enjoy, you know, something that's a bit healthier and fresher. And so, that's really good to get that feedback because that's something that I wasn't across on the day. So, it's good to hear that from other people.
Now, the other interesting piece was the expo. So, I sort of felt like potentially it didn't add any value to the day and I'd sort of been tossing up in the future, do we scrap that part of the event and just make it a conference? to be transparent, I'm probably stronger in planning a conference than I am an expo. And throughout the planning phase, the expo and getting sponsors and things like that was the part that we struggled with, not just because of the economy, but because we didn't have the connections. And I had been tossing out, you know, maybe that's the part that we get rid of in the future. But a lot of people gave feedback that they found the expo really valuable. They loved walking around. They loved connecting with the businesses that were exhibiting. So that's really interesting feedback as well and something to consider for us going forward.
So once we've gotten the feedback from our guests and we've debriefed either with a team or by ourself or with our client, whatever that looks like for you, it's important to then capture all of this into like an event report that you can keep on file for your future events. So you want to be summarizing the team debrief. You want to be making sure that you're saving the results of the survey that you're sending out to attendees and kind of putting it all together in a simple event report that you can refer back to whether you run that same event again or future events. It's important to capture all of that information and especially capturing what you would do differently next time, because trust me, you move on to other things and you do forget. So, it's important to make sure that you note down anything and be as specific as you can with what you would do differently next time, because it's only going to make your job planning events easier in the future.
And I think just to summarize, you know, hindsight is a blessing and a curse. You know, I think after executing and evaluating an event, There's always things that you can so clearly see that you could do differently next time, and you sort of might question why you did it that way, or you're kicking yourself because you wish that you'd done it a different way, and now you've missed the opportunity. But I think it's important, like, don't get disheartened. You know, when feedback comes in or, you know, other people are sharing their improvements and kind of saying what we should have done differently, you know, that's not a reflection on you. I think evaluating an event actually makes our job easier, as I said before, because next time we plan an event. You know, we're going to know in advance what's going to work well and what doesn't. And I definitely take those learnings and share them with my clients and with you guys, because it only makes everything easier for people. So if people are giving you feedback on an event and saying, oh, we should have done this or we could have done this better, don't take it as a reflection on you and the job that you did. I'm sure you did an amazing job. but we want to make sure that we're taking that down as actually really helpful feedback because it's going to make our job easier in the future and that's the way that we want to think about it.
One of the reasons that I started Events Academy and something I'm so passionate about is sharing what I've learned over the past 12 years with you guys so that it does make it easier for you as you plan events, because it is one of the most stressful and overwhelming things that I think is really underrated. People assume that it's easy and that you just book a venue and people turn up and it's all really easy. But we know how much work goes into events. And trust me, there are people out there who see it and acknowledge it and know what you put in. And I, for one, am the biggest advocate for that because I know what goes into an event. Don't be disheartened. Make sure that you are reflecting on your events, celebrating the wins and reviewing and learning to improve in the future.
That's it for today. I hope that was helpful. Make sure you reach out if I can help with anything and I will chat to you next week.
