Marketing your Event

The interview I had to today helped me come up with a new blog topic - marketing your event. You have confirmed the venue, the event date and planned out all the details but you need to remember to properly market your event. Some event planners have another company or department help with the marketing of their event but a lot of them do the marketing themselves. One of the things that makes an event successful is the high attendance numbers and if you do the proper marketing you may see this (there are other factors that contribute to high attendance numbers - ticket price, value to the attendee etc.).

There are a number of ways to market your event, here are some of my suggestions:

• Use Social Media - Promote your event through LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, your blog (if you have one) and any other social media you can think of. The way we communicate and market products/services has changed and social media is in the fore front. It's really important to use this medium to market your event as many people use social media as their news/activity resource.
  
  
• Promote through related associations. Promote your event through an association (ie. a gaming event would be connected to a gaming association) if it is related to an association/industry. You can market your event through their newsletters, emailers, website and any other marketing tools that they have.
  
  
• Go to Networking Functions. If it is relevant, go to networking functions to promote your event. When you are at a networking event, you are meant to talk about yourself and what you do. It is a perfect opportunity to promote your upcoming events.
  
  
• Use Event Listings. Use free and paid event listings online and in the paper. It's a great way to get the word out fast about your event.
  
  
• Make a Website. If applicable, make a website that will have all the event details, including registration. If you already have an existing website, you can promote your event through there.
  
  
• Get a Print Ad. If your budget allows, use print advertising in newspapers and other print media to promote your event. Make sure to use a print publication that is relevant to your event and has a similar target audience as your event.
  
  
• Put up Posters. Design a poster with your event details and put them up around your city. Depending on who you are targeting, you can place the posters in community centers, libraries, and on poles (that allow postering).
  
  

I hope the above suggestions will help you in marketing your event!

-Shira :)

Weddings Galore!

Happy Labour Day everyone! I am so happy summer has not gone away yet. It looks like this week is going to be the hottest week out of the whole summer which is kind of ironic considering everyone is going back to work/school :)

So today's post is all about weddings. I have had the honour of being a bridesmaid for two beautiful weddings this year. I also attended a fabulous beach wedding in July and will be attending two more - one later this month and the other in November.

This year has definitely been the year of weddings for me. I have never been to this many weddings in one year and a lot of people are telling me they will keep coming in the next coming years. It's really kind of crazy how time passes so quickly. I swear it was just yesterday that I turned 19 and marriage didn't really cross my mind. Now I am 27 and everyone around me is getting married. I definitely feel the pressure to get married but I try to not let it get to me. I will get married when I am good and ready, there is no rush :)

This year was the first year that I ever was a bridesmaid so I didn't know exactly what to expect, but I had an idea. When two of my friends asked me, I really did feel blessed and honored but I knew there were would be some stresses that come with being a bridesmaid. I did realize that as a bridesmaid you do have certain duties (not as much as the maid of honour, hehe). I also realized that conflicts can arise between bridesmaids. What I learned from these experiences is that compromises need to be made and more importantly, you need to keep the bride happy.

Along with having my bridesmaid duties, both of my friends allowed me to help plan their weddings as wedding planning is a field I want to gain experience in. I am so grateful that they allowed me to do this as I really did get a good insight into wedding planning. There is SO much planning involved and SO many details to go over. From the seating plan to the table numbers to the transportation logistics. Because of my Type A personality, I created a work plan and schedule for them and made sure they stayed on track. I also helped create a number of items - invitations, centrepieces, table numbers, favours. Planning a wedding can be really stressful and leading up to the big day I experienced first hand some really stressed out brides. Throughout this whole process, I realized that even if you plan everything, something can go wrong. When something doesn't go according to plan, you have to just run with it and accept that not everything can be perfect. This past Saturday, while I was watching the happy couple take their first dance, it all of a sudden hit me that what really matters is that the bride and groom get married and are happy.

I am so incredibly thankful that I was a part of so many weddings this year. I know that each couple found their other half and will have a long lasting marriage. I love you guys!! (I am such a mush :P)

-Shira :)

Post-Event Evaluation

Hello hello! It feels like it's been quite a while since I made a new post since I blog so often, hehe. I had quite the busy week - interviews (yay!), wedding prep and a beautiful wedding (where I was a bridesmaid).

Today's post is about post-event evaluation. A lot of people think an event is finished right after it is complete and that is just not true. You need to thank anyone involved in the event, update any processes and more importantly, evaluate your event. It's really important to review your event from start to finish to really determine what went well and what needed improvement. By doing this, you can know your successful areas and weak spots and this will make for very successful future events.

The following are some key guidelines/tips when performing your post-event evaluation:

•  Provide surveys. When possible, hand out surveys at the end of your event or send out surveys via email to your event guests. If you ask people for their opinion they will often give it to you and if you don't ask you won't really know what they thought. Ask questions like - What was your experience like? What were areas that needed improvement? What was your favourite part of the event? Try and give open ended questions so that your guests can really give you specific answers. A fair warning that you may not get a lot of responses so a good way to increase response is by providing your guests with an incentive. The incentive is usually a draw for some type of prize - restaurant gift card, gift basket, passes for next year's event (if the event is yearly).
  
  
• Ask the right questions. You need to ask the right evaluation questions so that you really figure how the event went. What needed improvement? What went well? Did anything unexpected happen? Were there any conflicts and if so how were they resolved?  What was the general feedback from guests? Were the outlined event goals met?
  
  
• Create a report. It's a good idea to create a detailed report after each event that you do. Depending on your event, it can include the following details: name of the event, date, location, number of guests in attendance, objectives that were met/not met, schedule, expenses, revenue, successes and improvements, testimonials/feedback.
  
  
• Have a team discussion. If your event involved a number of staff/volunteers (which it usually does), it's important to have a meeting/discussion with this team to discuss the event areas of improvement and successes. Each person will have their own opinion on what went well and what didn't, which is great because you will get a variety of responses. The team will also feel appreciated that you asked for their feedback.
  
  
• Evaluate Promptly. You should do your post-event evaluation I would say no later than 2 weeks after your event is complete so that it is still fresh in your mind. If you put it off for an extended period of time, you won't remember all the details of the event very well.
  
  

Have a great day off tomorrow everyone!

-Shira :)