TECH MAG

Why It’s A Great Time To Become An Event Planner

ERE

TITLE HERE

HOW LONDON 2012 WILL

CHANGE THE EVENT INDUSTRY

What The Future’ s Got In Store

ISO 20121 – Why You’d Better Embrace It

news, education and resources for the event planning industry

JULY 2012 1.1 MAGAZINE

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Table Of Contents

By

Nigel Evans CSEP

Cover Story How London 2012 Is

Set to Redefine the

Event Industry

Can The Brits Deliver

Olympic Gold?

ERE

Why There's Never Been A Better Time To

Become An Event Planner The stars are aligning like never before….

Why We're Seeing Fundamental Change In

The World Of Event Planning

…and why this will present new and exciting opportunities

Latest News

What’s hot off the presses

Table Of Contents

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The Future Looks Brite For This

Emerging Star

Yet more online tools for the event marketer

Academy Education – part 1

Learn about goals and objectives and the importance of budgets

Academy Education – part 2

Learn how to deal with PR and Media and address the issue of

transportation

Say Hello To ISO 20121

Why Sustainability Must Be The New Normal For

The Event Planner

15 Sources for Event Management

Intelligence

Master Face to Face Marketing with guest columnist

Elish Bull

Welcome

By Nigel Evans, CSEP, Founder of the Event Planning Academy

”The event planning industry is estimated to be worth somewhere in the region of $500

billion per year. It's a growing, thriving, dynamic, whirlwind of an industry where creativity,

ingenuity and imagination come together in equal measure. It's an industry where people

invariably start off with a clean sheet of paper and come up with some of the most

amazing and inspiring events, designed for individuals, clubs, groups, organizations or

corporations.

As human beings we inherently love the concept of an event. We love to get together

and celebrate with each other for so many different reasons and as this is something that

is within our very being, we are never likely to see a downturn in the growth and

progression of the event planning industry.

Yet as it is such a dynamic and ever changing business there is always something new

to learn. For those who are just starting out and who may feel inspired by the thought of

becoming an event planner there's a lot to learn. For those who are already in the

industry it's important to keep up with innovations and developments. For those who may

be thinking about starting their own business as an event planner it's important to go

about this the right way. These are the reasons why the Event Planning Academy was

created by industry veterans, who are committed to giving back to an industry that they

love so much.

The Event Planning Academy Magazine will be a regular feature on the iPad newsstand

and we look forward to bringing you all that's new and good about this business, while

also providing you with links and resources to educational and informative material,

designed to help you understand and engage in this fantastic industry.”

Lead Story

- The Olympics

London Prepares

An Olympic Games

is an Event

Planning Mega-

Challenge

How London 2012 Is Set to

Redefine the Event Industry

Can The Brits Deliver Olympic Gold?

BY Nigel Evans, CSEP

In the event industry few events come close in terms of scale, interest and

media participation in comparison to the Olympic Games. As London 2012

unfolds before us we are likely to see the most-watched event in history,

especially bearing in mind where we are today in terms of cable coverage

and online connectivity.

Roger Mosey, director of coverage for the BBC in London estimates that

"the London 2012 Olympic Games is likely to be the biggest sporting

event in the UK in our lifetimes." In addition to wall-to-wall coverage on

the terrestrial channels provided by the BBC – One, Two, Three, HD and

One HD, there will be up to 24 live HD streams online and more than

2,500 hours of coverage by the BBC for your Web-enabled device or

computer.

Yet as impressive as this may sound it may even be usurped by

plans to cover the Olympics on the other side of the pond. NBC, the

US station that has the rights to broadcast the spectacular, is

planning more than 5,000 hours of coverage, on television and

online. On TV expect to see 270 hours spread throughout the day

with a focus on primetime coverage. In a nod to the increasing

importance of online coverage, the station will for the first time be

hosting live coverage on the Internet, with a range of follow-up

programs on terrestrial TV during the primetime hours.

There is no doubt that we are seeing a change in the way that people

consume their information and education. While at one time we would

all rely on radio and subsequently television for such information and

entertainment, we are increasingly demanding quick and ready

access on our own terms and at times of our choosing.

“Biggest Sporting

Event…In Our

Lifetimes”

As streaming online entertainment is now

perfectly acceptable in terms of quality and

commonplace, those who are in charge of

conventional television stations

understandably have to adjust to the times, or

start to suffer considerably in the ratings.

The 2012 Olympic Games is likely to be one of the most "watched"

events in history, both from the point of view of the actual sporting

events themselves and in terms of how the industry itself is

acclimatizing to "new media." Event organizers will be able to take a

lot of value away from the way that the marquee media outlets are

handling coverage of this event. Due to the marked difference in

cost in relation to generating coverage for online consumption

versus terrestrial cable television, there will be increasing potential

and capability for dedicated, even live coverage of some of our

other events going forward.

Of course when it comes to the Olympics we are talking about a

massive commitment, one that is only feasible in economic and

logistical terms if it is backed by the government of the host country.

Remember that the committee responsible for the London 2012

Games had to be hard at work from the time that the bid was initially

won in 2005, just to complete the construction of the various sites

on time by 2011. Here we're seeing the case of a massive special

event with considerable potential to rejuvenate areas that were

once seen as in need of regeneration. A sizable area of East

London has been completely transformed, but once the event is

finished the infrastructure will remain and will be of benefit to the

people who live in that area for decades to come.

According to the London 2012 site, "throughout the construction

program and planning for the games themselves we've been thinking

about tomorrow: our aim is for the games to leave an amazing legacy

– for the games to be remembered not only as a summer of fantastic

sport, but as the catalyst for regeneration of the most underdeveloped

areas of the UK." Organizers go on to say that they feel that they

have "raised the bar" for the construction industry and for the future of

large-scale events. They have also been particularly focused on

sustainability and environmental concerns.

The scale of preparation needed to put together the series of events

that compromise an Olympic Games is mind blowing. For example

more than 200,000 seats needed to be installed in and around venues

such as the Olympic Park, enough toilets to service the population of

Malta and enough marquees and tents to cover the whole of Hong

Kong. All of the overlay, equipment and material needed to be hired in

as part of a logistical exercise that the majority of event organizers

would undoubtedly find to be extremely challenging. Due to the fact

that many of the games are scheduled to take place in venues that

are by themselves popular and highly visited tourist locations an

additional element of availability was added to the equation. For

example, organizers would only have five weeks to erect a huge

arena at Horse Guards Parade, due to the fact that there were two

other major events at either end of that time window.

Of course the question on many people's lips is exactly how London

2012 will live up to the considerable standard in terms of presentation

and unquantifiable “wow factor" laid down by Beijing in 2008. The

opening ceremony dreamed up and presented by the Chinese at the

Beijing Games was truly one of the most spectacular ever and there is

undoubtedly a lot to live up to here. The opening ceremony in London

will focus on the heritage of the nation, including bucolic scenes of

rolling farmland, cows and sheep. In all honesty it doesn't sound

particularly inspiring on the face of it, but a lot can be lost in the

translation.

The British have got a flair for event organization. Indeed, many would

say that events such as the recent Royal Wedding and the Queen’s

Diamond Jubilee are indications of the way that the British can put on

an event with a degree of pomp and ceremony that nobody else can

match. It's little wonder therefore that this year's Olympics is one of

the most anticipated major sporting events of all time.

In the event industry few activities have as much potential for

showcasing exactly what the industry can deliver as an Olympic

Games. As such the event represents a cauldron for innovation and

we will undoubtedly witness a wealth of new technology and ideas in

action. As we previously mentioned media exposure is likely to be

broader and more inclusive than ever before and the overall

audience will undoubtedly be the largest for any event of all time.

Whether you are a sporting aficionado or simply someone who is a

fan of spectacular events of any kind, the London 2012 Olympic

Games will undoubtedly be something that you will remember for the

rest of your life.

BY Nigel Evans, CSEP

Nigel has lived and worked in London and appreciates

the challenge faced by the Olympic hosts…

Why There's Never Been A

Better Time To Become An

Event Planner

BY Charles Avery

There's little doubt that we are entering a brand-new era in terms of

the way that knowledge and expertise is communicated. The old

model just doesn't seem to be quite as relevant anymore. It seems

that more and more people are coming to terms with the reality that

the knowledge that they amassed in school and onward into higher

education is not always of true value to them in the real world.

Certainly, through our earlier phases of learning up to and including

high school or secondary school much of the information taught to

us can be considered to be marginally beneficial, at best. We are not

really taught "life skills," how to deal with monetary issues, how to

develop an entrepreneurial mindset, how to fend for yourself in the

world of business. There is still no real focus on trying to find out

exactly what the individual is likely to be best suited at in terms of

skill set or aspiration, looking far into the future. Yet within each one

of us is an expert in one or more subjects just waiting to get out into

the world and to provide value to others.

In their work Generations -mentioned elsewhere in this publication - and

The Fourth Turning, Strauss and Howe maintain that society goes through

a series of 40 year phases, a phenomenon that they have studied going

back to the 16th century. Essentially, we are either focused on the

individual or focused on others, in terms of the way that we engage.

During an era where focus is generally on the individual, life seems to be

about "me, me, me," building individual fortunes and worshiping the

almighty dollar. During an era where focus is more civic oriented, we are

much more interested in how we can contribute to society and help others

push themselves and better their overall life styles. In 2003 the latest era

– focused on civic contribution - commenced and we are now moving into

the "meat" of that era. If we follow this philosophy this means that any

effort that we make as entrepreneurs should be more focused on

teaching, educating and helping others and this is certainly the direction

that any "expert in waiting" must take as they seek to move forward.

“… How up-to-date or how

relevant is the information that

is being taught in colleges and

universities today? … ”

People can search and find information relevant to their wants and needs

readily, but there is an increasing desire to find information that is

specifically tailored to help with a specific situation, rather than having to

dig through the plethora of individual web pages available on the Internet.

How up-to-date or how relevant is the information that is being taught in

colleges and universities today? Due to the way that these institutions are

configured and run it takes a lot of time to develop a specific curriculum, to

engage teachers and other staff members and put together a course that

is likely to be of "best value" to those who are scheduled to enroll during

the next semester.

It's simply not feasible for these institutions to change course and to

update the information that they are teaching at very short notice, even

though this is certainly what they should be trying to do. Take whatever

subject you want and consider how quickly the relevant subject matter can

become out of date due to advances, breakthroughs, opinions, work in

progress. It is highly likely that the information being taught in the

classroom six months from now, based as it is on research gathered today,

will be out of date to a large degree.

Our ability to communicate is unrivaled. It's

infinitely possible to create a purposeful

website, to engage in all forms of social media

activity, to use the power of video marketing

and to spread an individual message to a

growing tribe of interested individuals.

Another sizable problem inherent in our educational system is the sheer

cost involved in trying to pay for a four year degree. Thousands of

people are getting into debt each year as they take on this burden and

many people are unable to shake off the negative aftereffects for

decades thereafter. Are they really confident that what they get at the

end of their adventure is going to be valid, valuable and bankable in the

real world?

The "great recession" taught us that there was no such thing as the job

of a lifetime anymore. Job security and stability are two essential

elements for the working man or woman, but can anyone really rely on

them anymore in this bold new world? It's little wonder that people are

deciding to change course mid life and turning to the world of the

entrepreneur. They are thinking long and hard about some of the skills

that they may have picked up during their life so far and how they may

be able to turn this to their advantage by providing a product or service

to an eager market.

If we take all this into consideration collectively we can see why there's

never been a better time for people to consider how they could position

themselves as an expert in their own particular area of interest. They

could become the trusted authority in their niche and help others, in

turn, to better their own situations. Yet many people simply do not know

how to go about this. Where do they start?

The first thing to do is to look back all the way to childhood and

consider just what you were good at in school. Were you put in charge

of a particular project or committee due to the fact that you were "good

at that?"

Societal change

and the meteoric

growth of the web

reshapes our world

Did you find that you enjoyed a particular activity and would always look

forward to participating? It's important to look through life chronologically

from those early days up until the recent past. Almost every one of us has

a flair for something, or has amassed a lot of experience and knowledge

that could be turned to advantage now. In this case you might feel as if

you were good at organizing things. You may have been nominated to

organize the local school play, or were put in charge of organizing some

sporting activities in college. You may be the one who all your friends turn

to whenever it's time to plan a getaway or a vacation/holiday. You simply

have a knack for that and this is why you ought to consider becoming an

event organizer, professionally, especially in the current environment.

To become an event planner you do not need any college degree or formal

qualification. What you do need is a clear understanding of what it's going

to take to succeed - first-class organizational ability, stamina and a proven

ability to work well with people. You need to be motivational, don't mind

working long hours or weekends and have a tremendous amount of

tenacity. You can start your own business as an event planner, or gather

together the relevant knowledge and education to enable you to work for

an established organization in the field. If you can show that you have the

personal attributes and the right work ethic, it's possible to get a very solid

education online in your spare time, in not only the intricacies of the event

management world, but also the skills of setting up and operating your

own business as an entrepreneur.

Make no mistake, the way that business is conducted is changing – and

changing significantly. It is likely that we will become far more focused in

terms of how we gather information, knowledge and education that is

going to be of value to us. Just because you may be passed the traditional

"learning" phase in your life as dictated by convention, it does not mean

that you cannot completely refocus your objective, as many hundreds of

thousands of other people are learning to their advantage today. We are in

an era where to be successful we need to be seen to be giving back to

others and to be contributing to society. By becoming an expert event

planner and positioning yourself strategically and carefully you can provide

a stable future for yourself by focusing on something that you have a

knack for doing. You can give back to the community by focusing on your

expert ability, while providing a valuable service.

For further information about specific education and resources for aspiring

event planners and those who would seek to become experts in the world

of event management, get in touch with The Event Planning Academy.

When Your

Event Needs To

Be The Winner,

As Well

worldwide event promotion www.eventdesignscompany.com

Why We're Seeing

Fundamental Change In The

World Of Event Planning

Change

Be prepared for a

completely new

way of thinking

The Future

Why Generational Theory and Social Relevance

May Be Involved BY Corey J Morgan

Have you ever heard someone refer to a brand-new solution, service,

product or situation by proudly or defiantly stating that "this isn't your

grandfather's (insert variable)?" When I was doing some research for

this article I did a quick scan through Google and sure enough there

were literally dozens of hyperlinks pointing to headlines, linking that

declaration to subjects as diverse as a closet, a shotgun, an Epic 4G

Touch, motor oil, the national debt, the constitution, a helicopter, even an

interferometer – whatever that is. Why do I bring this up? Well in relation

to the event planning industry things have changed so much that we can

forget all about grandpa and say that this isn't even your father's event

planning industry any more.

Anyone actively involved in event planning who has the level of passion

and interest necessary to succeed in the future knows that it's time to

embrace widespread and comprehensive change. While there has been a

steady progression toward evolution in the industry over the last decade

the pace of change has accelerated significantly in recent times due to a

variety of converging, if not always, complementary reasons.

William Strauss and Neil Howe wrote the book Generations. The book

seeks to recall the history of the United States dating back to 1584 and

maintains that we go through a series of generational cycles, including

four distinct types of cultural and societal awareness that essentially wax

and wane, like clockwork, through the years. Essentially they posit that

there are 40 year cycles where we, as a nation of people, transition from

being entirely focused on idealism to the polar opposite, being entirely

focused on a civic society, the need to care about others, to give back to

community. Since 2003 according to this philosophy we are transitioning

back into a civic society from an era that was most definitely focused on

being self-centered and mostly concerned with individualism and self

expression.

“The "great recession"

marked a turning point

for all of us…”

The "great recession" marked a turning point for all of us in ways that were

far more deeply rooted than simply an economic wake-up call. Many

segments of the population turned away from the concept that bigger is

always better and that any solution or business strategy is okay so long as

you turn a profit at the end of the day. We're seeing a far more community

minded populace, with a focus on how we can help others and collectively

build a far more socially oriented future, without many of the excesses that

contributed to the financial cataclysm.

So, how does this affect the event planning industry and the future of the

special event going forward? These fundamental changes in the way that

we view commerce and business in relation to its effect on culture and

society have occurred at a time when we have all learned to become far

more connected with each other anyway. The social media revolution

developed at the same time as we all rebooted our computers in the world

of business and finance. Maybe it's simply a coincidence that Facebook

launched during the winter of 2003, at the same time as the Strauss –

Howe generational theory ushered in a brand-new, civic oriented phase.

The work of Strauss and Howe has been

seen as eye-opening and revealing by many,

as controversial by others. Nevertheless it's

an interesting read and we can certainly see

some correlations when we look at the way

that society has changed and is undoubtedly

changing before our very eyes.

We've become very civic minded and have taken an interest in the lives

of so many people with whom we had previously completely lost touch.

While Facebook has been largely responsible for this massive shift in

social understanding, social media in general has grown to become an

essential part of our daily lives. Advances in technology mean that it is

now rather easy for each one of us to have a voice in the world, to

create a website or blog of some kind. This sense of freedom is

empowering and should not be underestimated in the world of business

and commerce generally and in the event planning industry specifically.

Within less than five years it is estimated that more people will be using

mobile devices to keep in touch and to access the Internet than will be

using desktop devices. By that time millions of people around the world

will have become connected to the Internet for the very first time,

opening up an amazing array of possibilities and opportunities and

unleashing the power and potential of so many more fascinating and

contributory individuals.

Remember that the event industry is entirely based around one very

important and fundamental human requirement – the need to gather

together and experience. This fundamental need has been evident

since the dawn of civilization and in the event planning industry we

have provided many new and innovative solutions over the generations

to help facilitate this. Yet while the industry has grown and developed

and evolved as times have changed and people's needs have become

better defined and more advanced, many of our events are still based

on providing one solution for a multitude of attendees. In many

respects these events have been based on a one size doesn't fit all

scenario, where the very specific needs of an individual attendee have

not necessarily been front and center.

Dawn of a

New Era

Just consider how informed, well-educated and connected we are today

and how this trend is likely to accelerate in the years ahead. Some people

like to say that social media is simply a fad, but now that we have all

become so much more empowered by this level of connectivity we are

hardly likely to let go of the reins. Certainly, Facebook may well be

replaced by some other solution but we are still going to strive to connect

both socially and professionally with a significantly wider array of

individuals and organizations than we ever did before, during our

grandfather’s day or even our father's day.

It's easy for us all to render our opinion – whether good or bad – about any

aspect of our life, instantaneously. We can tweet or post and wash any

organization's dirty linen in public within a matter of seconds. This is a

situation that every commercial organization must face and indeed

embrace and certainly a situation that the event planning industry has to

adopt as well.

Look at this from a positive perspective. As event planners we have the

ability to crowd source like never before, to gather information and

feedback. We can learn very quickly whether a certain event was

successful or not and get feedback from the horse’s mouth to tell us what

we need to do to improve. As an industry we collectively need to embrace

the need to consider individualism as we design and organize our events.

For example a conference or convention is likely to be an arena where

two-way interaction is fundamental. No longer should an event be focused

on the delivery of information or education in one direction, but rather a far

more democratic and engaged event where everybody learns from

everybody else. People will take away a lot more from this type of dynamic

event environment, will be able to interact with a far greater number of

attendees, make more contacts and widen their individual sphere of

influence. When attendees feel that they have personally contributed to

the success of an event this creates a powerful additional need to attend

such events in the future and creates an amazing level of opportunity for

the entire event planning industry.

The future is bright, so long as people within the industry embrace the fact

that the world has indeed changed.

BY Corey J Morgan

Corey has always been something of a visionary in the

events biz. How do you see the future panning out?

NEWS

Future of Mobile

Apps

Focusing on Mobile Apps In The Events Market

Supplier of leading online event marketing and management solutions

Cvent seems to be on the acquisition trail. The organization recently

acquired a company called Crowd Compass, which specializes in

making apps for events that allow attendees to make the most

productive use of their time.

This buy-up follows closely on the heels of a separate acquisition, once

again a multimillion dollar deal, where Cvent acquired Seed Labs,

another company specializing in mobile applications within the event

world.

So many people are coming to rely more and more on their handheld

device for communication and productivity and there's little doubt that

the mobile revolution is having a profound effect on the structure and

format of events of all type. Attendees can now become far more

engaged with the theme and purpose of the event by interacting through

their mobile device. As such we're starting to see some very powerful

apps appear on the marketplace, focusing on sheer productivity and

giving attendees extra tools to enable them to get the most out of their

valuable time and resources spent.

One of the goals underlying these strategic acquisitions is evidently a

concerted focus by the company to provide event planners and event

delegates with the latest and most useful technological advances on the

market.

New Wordpress Events Theme

WordPress is undoubtedly one of the best platforms available not only for

creating blogs, but also for creating websites for your business. The

platform is essentially a crowd sourced creation and is constantly under

review and development, but it has been lauded across the industry for its

intuitive features and flexibility. There are hundreds of designers engaged

in producing themes for your WordPress site and WooThemes, one of the

better-known, has recently come up with a theme dedicated to the word

of event management.

Diarise is one of their premium themes, designed for "event organizer

companies, sports clubs, schools, churches, etc." There are a variety of

different color schemes and custom widgets available and the homepage

can be configured in a variety of different ways using various modules to

customize the look and feel. Features of the event are handled by a

custom settings panel and you can also incorporate a booking form.

The event calendar can be linked to sync to your Outlook or Google

calendar. There is a featured post scroll up, where you can highlight

features of past events that you’ve been responsible for. WooThemes has

a good reputation in the industry for providing straightforward and simple

ways to configure your site and ways to make changes without having to

resort to code editing. The theme is cross browser compatible and retails

for a reasonable $70.

For more information visit Woo Themes

http://www.woothemes.com/2010/04/diarise

Tampa Bay Rolls Out the Red Carpet

Messaging architect Corporate Magic has been hired by the committee

responsible for welcoming the organizers and delegates to the 2012

Republican National Convention in Tampa. The Dallas-based company

will be responsible for organizing an event at the Tropicana Field in St.

Petersburg for some 20,000 people to kick off the convention. The Host

Committee sees this party as an opportunity to "rebrand Tampa Bay to

the people who are in town for the convention," according to Matt Becker,

the CEO of the committee.

Tropicana Field is the home of the Tampa Bay Rays who play in the

Major-League Baseball conference and this presents a challenge by itself

to the organizing team. There will be a baseball game at the facility only

24 hours before the first delegates are due to arrive the following day,

significantly cutting down on preparation time.

This will undoubtedly require the organizer to engage their preparation

military style and evidently they intend to bring in a team of some 200

people for the load-in and set up. Not only does the configuration of the

event present a challenge but also there is the issue of national security,

due to the profile of the event itself. This will require each person

attending the event to go through airport style security machines before

being allowed access.

A lot of creative ingenuity is being put into the design and presentation of

the event from the moment that guests arrive on a fleet of charter buses.

The plan is for the centerfield to adequately reflect the various attractions

and culture associated with the three host cities – Clearwater, St.

Petersburg and Tampa.

Clearly the Tri-City area is going all out to impress delegates and

attendees at the Republican National Convention, with of course the

ultimate goal to foster substantial new business opportunities for the area,

heavily reliant on the tourist trade.

ISO-20121

Rules

New standards

bode well for the

events industry

Why Sustainability Must Be The New Normal For

The Event Planner

BY Nigel Evans CSEP

As an event planner, do you know who your stakeholders are? I'm not

just talking about the identification of your clients as the ones who pay

the bills and to whom you must ultimately answer, or your guests or

attendees, to whom you present the product, or the media, who will pass

judgment on your efforts.

I'm looking at this from the broader perspective. Whenever you organize

a special event it has an impact on its surroundings, communities and

the environment in general. In short, as no event operates in a vacuum it

is very important to consider just how much of an impact your event has

in its entirety.

This is why the introduction of ISO 20121, also known as Event

Sustainability Management Systems, is such a milestone for the industry.

The International Standards Organization has created this new standard

to help organizers of events large and small to integrate sustainability into

their activities. It doesn't matter what type of event we are talking about,

whether the event is simply a local celebration or an event of epic

proportions such as the Olympic Games, efforts should now be engaged

to conform to the standards in order to leave behind a suitable legacy.

Conformation to the standard will not only ensure that the event meets its

obligations from a sustainability perspective, but it will help the event to

be more successful financially as well. But there is the image as well.

Remember that a considerable portion of the population is actively

engaged in environmental support and will be very keen to assess the

carbon footprint of your particular event.

“every one of us in the

business should be looking at

how we can implement ISO

20121 before our next event”

Maybe we should take a moment to look inwardly here. It goes without

saying that we've all been through a very difficult period of time, during

which many people have suffered both socially and economically as a

result of the global downturn. During the height of that downturn it simply

became unacceptable to be seen to be "excessive" in any way. To put it

differently "conspicuous consumption" became a dirty phrase and this

certainly had a detrimental effect on the event industry as a whole.

Suddenly organizations were cutting back because they felt that it was

not in their best interest to be promoting an event that was not

necessarily "essential."

Now while we have moved on to a certain extent from the worst results of

that downturn a new mindset is pervasive. Across all levels of society it is

still important to justify the staging of an event and people do tend to look

at special events with a far more critical eye. This has put even more

emphasis on the need to be seen to be a good corporate citizen as an

event planner and this is why each and every one of us in the business

should be looking at how we can implement ISO 20121 before our next

event.

Consequently, no event planner should

underestimate the positive public relations

impact associated with staging an event

where the processes used meet or exceed

recognized, international standards. This is

increasingly relevant.

The standard is not just meant for event managers either. Venues that

host events can also apply for certification, as can those involved in

supporting the operation of events such as caterers, designers,

audiovisual technicians, and so on. We can see the development of a

trend in the future, whereby forward thinking event planners will only seek

to work with outsourced teams that also embrace and adopt sustainable

standards and vice versa.

Those who may be a little skeptical or unsure of what is involved should

understand that there is no requirement to reinvent the wheel. We all

have operational processes and procedures and should always be

looking to improve efficiency, reduce costs and move forward proactively.

Adoption of these international standards will help us to do so, while also

helping us with our public relations and outward facing exposure to the

world at large.

Certification will require an independent audit to confirm that the system

we have put in place to manage the event meets the requirements of ISO

20121. The first thing that you need to do is to determine where you may

already conform versus where you need to focus in order to move toward

certification.

As you may expect the text of the Standard is rather long-winded, a bit

technical and can be somewhat difficult to understand. We can expect to

see the emergence of organizations dedicated to cutting through all the

red tape and explaining the small print. Due to the publicity associated

with the launch of the certification process and for the reasons we have

outlined here, we can also expect there to be fairly widespread adoption

during the early days across the event industry. For those who work with

local governments and other public facing organizations expect ISO

20121 to be written into a requirement for future contracts. We can also

expect clients large and small to understand the importance of the

Standard and why they should be seen to be working with event planners

who fully embrace the concept as well.

Elsewhere in this magazine is an article about the impact that the London

2012 Olympic Games is likely to have on the event industry as a whole.

Here we see another example of that, as the organizers of the Games

were very instrumental in providing input and assistance during the

development of the Standard.

Finally it's important to note that ISO 20121 is a Standard that focuses on

systems and processes or the way that an organization handles its event

related activities and solutions. Consequently it's not possible for an event

to claim that it is "certified," rather something that is applicable to those

involved in delivering the event.

.

15 Sources for Event

Management Intelligence

Elish Bull Guest author

BY Elish Bul-Godley

Master Face-To-Face Marketing 15 Sources Of Event Management Intelligence

You may be organizing an in-house event, trade fair or seminar as part

of your current Marketing Plan. Some of you may be participating in a

trade show or convention as an exhibitor, sponsor or partner in the

months to come. If so, tap into some great advice on how

to maximize your presence and effectiveness in these face-to-face

marketing opportunities. Read on to pick up on some key event tools

out there.

WHY: Include Events in your Marketing Mix?

They deliver something no online experience can quite match up to: real

in-the-flesh face-to-face meetings and marketing opportunities.

Events are multi dimensional, tactile and real-time forms of Experiential

Marketing: the best way to let people sample your products and

experience what you do in person. Events give you space for inspiration

and chance collaborations. When online, you are deliberately looking

and researching. In Real-world events, inspiration will hit you in the face

even when you are not looking for it or don’t know what you’re looking

for.

Not convinced? Here’s: 5 Reasons You Need To Meet In Person

WHY: Include Events in your Marketing Mix?

They deliver something no online experience can quite match up to: real in-the-flesh face-to-

face meetings and marketing opportunities. Events are multi dimensional, tactile and real-

time forms of Experiential Marketing: the best way to let people sample your products and

experience what you do in person. Events give you space for inspiration and chance

collaborations. When online, you are deliberately looking and researching. In Real-world

events, inspiration will hit you in the face even when you are not looking for it or don’t know

what you’re looking for.

HOW: To Get Started?

Most regions and countries have homegrown resources to help them. My favorites include:

Facetime: a non-for-profit outfit from the UK providing free down-loadable PDF guides,

DVDs and e learning CDs that guide you through event management decisions.

Starting with: The Journey of a Virgin Exhibitor

TSNN.com a prominent events directory and industry news portal from the US offering tools

and resources to business people working on trade events with the latest industry tips. Here

is a taster: How to become a Tradeshow G.E.N.I.U.S.

MeetinIreland.com in Ireland is the kind of site you should find locally in most countries,

providing easy to find resources for international & local event planners, incentive travel,

DMCs and conference organizers. A handy resource for locating venues and local

information. I especially like the resources page and conference checklist: Step-by-step

planning schedule to keep you on top of your conference management.

WHAT: Event Intelligence You Can Tap Into

The growing cross pollination between offline and online event marketing / on-site activity is

a separate bible in itself. There are experts in the field that can help you get navigate

through the cutting edge event planning technologies, applications or social media practices

in the events sector. Event Manager Blog‘s Julius Solaris is my personal fave, here is a

taster: Using Social Media at Trade Shows [Infographic] Events Guru UK provides

events technology advice such as Heidi Williams’: Using Google Events as Part of Your

Event Strategy? Small Business Marketing Blog, Ready2Spark does good cross over posts

for marketers and event planners alike. For Example: QR Codes for Events – Do they

Deserve the Hype. Write on Track gives some insight on the relevance of Twitter to events

& conferences via several posts including: How to Tweet at Conferences

WHO: Do you talk to?

People who need People…

Presentations and people skills are essential to maximizing your presence at events. There

are some coaching experts online with key insights on getting your message across.

Smart Solutions does a great blog on how to work the room in : Top Networking Skill –

Rapport . The Reluctant Speakers Club is a great go-to blog, a veritable font of information

on how to develop your speaking and presentation skills. Maximize your impact in that next

speaking engagement with this helpful post: Don’t Waste My Time

Check the Suppliers

Companies in the business of providing display solutions or key suppliers to events

Organisers also do blogs advising you on the techniques and key things to remember when

participating in trade events. Look at your local suppliers for advice too.

The Trade Show Marketing Network a US based Supplier provides display marketing tips

and advice like : Trade Show Display Budgets – What You should be Spending

Skyline also from the US, dish out practical and down to earth white papers and blogs on

topics like trade show displays and marketing techniques for example: Trade show

Planning Flowchart: Your Prescription for Pain Free Exhibiting.

.

Off The Beaten Track

Thinking of doing something cutting edge, unique or targeting the Millennial market?

The Alt Terrain Guerrilla Marketing Agency details different types of Guerrilla event

marketing ideas with pics whilst promoting their services. For example: Engaging Mural

Graffiti and Street Art Performance at Indoor and outdoor events.

CG online Marketing has a recent post of future digital trends that definitely impact on the

event sector: What’s Our Digital Future.

Get event marketing insight from the world of concert promoters and entertainment from

Dottedmusic.com : Online Tools Every Concert Promoter Should Use

WHEN: Trying not to Clash & Publishing your Event.

When holding an event especially if targeting an international audience in a B2B setting, be

cognizant of current events globally and make sure you get seen in international directories

and event calendars. A plethora of online directories exist. Some of the more

comprehensive portals include: Biztradeshows.com: The largest directory of trade fairs,

business exhibitions & trade shows, featuring 19000+ live trade events and 8100+

Organizers worldwide. They post post-show reviews and press releases so you can

research events to invest in. A sample from their Best Practice list of blogs: Meetings and

Conferences at Trade fairs. Expopromoter.org is an affiliate network for the business event

industry; an event industry resource offering online services for two target segments:

business event organizers and B2B websites.

WHERE: Finding the Right Venue?

Meetingsbooker.com offers 58,965 conference rooms in over 100 countries around the

world. Event bookers can use the website for free and receive direct online quotes or send

an enquiry to a number of venues for conferences. Their blog does give latest news on new

venues ideas/trends and even tools by industry guest bloggers. For example: Starbucks go

after meetings market.

Key Marketing Takeaway: Events are real world experiential face-to-face marketing

activities and by their very virtue, require more focus on the following:

Your local environment vis a vis venues and travel arrangements

The events calendar in your sector

The people and presentation skills within your team

Thee new technologies and trends that make people sit up and notice your activity in a

noisy

Elish has worked in the following fields: Retail management, Visual Merchandising & Retail

buying, Estates & Facilities & Project management, Hospitality Sales, Meetings & Events

management, whilst obtaining a Marketing Institute Degree by night. Currently Promoting,

Managing & Selling events for global events company Montgomery Exhibitions in their Irish

operations. She is a 3rd Generation descendant of the Irish Diaspora born in Singapore,

now in Dublin having graduated from Trinity College. Someone who has negotiated the

Cultural changes when migrating from Singapore to Ireland, with a strong sense of her Far

Eastern origins and Irish Roots. In her spare time: a Bellydance teacher, Sci-fi geek, Cool

hunter, Contributing Blogger and Content writer for following publications; LeCool Dublin,

tweakyourbiz.com, Furniture News Magazine, & Meetingsbooker.com.

Tweet @elishbulgodley

.

Eventbrite

How Eventbrite is

well placed

The Future Looks Brite For This Emerging Star

For small to medium-size events there is considerable interest in the

platform provided by rapidly emerging star Eventbrite. The events

management platform was only put into place in 2006 but has recently

announced a significant milestone, the fact that they have reached the

$1 billion threshold in gross ticket sales. After a relatively slow start

Evenbrite has got its foot firmly on the gas pedal, recording $250 million

of gross sales in 2011 alone. Much of this expansion has been due to

the San Francisco-based company's focus on social media and having

reached the milestone $1 billion mark it appears that the business could

generate almost half of that amount again during calendar year 2012.

Eventbrite has always had a close focus on search engine traffic and

you would often see reference to this site and the functions and concerts

that they were involved with in your typical Google search results page.

Yet as we continue to see a trend away from search engine result pages

and toward social media sites, we can expect to see an even greater

focus by Eventbrite on strategies like Facebook and Twitter integration

There is no doubt that event ticketing is an area that is "social" in every

respect. People want to tell others about the events they are planning to

attend and they want to know where you are going as well. Such is the

value of sharing information about event attendance on social media

networks that - according to Forbes magazine - every time somebody

shares an Eventbrite event on LinkedIn it results in an average of $.90 in

terms of event ticket purchases, while a Twitter share yields $.43 and a

Facebook share yields $2.52.

Eventbrite handles tickets for a wide range of events in as many as 13

categories ranging from the smallest get together up to and including the

largest concerts. Recently, for example, the company handled tickets for a

keynote Black Eyed Peas concert, held in June in New York City's Central

Park.

What can Eventbrite do for the typical event planner? The solution does

allow for the customization and hosting of a branded event page online,

with a personalized URL. Once set up you will be able to sell tickets or

collect registrations directly from such a site or from your own standalone

event website, by incorporating a ticket widget supplied by the

organization. You'll be able to easily keep up to date with online

registrations through this portal.

Perhaps it is in the promotion of your event that such a link-up could be of

value? They offer "one click integration" with Twitter, Facebook and a

number of other social media platforms and you can use tracking links

and analytical data to work out what promotional campaigns are working

for you and what aren't.

With a list of attendees for an event you can generate name badges and

checking lists automatically and following the event you can generate

useful information for forward planning purposes. For example you can

determine where the majority of your ticket buyers came from and

analyze sales by tickets type.

If the event in question does not want to worry about a standalone

process for credit cards, or does not have access to a merchant account

of some type then it's possible to use the solution provided by the

company. As you might expect there are also a number of different tier

levels for ticket sales based on early adoption, special offer or last-minute

deals.

Find out more about Eventbrite.

.

EVENT

INDUSTRY

TRAINING

EDUCATION

RESOURCES

Will Your Attendees Lift A Glass To Toast Your Event Planning Skills?

www.eventplanningacademy.com

ACADEMY

EDUCATION

What’s the point?

Do you know?

Goals & Objectives

Why It's Important To Prioritize Goals And

Objectives When Calculating The Purpose Of

An Event

BY THE EVENT PLANNING ACADEMY

Any time that people come together with a common purpose, a special

event is the result. To gather and mingle is part of our very being. We

have within our very nature a crowd mentality and want to socialize with

our fellow human beings wherever and whenever possible.

This presents a tremendous opportunity for event organizers, as there

are a myriad of opportunities and so many reasons for the staging of a

special event within our complex society.

From the point of view of the event planner it is important to be very clear

about the purpose and objective right from the beginning, however. Often,

there are a number of reasons associated with the staging of an event

and where this is the case, these reasons have to be prioritized. A

number of different groups may have a vested interest in the outcome

and this is especially true in the corporate world. Success or failure will

be determined according to the planner’s ability to prioritize the

various elements of the event carefully and methodically.

Much of the work associated with running even the most complex of

special events is conducted during the planning and development phase.

It's important to conduct a brainstorming session with all the key players

in order to determine what the relevant goals and objectives truly are.

This is where experience can often help, as the planner knows when to

ask the right questions at the right time. Sometimes it's necessary to dig

beneath the surface in order to reveal what might otherwise have been a

hidden agenda.

.

Many special events within our philanthropic society seek to raise money

for charitable organizations. While a special event may not be necessarily

regarded as the most "efficient" way of raising such funds, there can be a

number of ancillary benefits associated. Therefore, in these particular

cases while a central core may be to raise funds for the nominated

charity, a number of other objectives may be included in the preliminary

planning. These could include a plan to build relationships with certain

elements of the community, an aim to help ensure that donors feel that

they have a connection with the cause, or a means to introduce new and

potentially lucrative future donors to the charity through participation in

the event itself.

“Sometimes it's

necessary to dig

beneath the surface..” ”

.

Of course a well-planned event can also generate a considerable

amount of publicity. As such it may be easier to reach and engage local

media due to the charitable aspect and this presents a good opportunity

to get the word out not just about the event itself, but about the

associated charity and any larger goal.

In the case of a large corporate event, the promoters of the project may

have several different goals. For example, they may be seeking to give

clients and potential prospects access to their products in a favorable

environment. As such, an automobile manufacturer may promote a car

rally and invite existing vehicle owners to bring their current cars, while

providing fleet vehicles for potential prospects to drive. The ultimate goal

here is of course to engage in brand building and brand camaraderie.

The peripheral goal, however, may be to publicize the event to the

media, so that the general public can see how dynamic and exciting the

brand may be. So as we can see there are a number of different goals

and objectives here and the event planner must be able to prioritize and

understand how important each element is right at the start.

Always remember that you need to be SMART when looking at the

feasibility of an event. You have to be specific about what you actually

want to achieve. You have to be able to measure whether specific

elements of the event "delivered" based on the objective. Any objective

set has to be achievable and never unrealistic. Remember also

relevancy and don't focus on what you may think were priorities but in

fact were not important in terms of the principal or tertiary objectives.

Finally, you have to be able to quantify and this means setting a clear

definition for the start and completion times for each objective.

.

Budget

Holding on to those

purse strings – the

real meaning

How To Put Together An Initial Event Budget

BY THE EVENT PLANNING ACADEMY

Let's be truthful. Many of us have an aversion to math, perhaps dating

back to our years in school or college. We may, as a consequence, not

be very good at keeping track of expenses and often tend to "wing it"

when it comes to personal expenditure and household budgeting. As

event planners tend to be the creative type, anything to do with

"mundane" administrative and accounting tasks can seem to be dour at

the best of times.

Yet, as painful as it may be to come to the stark realization, a person

who does not have absolute control over an event budget is effectively

not in control of the event at all. As we know that control is of the very

essence when staging an effective event, it's time to be very clear about

just how important budgeting for your special event is going to be.

.

This is not to say that this process has to be inordinately difficult or

complex and it's best to be as straightforward and simple as possible

when structuring the budgetary projection. Above all else you have to be

realistic and you also have to remember that this event is going to

operate in the real world. As a consequence, you have to build in

contingencies.

As you become more used to organizing special events you will become

more adept at visualizing a budget at the very earliest stages of

conception. This will enable you to cultivate what will amount to a "sixth

sense," to help you determine whether the concept is viable or not. There

is no getting away from it – occasionally the event planner becomes so

enthusiastic about a particular idea that there is a tendency to

overestimate or add a certain amount of ticket sales potential, or

probability of sponsorship. You must learn to guard against this as you

keep both feet firmly planted on the ground.

When working with clients the first thing that you need to do is to convince

yourself of the absolute viability of the event. You must always be very

clear and able to back up your budget projection with solid reasoning. You

must always have a formal budget at your fingertips and ultimately this

will help you to work to formulate your annual accounts, as well.

Remember that from time to time such accounts may be in line for an

audit, from taxation authorities or from those who you might approach to

invest in your operations.

Practically, the budget is a projection of what income and expenditure is

related to the event itself. Some elements here are quite easy to calculate

or project, while other elements could be variable according to the number

of participants. Also, you might have to project certain costs that are

apportioned. You should maintain a budget that is regularly accessible via

your computer. This may be contained within a proprietary software

package such as Excel, or you could access it through some cloud service

provider, meaning that you are constantly in touch with all the details so

long as you have Internet access somewhere.

Break the budget down into categories. Essentially, in terms of expenditure

these are administration, operations and marketing. Within each category

display subcategories such as these:

Administration

•general office costs

•salaries and wages

•management fees

•travel costs .

Operations

•survey costs

•venue costs

•hotel costs

•catering costs

•hospitality costs

•insurance costs

•entertainment

•cost of merchandising

•sanction fees

•direct production costs

•travel and accommodation costs

•communication costs

•other expenditure

Marketing

•advertising

•print and design

•distribution costs

•Internet marketing

•website costs

•media and public relations

As you gather together the relevant cost projections here remember

that it is equally important to construct a working cash flow projection,

as well. Cash flow can represent the life or death of any business or

special event and it is crucial that you populate this document carefully

and correctly. Once again, do not overestimate the receipt date for

certain categories of income. Be very careful to ensure that you are

aware of potential danger points associated with the due date for large

down payments, in advance, to venues and so on. Always err on the

side of caution and keep on top of your cash flow regularly.

It's a good idea to create a template within your software program

enabling you to compare weekly cash flow on a "budget versus actual"

basis. Update these fields on a weekly basis so that you can see if

there is a danger that you will fall behind the projection. The more you

keep on top of this kind of comparison the more likely you are to be

able to make adjustments or amendments as necessary before things

start to get critical.

The actual complexity of your budget will of course depend on the type

of event you're putting together. There are some first-class software

packages available today, to enable you to develop individual

worksheets for specific areas of the budget, all linked together and

updated automatically. It pays to develop a great template to start off

with and to ensure that you stick to protocol whenever allocating costs

within. Once again, don't make it too complicated for the sake of it, but

do ensure that you update with clarity, with purpose – and often.

If you maintain a separate bank account for the specific event you will

also want to reconcile the books against your bank balance on a

regular basis. If you do not, then you can simply use category totals

and carry forward that information over to your overall business budget

sheets and reconcile from there. If you are the person in charge of

ensuring that this event runs smoothly and is a success then it's

recommended that you are ultimately the one responsible for managing

the overall budget. If not, be very clear when you delegate this how

important this task is. We are talking about the lifeblood of your

business here. Budgets that are left to their own devices as it were can

and will deliver shocks to not only you and your staff, but also to the

future viability of your business.

Public Relations and

Media Exposure

Smile please!

Making sure your

light shines

Public Relations and Media Exposure – How

To Handle This Critical Element

BY THE EVENT PLANNING ACADEMY

You know that they say that if you don't publicize and promote your

event, a terrible thing will happen – nothing. Assuming that you realize

the importance of promoting the event, don't underestimate the amount

of work required, nor how far in advance you should start the ball rolling.

While we do tend to live in an electronic age, especially when it comes

to communication, remember that traditional forms of media have

significant exposure and reach and should never be ignored. You should

also bear in mind that a lot of online communication is based on the here

and now. How long will that particular tweet remain in the public

consciousness, after all?

When faced with the organization of a brand-new event it is important to

develop and build a media database on day one. Look carefully at the

event from all angles and determine who it will appeal to. From here,

make sure that you research all available specialist media outlets and

come up with a detailed list including the names of the individuals within.

These names should not just include the specific journalist assigned to

cover the subject associated with your event, but also the editor, the

copy editor and the person responsible for receiving media. If you have

a media database from previous years now is the time to ensure that all

those contacts are up to date. You don't want to blindly send important

information to a specific person only to find later on that they have long

since flown the coop.

As you are building your media database get to

know any specific foibles or any unusual

requests relevant to format and presentation. It

is the job of your media relations person to

ensure that the representative of the media at

the other end is always happy and content.

Remember that they are often very busy individuals, especially when it

comes to deadline time and they may not take too kindly to the receipt of

information from you if it's badly formatted or otherwise misses the mark.

It is of crucial importance to adhere to deadlines and to remember that

some periodicals have deadline submission dates that are months ahead

of specific publication. Even though this may rule out using these specific

publications for regular and informative media releases, you can

nevertheless use them for general or lifestyle pieces. All publicity is good!

“Look carefully at the

event from all

angles… ”

Take time to think of as many different angles as you possibly can. Put

yourself in the shoes of the editor at each of the publications or media

outlets you are considering and put yourself in the shoes of the reader

or viewer of the material they are presenting. How can you write a

feasible piece from that specific angle – one that is sure to be of

sufficient merit to guarantee inclusion? Don't go overboard here and

create some kind of link that is tenuous at best. Try not to strain any

good relationship that you have built up with these appropriate

journalists by trying to "pull a fast one."

You should always remember that there is no such thing as a

guaranteed result when it comes to trying to get media exposure for

your event. The best thing that you can do is to try and build a good

relationship with the journalists concerned by giving them exactly what

they're looking for, ahead of deadline and in the correct format.

Journalists and editors being human, after all, they are far more likely to

want to deal with work that has been provided in this way by people

they know and trust, especially when the pressure is on.

In order to get as much information out there as you possibly can before

the event, it will be necessary to generate media photo opportunities.

Sometimes this is known as a "press day." This is an event in itself and

must be carefully orchestrated. Invitations must be sent out in sufficient

time with clear indication of the purpose, who is going to be there, what

they're going to be able to see and document.

Provide specific details of parking, the location of the post event reception,

if any and so on. Do not underestimate the amount of effort that will be

required to make sure that this is a success and especially do not

underestimate the number of people you will need to help "manage" the

media in attendance. You simply cannot prioritize how you deal with

individual requests by various members of the media as, invariably; they

will all feel as if their request is most important and should be dealt with

right now! If you have a row of happy, smiling faces at the end of this,

objective achieved.

If you're running a sporting event it is traditional for pre-and post event

conferences to be staged and for there to be a formal awards ceremony or

prize presentation. These can be emotive occasions and often fall

perilously close to media deadline time for daily newspapers or evening

news bulletins. Consequently, additional effort should be made to ensure

that there are no technical glitches, such as microphones that fail to work

or the absence of individual celebrities or award winners who are dawdling

a bit on the way to the ceremony itself…

Finally, it's important to remember that a consistent branding message

must be maintained from start to finish. The appropriate brand logos must

be in place on all communications and in clear view during all related

media events. Engage a clipping agency to track down and make a record

of all the exposure you get in print publications and ask key media outlets

to provide you with audio and video copy of any exposure you get there.

Transportation

Why this is always

a core element and

never an

afterthought

Making The Wheels Go Round – Dealing

With Event Transportation

BY THE EVENT PLANNING ACADEMY

One way or the other you're going to have to pay a lot of attention to

transportation issues when you organize a special event. You may feel

as if your event is all "self-contained" as it were, held within one venue

and may be just open to members of the paying public.

In this case you may not feel as if you're responsible for transporting

guests or attendees, but you nevertheless have to give due

consideration to transportation elements external to your core operation.

Ultimately, you are responsible for the entire experience whenever you

organize a special event. You will often be judged on how an attendee

enjoyed the total experience and this experience will often reflect how he

or she managed to access and exit the venue without too much hassle.

Consequently, you need to focus on parking availability at the very least

and take into consideration the location of the venue in relation to public

transportation options or accessibility to major road arteries. It is simply

going to reflect badly on you if, for example, there is already limited

public parking space in the vicinity and another major event is taking

place at another facility nearby – an event that happens to commence

earlier than yours. What happens if most of the accessible parking areas

are already full when the bulk of your attendees start to arrive?

Understand where most of your guests will be

coming from and envision the transportation

methods that they will be using to estimate the

number of cars and the arrival and departure

windows. Determine where the closest parking

area may be and determine what kind of facility

it is. Is there an attendant? How much does it

cost to park and is the facility in good condition

and well kept? Is it secure or does it have a

reputation for vandalism?

When you look at parking you must also consider how this issue is going

to affect your own staff, vendors, entertainers and so on. You need to be

able to know that nearby parking is available if, for example, you have to

come in really early in the morning to set everything up.

During your planning and preparatory phase you should have looked into

the major event schedule for that particular locality. This is something that

you can find at the Convention and Visitors Bureau or by visiting your local

authority, or by getting in touch with the owners of the major event

facilities. This will help you to determine whether there is going to be

pressure on parking.

“Understand where

most of your guests

will be coming from ”

If you are responsible for parking as part of the structure of the event

you need to go several steps further off course. Now you need to

determine if you can block off space for attending guests in advance. In

this case you may well have to prepay it. If you're dealing with a hotel

parking lot this is not too much of an issue, but remember that in city

locations parking often represents a revenue stream for hotels so you

may have to negotiate a little bit. When you have arranged this prepaid

parking, ensure that it is well sign posted and that hotel valet staff are

aware of the arrangement. If it is self parking (as may well be the case

with an exotic car event, for example) then do ensure that you have a

member of staff on hand and/or have directional signs from the parking

area to the event location. Bear in mind that hotel parking areas are

often only accessed by valet parking staff members who will bring the

car around to the front entrance for the guests.

Sometimes it is simply not possible to find suitable parking close to your

event venue. For example, a major golf tournament venue would be

simply overwhelmed by the number of cars attempting to access the

traditional golf club parking lot. On the PGA Tour, for example,

arrangements are often made with a major sporting venue or

entertainment venue that may be quite distant. In the example of the

Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, the organizers use the massive

parking lot of the Universal Studios, which is about 3 miles distant. In

these instances you will have to arrange for shuttle coaches to circulate

on a continuous basis.

Whenever you use shuttle transportation you need to have personnel at

the remote parking lot to help direct guests from their cars to the pickup

area. When you use this type of transportation ensure that the quality of

vehicle is appropriate to the expectation of the attendees. They should

always be very clean and in good condition. As an advantage for

marketing purposes, you can use the in vehicle entertainment system to

show a short video explaining to the guests what the event is all about

and what they can expect when they arrive.

Don't forget that you must always have a backup plan in case of a

vehicle breakdown. Murphy's Law may well dictate that this will happen

at the busiest time, i.e. when everybody is getting ready to leave and be

transported back to the parking lot. Have a standby vehicle or two close

to hand.

Maybe you're responsible for guests or attendees from the moment they

arrive at the nearest airport facility. In this case how are you going to

transport them to your venue? If large numbers of people are arriving at

the same time you can have motor coach transportation. Here you will

have to ensure that you have a representative on hand who will be able

to handle the manifest in coordination with the bus driver, to ensure that

everyone who is scheduled to be transported is accounted for. If people

are going to be arriving in smaller groups or at a variety of different

times it may be more sensible to arrange for a shuttle van or a

limousine. Once again, arrange with the transportation company to have

somebody to meet arriving guests at the greeting point within the airport.

Ensure that you are happy with the quality and presentation, that

vehicles are clean and well presented and that the staff members are

nicely attired, polite and professional.

Sometimes you may be responsible for the arrival and departure of a

number of VIPs. Perhaps you're responsible for a red carpet awards

ceremony? In this case you may have to deal with the issue of limousine

arrivals and parking. Remember that in the case of stretch and super

stretch limos they each take up a number of individual parking spaces

and may not be able to maneuver into and out of a typically restricted or

conventional parking garage. Arrange for specific parking, together with

an attendant and have clear directions to and from this parking area for

the limousine drivers.

MAGAZINE

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