Surprise is not an event planner’s friend. The smallest oversight can wreak havoc that is difficult to recover from. Melvyn Wan of GEVME, an enterprise cloud-based event management and event marketing platform, offers this list of six common mistakes that lead to big problems.
1. Lack of clear communication and coordination
Keep your communication clear, concise and effective with your team. Leave no space for assumptions, making sure that everyone understands fully the scope of the event and that they each know their role and responsibility in detail.
2. Having not enough…
Time to set up — There are never enough resources or time to get it done, but there is a starting time to your event and guests are expected. It is important to make sure that everything is all set at least 15 minutes prior to the opening of the doors.
Supplies or manpower on event day – Something small can escalate into something big. Try avoiding a logistical nightmare by working together with your team and suppliers to cover all grounds while staying within the agreed event budget. And should there be a need for more resources, you need to anticipate well in advance to make way for negotiation or renegotiation of the budget or the costs of manpower and of supplies. If you are running the event, you can’t expect to do everything yourself.
3. No confirmation with suppliers
You may get a verbal or email confirmation from your vendors, but it is important to check in with them 48 hours prior to setup time to avoid delays and make sure they have not forgotten or mixed up the orders. It is also recommended that you document the orders, agreed costs, delivery instructions, delivery time and duration. This can come in handy should any issue arise.
4. Competing events – consult the calendars
Do not overlook competing events in the same event venue or area. You have to consult the relevant calendars and find out what is happening to avoid any conflicting clash that could result in a traffic jam, a lack of parking, not enough restrooms, sharing of common areas or unsolicited noise from the neighboring events or establishments. Your venue should be able to provide you with this information, but due diligence from your part is also recommended. Should there be a potential challenge, it needs to be discussed with the venue management and the client, to make any informed decision or find out if there is a way to manage the smooth running of the events from either side.
5. Not having a contingency plan
Consider the worst case scenario. Is there a wet weather plan if your event is outdoors, or is it a rain-or-shine event? The closing of a venue is unlikely, especially with the liabilities involved from the venue’s side, but what if it does happen? Have you considered an alternative? You may not have a plan B for everything but a contingency plan and budget can allow you to mitigate the damages. While the contingency budget must be included from the very beginning, a contingency strategy can be plotted out at least 14 days to a month in advance for good measure.
6. Last-minute planning
The small things can easily become a pain, so it is smart to lay out your plan well in advance and as detailed as possible. Nothing is too small and nothing can be pushed to the back burner. Every item and task needs to be articulated and assigned with a respective timeline. Of course, there are priorities. Closer to event day, you will have people and expectations to manage while overseeing the whole setup, and you will need time to address any unexpected situations. If you can get the small stuff out of the way or delegate them to a team member, do it.
