8 Things You’ve Probably Overlooked When Planning an Event
Organizing and planning events isn’t easy. Overlooking stuff is quite commonplace, even when highly trained and highly experienced teams are involved. With that said, it doesn’t hurt to have a refresher once in a while so you can check things off more easily.
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1. Update Your Schedule Regularly
Check, check, double, and triple-check. That should be your mantra when it comes to updating the schedule – both the one for attendees and the one for your team. You never know when things come up and you need to change stuff, so always be prepared to modify the schedule and announce it to the relevant people as soon as possible.
2. Send “Thank You” Letters
Showing gratitude goes a long way into keeping speakers, artists, attendees, volunteers, and sponsors. Sure, if your festival is huge, you might not be able to send a personalized letter in the mail. However, with the magic of e-mail, you’ll be able to send it straight to their inbox, as long as your event requires registration to participate.
It shows all these people that you truly appreciate their attendance and their efforts. In the long run, it’s also going to build some brand recognition. This simple gesture can be quite a powerful marketing tool.
3. Insurance Is Necessary
Getting event insurance for brokers can go a long way to covering all of the potential damages and mishaps that might occur during an event. Sure, insurance won’t prevent any disasters, but it can cover all the related costs in case something unforeseen does happen.
4. Water and Snacks for Volunteers
Your volunteers are working for no money, but that doesn’t mean they are robots. They deserve decent treatment, just like anyone else. A little gratitude goes a long way, so provide them with the necessary water and snacks so they can keep their energy and morale up. You can also opt to get them something extra to remember you, such as personalized phone cases and other small freebies.
5. Alcohol and Food Licensing
If you plan to serve alcohol and food to attendees during your event, you’re going to need a license to do this. Depending on the jurisdiction in question, there are strict rules you need to follow when dealing with these things. We’re not a law firm or an authority of any kind, so we can’t give you any relevant details. However, we can give you this piece of information as an example.
6. Obtain Music Rights
So you’re not organizing a festival, but rather a party with a random local DJ playing some of the most well-known and beloved tunes out there. That’s great and all, but if you want to stay within the bounds of the law, you’ll need to obtain music licensing. Yes, we know, it’s not the most pleasant thing you want to be doing when organizing an event, but it’s mandatory in tons of jurisdictions.
7. Have an Emergency Kit Ready
Apart from a medical emergency kit, you should also have an event-related emergency kit at the ready. This kit should include basic items like scissors, extra papers, duct tape, and so forth. It all depends on what type of event you’re organizing, but the main idea is to have items that might come useful in an event of the type you’re organizing.
8. Always Have a Backup Plan
Just like an emergency kit, you also need to have a backup plan. For example, if your event takes place outdoors, it might be handy to have an indoor location ready in case it starts raining. No one wants to sit in the rain unless it’s a music festival with their favorite artists.
The Bottom Line
There are many more things to consider when planning an event, but the things listed above are usually the ones that many organizers often overlook for several reasons. In any case, we hope you’ve found this information useful.
