The purpose and benefits of planning an event are to ensure the event runs smoothly and to plan. In doing so you can ensure that time and cost are used effectively by all the people involved in the event by communicating to those involved throughout the planning stage. When planning an event I ensure I start the planning well in advance so that I have the opportunity to be thorough thus ensuring the event runs smoothly and to plan.
The role of the event organiser is to manage the event.This will start at the planning stage which is the first part of organising any event, through to the delivery of the event. At the planning stage I would need to set out key objectives for the event. These can then be delivered in a brief to those involved in the organisation of the event. By doing so I can then gain agreement from those involved. I would also agree a budget for the event at this stage.
Events can vary in size and type but all require control and monitoring for risks.The type of risks involved could be: Safety – if there are any hazards were the event is being held. If more people attend than expected and the venue is too small, then there could be a risk of injury Using the example above there could also be a risk of not having enough materials, refreshments, etc Adverse weather conditions (if an outside event). This could pose a potential risk of the event not being held Other projects I am working on limiting my time to focus on the event.The potential risk would be not completing on time and to a high standard When planning an event it is always beneficial to carry out a risk assessment process. This will in turn identify any potential risks, the level of the risk, and then help to eliminate or minimise the risk.
The purpose of a contingency plan for an event is to have a back up in place in the event of something unexpected happening. If the first plan fails, a secondary backup (contingency plan) can be implemented.The benefit to having a contingency is to prevent something unexpected having a detrimental impact to an event. The types of problems that may occur when organising an event are: Venue is double booked – when possible always have an alternative venue or an alternative date Resources not available – if the resource was for example having a presentation using a power-point, I would always have everything backed up in hand-outs to ensure the audience was still able to visualise what I was going to show on a power-point presentation.There are different types of events such as: Meetings – internal staff meetings at different levels depending on what is being discussed e. g.
Project team meeting to discuss how things are going or Trustee board meeting to discuss how the organisation as a whole is operating Networking events – members of the company represent the bureau at an event to publicise our services.These events are ideal for making new contacts, leading to new clients, partners, and vendors Project Launches – publicise a new project by arranging an event and inviting attendees as well as media to attend This would create a buzz around the release of the new project and is a good way to get people excited and to generate media coverage Stakeholder Meetings – meeting between funders (external to our business) to discuss progress and future funding Social events – an event for all staff to attend such as a Christmas gathering.This would be an opportunity for all staff, both paid and volunteer staff, to get together outside of work. When planning and organising an event it is always important to consider your audience (the people attending the event). As an example, if I am planning a social event for work, I would need to consider a number of points:I.
Access to the venue – is their disabled access, facilities to suit the needs of people attending II. Food at the venue – is their going to be anyone attending who has special dietary requirements e. g. vegetarians, people with allergies to certain foods (nut allergies for example) III. Type of event – is the event I am organising suitable for the majority of people being invited to attend.
Whilst planning a social event at work I asked for ideas from staff to gain their interest and focus. I then fed back to them the top 3 suggestions and asked staff to vote. I then went with the majority vote. To ensure relevant health, safety and security requirements are met I would always check with the venue managers to gain information regarding this.
I would be checking on disabled access for example as well as fire procedures and first aid. At the planning stage I would establish what resource I have to provide support to me. For example if in the form of other staff members, I would ensure I communicated with them from the planning stage until the event had been held and this would end after I had evaluated how the event had gone. Arranging regular meetings as well as communicating via email with staff resource would be important to the success of the event.For event materials I would use a company that I had used successfully before as they would understand my requirements, provide the materials at a reasonable cost, and would understand the importance of delivering the materials at an agreed time.
If I was organising a training event I would need to consider materials and resources required for the event. I recently arranged such an event and in doing so I considered: Venue size – was the venue big enough for the groupAccessibility – was the venue easily accessible and have the right facilities for those attending Audience – what did I want the people attending the course to achieve from it Course content – was the course material appropriate for the audience and suitable for all learning types. I then produced hand-outs, learning packs relevant to the course course delivery style – how the course would be delivered e. g.
power-point, hand-outs, Refreshments for the event.Prior to the training event taking place I arranged weekly meetings with the team delivering the training to ensure everyone understood what was required as well as ensuring consistency in the delivery of the event. I also liaised with the venue to ensure they had the capacity to meet our requirements as well as making sure the venue was still available to us. Different events require different venues and different resources and this is taking into consideration at the planning stage of organising an event. Earlier in the year we launched a new project at our organisation and I was responsible for organising the project launch week.
One of my objectives was to promote the project to a wide audience at different locations throughout the borough. The venues ranged from public buildings and colleges, to schools and children’s centres and each venue provided different facilities and I had ensure the right audiences were invited to the appropriate venues. As well as considering the venues I also considered the resources I had available to me. To help promote the project launch I worked with a theatre company involved in the project who delivered performances to promote the project.
I was given a list of options for the type of performance I wanted delivered to each audience and on deciding this I considered who would be attending each event and whether the content of the performance was appropriate. I also considered the size of the venue and the facilities at the event. During the project launch week we had a ‘VIP’ event and I invited local dignitaries to attend as well as local media. When selecting the venue for this event I considered the size, facilities for a power-point presentation, refreshments and cost for all of this.
