5 Tips to Keeping Event Costs Manageable

Welcome to Planners' Pointers!

Doing an event, any event from a first birthday party to a lavish wedding have costs.  The key is keeping the costs as contained.  Here are 5 tips to keeping costs as manageable as possible. 

1. Photo booths.  Photo booths rental costs range from $500.00 to $800.00 depending on the number of hours and the number of pictures. Here is a tip for you DIYers out there. All you need is a blank wall and large piece of foam core cut into the shape of a frame.  Hang the foam core frame from the ceiling and there you are!  Add old hats, scarfs, and items found at the dollar store and you have a wonderful and fun place to have people take pictures.  Family and friends can take their own photos and then post them to their Facebook pages or email them to you to post. Allow your friends to tag themselves. If you want to use a photographer if you want.  Or have a friend or family member to take pictures.

  

2. Catering  Here is an idea a friend of mine did in the spring to celebrate the 5th anniversary of her business.  She used a venue that let her bring in food.  My friend then called several restaurants and offered them a sponsorship of the event and in return they brought in food.  The restaurants brought in sample size portions and marketing information.  Attendees enjoyed the food and the restaurants reached a new audience. 

3. Flowers  Some believe that silk flowers are cheaper, but I don't agree especially when you consider your time spent creating the centerpieces, bouquets, head pieces and other arrangements you may use for your events.  When it comes to florists, shop around to see where you can get the best value for your dollar.  Look at their websites and Facebook pages for testimonials. Remember seasonal flowers are very apt to be cheaper for arrangements and bouquets. Or see if your venue has flowers or candles that you can use.  Most will let you use them for free. 

4. Dates One of the most difficult items to check off an event check list is determining when the event is going to be.  Do you have a specific reason for the date?  Birthdays or anniversaries are examples of needing a  specific date. When booking an event be as flexible as possible.  Does a wedding need to be on a Saturday or Sunday.  What about a Friday or even a Thursday evening wedding. A great day for a fundraiser may be a Tuesday evening instead of Thursday.

5. Alcohol  An interesting fact that I learn in my reading is one third of the population doesn't drink.  Consider that when you are thinking about alcohol for your next event and order less than you would have even five years ago. Don't forget to have soft drinks and water for your non-drinking friends. This is especially true for corporate events.  Remember this: Just like some employers are looking at your search history on the internet, they may also be monitoring your habits at corporate events.  This is especially true where clients will be in attendance. One more thought about weddings.  At weddings, you can save on the cake and even the food, but where some over spend is in alcohol.  Yes, an open bar gets expensive, but so does purchasing alcohol without a plan.  Think about what your guests drink at other events.  Or what they may have at their homes. If they seem to be a wine or beer crowd then you don't need to have a whole lot of other liquor for your event.  Remember to make sure you can return unopened alcohol.

You can have a wonderful event without spending lots of money. Being creative and thinking out of the box may lead to budget savings without sacrificing the quality of the event.

Planners Pointers is a blog and talk cast to help beginning event planners with their event planning share ideas on planning better events, books to read and websites to discover.

Planner's Pointers is written by  Mary Pam Kilgore, CMP,  of Kilgore Business Services.  You may reach me through my website www.kilgorebusiness.com  You can find podcasts of Planner's Pointers at http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/73353

Getting the Most Out of Participating in Vendor Shows Part 1 Choosing the Show.

Welcome to Planner's Pointer's

Things to consider when planning to do a trade or vendor show

It's the beginning of a new year and bridal shows and charity vendor shows will soon be in full swing.  If you offer a service or sell a product you are no doubt being mailed and emailed information about upcoming shows.  Trade shows are tempting marketing opportunities because they offer everyone a chance to reach hundreds and potentially thousands of people over a rather short period of time. Before you send your check and sign the contract here are a few tips to consider when choosing the correct show for you. 

1. Is doing a vendor show the best way to reach your target market?  The best way to find out the answer to that question is to ask the show promoter what the demographics are for their show and use this information to determine if it applies to your business.

 

2. How much does the show cost?  And the follow up question is -- How much will you have to sell to recoup your costs of this show.  If you believe that you can't recoup those costs in the first couple of hours of the show, then you might want to reconsider if this is the best use of your marketing funds. 

3. What do you get with the show package?  Do you get an ad or just a listing in the show program.  If you pay a little more, will you get a better spot on the show floor?  Can you share a booth?  Some show promoters allow you to share a booth if you are selling the same product, several Mary Kay reps sharing a booth at a wedding show for example.

 

4. What other vendors will be there? Ask the show promoter what other vendors are attending. Are these other vendors compatible with what you sell or are they your direct competitors? Is the show promoter limiting in any way the number of vendors selling similar items?  Do you have a good relationship with any of the other vendors attending the show?  At a wedding show for example it would be helpful for a florist to have a good relationship with a limousine company. 

5. Does the show location also serve your target market? If most of your target is south of the city, then a show north of the city not give you the best results.

These are but a few considerations in choosing a vendor show.

Next week:  Pre show Marketing

Planners Pointers is a blog and talk cast to help beginning event planners with their event planning share ideas on planning better events, books to read and websites to discover.

Planner's Pointers is written by  Mary Pam Kilgore, CMP,  of Kilgore Business Services.  You may reach me through my website www.kilgorebusiness.com  You can find podcasts of Planner's Pointers at http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/73353

What Goes Into a Meeting -- Vision and Goals

Welcome to Planners Pointers!

Meetings, conventions, weddings, fund raisers and birthday parties all have one thing in common.  They all share the same planning process.  This planning process has several pieces and over the next several weeks I am going to write about the many aspects of the planning process. 

This week aspect is Goal.   Goal as defined by Merrian Webster is "the end toward which effort is directed."  I believe that determining what your goal will be for any event must be the first thing you accomplish in any planning.  Without a goal or goals, the everything will flounder.  Goals determine budget, dates, location, marketing and all of the rest of the processes. 

Let's try a word similar to goal -- vision. Defined as a thought, concept, or object formed by the imagination.   Vision is often a word people when describing what they want their event to be.  What people see in their mind's eye.  What their dream is.  Most of the time vision is what happens before goals are set. 

What does this all mean for the event and meeting planner?  I believe that it is the planner's job to take the vision and turn it into a goal.  How you do that will be discussed next time on Planners Pointers.

Glossary Term -- Agenda

Welcome to Planner's Pointer's. Planners Pointers is a blog and talk cast to help beginning event planners with their event planning. Give them ideas on planning better events, books to read and websites to discover.

Each month I would like to share words commonly used by professionals. The words along with their meaning will be from the APEX Industry Glossary.

The Convention Industry Council is the organization of 33 associations coming together to exchange information among the meetings, convention and exhibitions industry. One of the initiatives is APEX, Accepted Practices Exchange to develop practices that reach industry wide. One of the practices is a glossary of terms used in the industry. The goal of the glossary is to standardize the definitions of words used by the meetings industry.

This week's word is Agenda:  A list or plan of items to consider, decided, undertaken or accomplished at a meeting or event.  Agendas are generally formal, structured lists and may include a time schedule.

A simple agenda might look like this --

Time	Event	Location
8:00 AM	Continental Breakfast	Junior Ballroom
8:30 AM	General Session	Main Ballroom
8:45 AM	General Session -- Election of officers	Main Ballroom

Other Agendas would add speakers, topics, and length of time

Another term you hear used in place of agenda is schedule. 

Determining the agenda for any meeting or event should be done very early in the planning.  In my experience it should be done right after you set the goals of the meeting. I believe one way to show how you are to carrying out the goals of a meeting is through the agenda. 

That your Planners Pointer for today!

Website -- Eventsburgh

Attention all Pittsburgh event planners!  Looking for new website to post your events for free?  Eventsburgh  is the new on-line place to be. 

Want to post an event on Eventsburgh?  First you have to become a member.  That's free and all you have to do is complete the form.  Yeah!  I like easy.  You can add a picture of yourself if you would like, otherwise you get an avatar.

Once you have registered you can click on the big button that says "Post an Event"  and complete the form and post.  The 100,000 character description  block will cover even the most detailed event.  Don't forget to use the preview button to make sure you have all your information.

You can also push it out to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn with a mouse click.  For those of us used to doing separate postings, it's a time saver.

It has a few bells and whistles that you can choose to add for a small fee. For example, an additional link to your on-line registration site, or additional social media listings but they are inexpensive and I think worth the cost.

All events are posted to the calendar and emailed to those who register.  You only receive emails for events in categories that interested you when you signed up. 

Also take a few minutes to wonder around the site to find listings or read forum postings.  The site has lots of potential.

Eventsburgh was started by University of Pittsburgh alum, Tony Hsieh (pronounced "Shea") as a way to show his friends that there are lots of things to do in the 'Burgh.  Yeah Tony!

Remember an on-line event site is only as good as those who post their listings.  Add Eventsburgh to your list of on-line calendar listings.  

That's the Planners Pointer for today!

Invitation Tips for better mailing and response

Welcome to Planners Pointers!  You are planning a wonderful special event.  You have a great speaker or are honoring community volunteers or this could be a special fund raiser.  Now it's

time to send the invitations.  When you are sending invitations for an event you have been doing for several years it's easy to recycle the same invitation.  Just slip in the new dates, new honorees and it's good to go.  But before you hit send to your printer's ftp site here are five idea you consider.

1. Review last year's invitation.  Does it still reflect the goal of the event?  Has your logo changed?  Location?  Board members? Website?  Mission statement?  Have at least 3 pairs of eyes.  Add something new like a QR code.  Design it so it will fit into a standard size envelope.

2. Mailing list  When was the last time it was updated?  Have you made the corrections that resulted the last mailing you sent?  Are the invitations going to those you support your events or you interact with on a regular basis?  Or are you doing a really broad mailing?  Do you even know who has supported you in the past?  The cost of printing and mailing has increased greatly over the last couple of years and it would be prudent if you could see who has not been attending and perhaps remove them from printed mailings.  Not talking about removing them from emails that you send, just printed materials.

3. Response cards  Do you know how your attendees RSVP?  Do they call?  Do they email?  Do they do it through on line registration?  If the response cards are being thrown out in the trash, it might be the time to save a few trees and do away with them.  Make sure though that phone numbers, emails and websites are clear on the invitation.  Or what about adding a QR code to the piece?  Invitees can scan the code with their smart phone and register.

4. Mailing date  Yes eight weeks is the traditional time so don't change that.  What you can do to make sure you hear from people is to make sure you also add emails to the mix.  These days you are competing with several organizations and 200 cable channels.  People are responding later and later.  More not less interaction is necessary to get the responses necessary to reach your attendance goals.

5. Save the date mailings.  They still have a very important place in your overall marketing plan.  Mailing are a good way to keep in touch with everyone on you lists of contacts. 

In this world of 200 email messages a day, mailed invitations still are an important part in getting the word out about events.  The trick is keeping your list manageable to keep the costs manageable.

That's the Planners Pointer for today

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