1. Basics and Best Practices
EVENT
PLANNING
Basics and
Best Practices

2. TODAY’S TOPICS KEY STEPS IN THE EVENT PLANNING PROCESS
NYC LABOR ENVIRONMENT
PRICING
VENDOR RELATIONSHIPS
My goal is to finish our discussion in 45 minutes so let’s begin!

3. KEY STEPS IN THE EVENT PLANNING PROCESS
What is the most important task in the Event Planning process?
“Be stubborn about your goals, and flexible about your methods.”
Identify the Goal/Purpose of the event
WHY ARE WE HAVING THIS EVENT?
What message do we want to send to our guests/community through this event?
Make a list of 3-5 goals
Ensure your Goals are SMART
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-based
Communicate your goals to all stakeholders
Keep Goals front-of-mind throughout the planning and execution of your event.

4. KEY STEPS IN THE EVENT PLANNING PROCESS
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Create event concept
Who/What/Where/When/Why?
Who is our audience/# of guests? Honoree? Guest speaker? Entertainment?
What kind of event will we host?
What has already been done?
Where is the ideal location?
When should we host the event?
Seek and share best practices (and mistakes)
Brainstorm!.

5. KEY STEPS IN THE EVENT PLANNING PROCESS
“It’s all in the numbers.”
Identify budget
Have you produced other comparable events in the past to give you a baseline starting point?
What is your bottom-line goal?
Identify and research major cost centers to validate budget
Get approvals from authorized personnel (never assume)
Monitor budget continuously throughout the process and track variances
Secure venue and vendors
Read your contract
If you don’t understand something, ask questions
Expedite revisions by sharing any must-haves up front
Include pricing in your contract and understand minimums.

6. KEY STEPS IN THE EVENT PLANNING PROCESS
“Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.” -Winston Churchill
Identify event management tools and staffing resources
Learn about and choose from the latest/best collaborative event planning tools
Eventbrite
Social Tables
Check-in Tech (Registration only service provider)
Google Sheets, smartsheet, Bizzabo, Asana, Basecamp, Gather, Splash, Intuit QuickBase, and so many more
WeChat caveat
Keep it simple
Ensure that everyone is trained and using the tool(s) of choice (including vendors)
Identify your event team and begin to delegate task ownership.

7. KEY STEPS IN THE EVENT PLANNING PROCESS
“Timing is everything.”
Establish timeline of key tasks/deadlines
Start with a draft very early in the process and update continuously
Assign ownership to every task
Schedule time once a week to review the current version of the Timeline
Start the Draft of the day-of timeline/ROS
Build in time for the unexpected...

9. KEY STEPS IN THE EVENT PLANNING PROCESS
Invitation
Save-The-Date (5-6 months in advance)
Date and venue confirmed/contracted
Invitation (6-8 weeks in advance)
RSVP date timed to allow for vendor deadlines (2-3 weeks in advance)
Reminder (1 week in advance)
Event
Let the games begin!
Have a pre-game round-up
Ensure you have a plan for a common line of communication throughout the day of the event and TEST it
Post-event feedback/lessons learned and Final budget review
Often forgotten critical step in the process
Invaluable lessons to be captured while fresh
Assess and share results with team -- great opportunity for growth and team-building/recognition.

11. RELATED TOPICS OF INTEREST
NYC LABOR ENVIRONMENT
PRICING
VENDOR RELATIONSHIPS

12. NYC LABOR ENVIRONMENT
History of labor unions
1850’s - Efforts to organize labor begin during the Industrial Revolution
1930’s - Great Depression and political factors increase labor union popularity
Federal legislation passed that require business to allow unions and allow Collective Bargaining (Wagner and NLR Acts)
Federal legislation passed limiting unions by prohibiting political contributions and strikes (Taft-Hartley Act)
% of private sector workforce are union members (down from 17% in 1983) as global economy continues to evolve
Tips for navigating the landscape
Know what kind of environment in which you are working
Hold venue/vendor partners responsible for explaining rules/boundaries in advance to allow you to plan/budget accordingly
Ensure that rules are not in conflict with any of your objectives or goals
Accept reasonable limitations but always expect quality service, respect and professionalism.

13. PRICING Secure multiple proposals when selecting a venue/vendor
Compare apples to apples
Be transparent
Know your Budget
Ask for detailed and comprehensive estimated pricing at point of contract
Ensure all ancillary costs are outlined clearly upfront
Expect vendors to stay within budget and ask them to clearly identify any add-ons along the way (before they are confirmed)
Ask Vendors for suggestions to help reduce costs
Piggybacking, eliminating unnecessary items, etc
Trust but verify
Compare all final arrangements with original contract and challenge variances.

14. VENDOR RELATIONSHIPS
Set clear and achievable expectations together with Vendor partners
Ask for a list of key deliverable items/dates in a clear outline to allow you to set calendar reminders
Ask your vendors for their Top 3
Meet/exceed payment requirements
COMMUNICATE - efficiently and effectively
Be mindful of your vendor partner’s overleveraged schedules
Try to limit revision requests
Meet/exceed information deadlines (menus, floor plan, timeline, etc)
Make efforts to prevent last-minute and/or completely unexpected changes and requests
If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands!.

15. A few final thoughts...
Consider the benefits of hiring a good event professional
Planners are available for full and limited service assistance
Hourly consulting services for specific items may offer very good value if full-service assistance is not in the budget
contract review and negotiation
timeline/run of show design
registration/day-of management assistance
Always expect the best but have a solid plan for the rest!