How to Kick-Start an Event and Have It Be Successful!

Good Idea versus Great Event

At one point in time, there must have been instances where you had a brilliant idea regarding your event. As you thought of all the possibilities of your event’s success, images and ideas of what would happen filled your mind – be it the number of people who would fill your venue, the easy process of planning, or even scheduling.

Hey you know what? Planning and hosting events can be quite tedious too. In reality, events involve complex processes that entail a lot of strategy and critical thinking on how everything should work out.

Below are some ways to successfully start events!

Figure Out The Purpose of Your Event Before its Theme

While your concept might be exciting, it would be wise for you to figure out the purpose of your event first!

It is not just some kind of philosophical exercise; the purpose of your event will dictate all the decisions to come: location, program content, attendee selection, budget allocation, even your choice of wording when it comes to marketing your event.

Ask yourself:

• – What is the desired result for the attendees?
• – Are you introducing a new product, trying to build a community, generate leads, or celebrate something?
• – What is the target audience and what do they really care about?

The less specific the goals, the fuzzier your event planning will be.

Define Your Target Audience BEFORE Allocating a Budget

One of the most common mistakes? Focusing on the budget right from the start and forgetting about other factors.

Almost everything starts with an audience profile. An event for startup owners in Kuala Lumpur will be entirely different from a gala for corporate executives in Johor Bahru – even if both are attended by the same number of people and have the same budget.

Related: Things that event planner do

With the knowledge of who your target audience is, it will be easier for you to decide on:

• – The type of venue and location – accessibility is very important
• – Program design – how long do you want them to participate; how do you keep them engaged
• – Food and logistics – cultural and dietary issues particularly in Malaysia’s varied culture
• – Methods of promoting your event – where is your target market really active

Do this correctly and planning will be much easier for you going forward.

Build a Team Early

Events do not happen alone. In fact, even small events require that several things be done at once, and trying to accomplish this alone is a surefire way of exhausting yourself.

Firstly, get your Avengers together. This is non-negotiable; you want to be sure everyone in the Avengers team knows what his or her part is.

Event Director / Project Manager – this is the person who will be making all important decisions for the event and managing all operations involved in planning an event. Secondly, there’s the Logistics Manager, managing venues, equipment, vendors, and time – almost effortlessly (sometimes).

The marketing component of your team involves the Marketing and Communication Manager, who will manage promotions and registrations for the event. The Finance Manager makes sure you do not go over budget on anything related to your event.

Lastly, it is the on-site Avengers group, who will coordinate and execute on site, managing suppliers, solving issues and coming up with some really creative fixes for problems you did not anticipate. And not to forget, they save you from the hassle.

Allocate Your Budget Properly (Make Sure to Add Buffers)

It is said that Malaysian event planners always underestimate their budgets in the early stages of the planning process. Renting venues, audiovisuals, staging, food, drinks, manpower, photography, decorations, and printing costs a lot.

In the process of making your event budget, there are several things that you should keep in mind, and those are:

• – The priority of venues, sound, and food since these are usually the biggest expenditures
• – Getting at least two quotations; never commit to anything before meeting two different suppliers
• – Keeping aside about 10%-15% for contingencies since some unexpected events might occur during the event
• – Tracking every single Ringgit; create a budget that can be accessed by everyone

According to MyCEB (Malaysia Convention & Exhibition Bureau), the impact of business events on the MICE sector of Malaysia is very significant, especially concerning the income earned from foreign events that aim to develop the tourism industry. In simple words, events help in making profit and, therefore, event management becomes really essential.

Create a Master Timeline and Work Backwards

The most important aspect of event planning includes working backwards, using your event date as the starting point and preparing an event schedule using the reverse approach method.

Kick Start Timetable for Events Would be:

12+ Weeks to Go

• – Define the concept, aims, and budget for your event
• – Choose a venue and vendors
• – Recruit the core planning team

8–10 Weeks to Go

• – Promote and advertise your event
• – Set an agenda and invite speakers
• – Negotiate with suppliers and make contracts

4–6 Weeks to Go

• – Intensify promotional work through all media
• – Take site tour and tech check-up
• – Sort out guest management arrangements

1–2 Weeks to Go

• – Send out last reminders to all involved
• – Give your whole team a final briefing
• – Plan what to do in case of emergency

Event Day

• – Arrive on time, brief everyone thoroughly
• – Be flexible – some changes may occur!

It becomes easy to plan for the kick start process when you know the exact date.

Venue Selection

When you have to select a venue, the decision has to be taken very carefully since the venue you select will influence many factors including the success of the event itself.

In case you are selecting venues in Malaysia, you should take care of the following considerations:

• – Space vs Guest Number
• – Location
• – Technical Facilities such as audio-video support, Wi-Fi, power source, and loading bay facilities
• – Whether there are any limitations on utilizing third-party suppliers
• – The ambience of the venue and its alignment with the theme of your event

Examples of some of the top places in Malaysia where you could organize an event include KLCC, Mont Kiara, Bangsar, Shah Alam, and Penang.

Market Your Event With Purpose

One of the worst wastes in our industry is that of an undermarketed event. Even the best of programmes will fall flat on their face if no attendees show up.

Good event marketing ideas include:

• – Early bird registrations – creates a sense of urgency, plus enables attendance prediction
• – Email marketing campaigns – still one of the best methods for generating conversions
• – Social media campaigns – short clips, countdowns, behind-the-scenes posts create buzz around the event
• – Partnership and collaboration – partnering with other companies to promote the event
• – Influencers – relevant for events that focus on lifestyle or consumers

The team at Kollysphere has stressed that event marketing should not be considered as an afterthought. Event marketing should start as soon as the dates for your event are confirmed.

On-Ground Experiences Are Important

What is known about event management among newcomers? In fact, attendees do not pay much attention to presentation materials – they only remember their impressions.

On-ground experience begins right when people step through the entrance doors of the venue and ends with their departure from the place.

The factors worth noting:

• – Efficiency of registration – a queue may immediately form a negative first impression
• – Wayfinding – guests should easily find their way around the premises
• – Atmosphere of welcome provided by your team – everyone involved in organizing the event does matter
• – Rhythm of the event flow – it should include no unnecessary pauses or too fast-paced parts
• – Finale – the end leaves the strongest impressions.

Kollysphere agency says that the post-event experience should be taken into account – you need to send thank you letters, highlight videos, etc.

Things That Matter Should Always Be Measured

No matter what happened during the event, there is a lesson to be learned. 

With the hype over, you should not rush into moving ahead at this point. Instead, take some time out, have a decent debrief, and see how effective your indicators are. For example, if the turnout matched expectations, the satisfaction levels of the audience members (not necessarily polite ones), performance as far as media exposure and buzz, and creation of any leads. Of course, let us not forget about those pesky holes in your budget. They always tell a story.

It will enable you to improve on future events. No one can deny that successful events do not just happen. Everything seems to work so smoothly at the outset; yet behind the scenes, everything tends to be pretty much in chaos.

Regardless of whether you’re holding your first ever event or have conducted several of them already, there are certain things about the process that never change. They are purpose, audience research, team creation, resource management, and experience delivery.

The team working on events organized by Kollysphere knows very well that great events should not only work perfectly on paper but also leave a mark on people’s hearts.