Suppose you are not an experienced event planner. In that case, you should get some professional help from an Event Consultant to ensure that your event goes off without a hitch. Even if you think you have everything in place, having an experienced planner look over your plans does not hurt.
It’s often the domino effect, where one thing goes wrong, which leads to another thing going wrong, and another thing going wrong, and the dominos start to fall. Often total blown disasters begin with a simple mistake.
The Top Five Common Errors Made When Planning An Event
1. Over Budget
When planning your event, it is easy to go over budget, especially in a post-pandemic world with the rising cost of goods and services. Don’t let inflation deflate your event plans. Here are five things you should avoid when planning your event to remain on budget.
- Having no working budget in place
- Overspending on key areas such as catering & décor
- Not having enough money left for adequate rentals
- Forgetting to budget for hidden costs such as permits, licenses, etc.
- Spending money based on projected revenue/sales
Event Consulting Tip: an Event Consultant assists you in creating a working budget that allows flexibility throughout the planning process and has built-in alerts for overages.
2. Confusing Timelines
Without a professionally developed timeline, your event can lead to confusion for both you, guests and vendors. You can save money and time by implementing a thoughtfully planned timeline. Avoid these common event mistakes when it comes to your event timing.
- Having a lack of experience or knowledge about event timing can cause chaos
- Everything is out of sync, and the flow of your event does not make sense
- You can confuse the guest experience
- Your entertainment and stage performances get missed
- The welcome address is not heard as other activities are taking place
- Food goes to waste as guests are not informed when the food is served
Event Consulting Tip: an Event Consultant will work with you to shape the flow of your event to avoid chaos and confusion.
3. Poor Venue Selection
Choosing the right venue for your event can make or break the guest experience. Working with a corporate event planner or event consultant to find your venue can help you avoid the following mistakes.
- Not having enough space for event infrastructure (tables, chairs, bars, buffets, etc.)
- Having bad sight lines to the stage, performers or awards
- Not having enough parking for all guests
- Running out of room for your required seating
- A venue with poor or dim lighting
- A venue with bad acoustics
Event Consulting Tip: an Event Consultant will work with you to select the perfect venue that meets your group’s needs and budget
4. No Critical Path
Without a critical path when planning your event, the event planning process can feel chaotic. Unfortunately, this can also poorly impact your event in the following six ways.
- Having no blueprint for the planning process
- Critical planning or contracting dates are missed
- You can end up paying more on rush charges
- Vendor availability is low as they aren’t booked far enough in advance
- Guest announcements are late
- Guest attendance is low
Event Consulting Tip: an Event Consultant will collaborate with you to plan a thorough, detailed critical path outlining key dates, deliverables and tasks.
5. Bad Traffic Flow
Having no flow or a bad flow of your event can significantly impact your guest’s experience. For example, suppose they cannot access key facilities or are slowed down by inefficiencies. In that case, you are likely to have guests leave early. When working with an Event Consultant, they will help you avoid the following mistakes.
- Panning a confusing floorplan
- Line ups at the bar
- Line ups at food stations
- Making activity stations inaccessible
- Placing the registration in the wrong place
- Placing the coat check in a bad location
- Having the washrooms inaccessible
Event Consulting Tip: an Event Consultant will review the available space and create a scaled floorplan for your event. It will include all feature stations to ensure that everything will fit perfectly in the space and the traffic flow will be smooth and free-flowing.
If you want to avoid these event planning mistakes during your next corporate event, we recommend working with an Event Consultant! Sharon Bonner offers a la cart event consulting services where you can pick and choose which event planning areas you need assistance with the most. Head on over to our services page to learn more about event consulting with Sharon Bonner!
You may also enjoy reading the following:
How To Plan Events In A Post- Pandemic Event Industry
Unique Catering Ideas Beyond The Basic Buffet
The Ultimate List Of Unique Event Venues in Vancouver