You have been tasked with planning the next company event and you are panicking. Where do you start? Do you plan an in-person event or a virtual event? You have heard about a Hybrid event but you really don’t know what it is or how to organize this type of event. You search the internet for tips on planning events during a pandemic, but the search results are overwhelming with so many sites to weed through. So now what? You see one service that catches your eye…Event Consulting. Maybe, you just need a bit of advice. Just someone to steer you in the right direction?
You fill out the Quote Request on the website and immediately you get a response. “Looking for help planning your next event? You have definitely come to the right place!”
The above is a true story from one of our clients. Overwhelmed by too much information and feeling paralyzed on where to start is a common feeling. She couldn’t figure out what the first steps were, which was unusual for this seasoned office event planner. All she needed was an experienced Event Professional to guide her through the process. Once we helped her figure out her Event Blueprint, she was on her way!
With the ever changing rules and restrictions, we see great benefit in hiring an Event Consultant to assist you in navigating through the new event process. Below we have listed our most commonly seen circumstances where event consulting can add value to your event.
5 Reasons that you need to hire an Event Consultant
1. You need help defining your event goals and objectives and don’t know how to measure your ROI.
After being tasked with planning the next company event, you are asked to submit a report to management that states the Event Goals and Objectives and outlines how you plan to measure the Return On Investment. Defining your event goals are much deeper than having a record attendance, supplying seats for 75% of the audience, and preparing a risk assessment plan. These goals need to be measurable and solid and are often tied into your marketing initiatives.
2. You don’t know what type of event to hold; virtual, hybrid or in person.
Today this decision is trickier than ever. In person events were making a comeback mid 2021 and then restrictions were put back in place because of the rise in co-vid cases. During this time, some people tried to host hybrid events but failed because their hybrid events were just an in-person event with a livestream camera feed. This is NOT a hybrid event. Selecting the perfect type of event for your audience is a complex decision and requires an audit of past event successes with a sneak peak into the future of your business.
3. You are confused on what the structure of the event should look like.
Each type of event has a different set of criteria and considerations regarding the structure of the event depending on who your audience is and what you are trying to achieve. For example, an internal staff event would most likely be structured differently than a public ticketed event. Key points to consider are your audience, the purpose of event, the length of event, the event timing, food and beverage offerings, etc.
4. You are lost as to what kind of engagement to include and how to keep guests engaged
Once you have prepared your event content, chosen your platform and booked various event partners (speakers, panelists, entertainers, etc.), the next step is to engage your attendees. This is the fun part but needs to be handled very carefully for many reasons. Many ‘content rich’ virtual events have failed because they did not keep their audience interested and engaged. Engaging your attendees should happen the moment they sign up for your event and carry on long after the event has concluded.
5. You are trying to get approval for the cost of the event but you don’t know how much to budget for
“How do I plan my event budget?” is probably the most commonly asked question after the question of “What platform should I use?” Planning your event budget requires experience, knowledge and skill. Each event type (virtual, hybrid or in-person) has different budgetary needs for things like Event Production (A/V, Lighting, Digital), Food & Beverage, Entertainment, Swag, etc. Working with an Event Consultant to guide you through this financial task is money well spent!
Hiring an Event Consultant is a “Bright Idea”
Most people have never even heard of an Event Consultant. They have heard of event production but not event consulting. The benefit of hiring an Event Consultant is that you can be highly involved in all of the decision making steps like choosing a platform, selecting a theme, planning the agenda, selecting the activities for audience engagement, designing the culinary experience, gamifying the competition, selecting the entertainment, designing the event brand & style yet you can produce the event internally with your team.
Due to the recent changes because of the current co-vid pandemic, the event landscape is like a bowl of soup. Everything is all mixed up. There is no clear path on how to plan an event. Do you try in person or do you go totally virtual? Or do you try hybrid? Or do you skip this year like many companies have done and plan a big comeback in 2022? It’s almost impossible for the average person to know what to do. That’s why event consulting is the answer.
Book a free 30 minute FREE event consultation today
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We do need someone who can guide us to organize an event and I guess hiring an event consultant makes that work easy. By hiring an event consultant we can look more after our guests as all the stuff will be handled by an event consultant. The objectives, structure, costs, etc these factors should be taken into consideration while planning an event. Thus, a professional event consultant may act as a savior. This article is really worth reading and informative. Thank you for sharing with us. Looking forward to more such blogs.