Zelica Jones 1/27/20 Zelica Jones 1/27/20

The work event you should start planning from January and why

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The Christmas festivities are over, and we are now in the final quarter of the financial year. After organising the work Christmas party, you were probably hoping now you could sit back and relax for a while. But planning events takes a lot of time and attention. There’s so much to consider and organise. Your next big event is likely to be your end of year function. Leaving the planning of this to the last-minute will not only cause you stress, but you could also lose out on booking your preferred venues and suppliers. Here are four reasons why you should start planning your end of year function now.

Limited options

A lot of organisations book their events months, or even years in advance. Leaving your event until the last-minute limits the options available for venues and suppliers. If you want to secure a particular venue, you may find they’re already booked up or perhaps don’t have the size or times available that you need.

The same goes for suppliers. If you want to book a specific speaker, entertainer, event planner or decorator, they could also be booked out by the organisations that have already planned and booked their events.

Book early to avoid disappointment!

Low attendance

If you’ve left the planning until the last-minute, the chances are you’ve also not advised your attendees of the date and may find they already have plans or personal commitments, such as childcare to consider. This can lead to a poor turnout. You’ll probably also be tied in on numbers at this point too so will have to pay for the delegates even if they can’t make it.

The results – an unsuccessful event and poor return on investment.

Everything becomes more expensive

With a lot of companies and venues being booked up, it limits your options, but you’ll also find that a lot of things become more expensive nearer to the date when booking last-minute. Suppliers tend to spread their bookings throughout the year. They may be able to accommodate a last-minute request, however, to pull everything together at the last-minute adds extra hours and strain on them, so they will charge you for it! This can lead to overspending of your budget or having to cut things out of your plans to accommodate the unexpected increases in costs.

You won’t have time to think of everything

Time is a big aspect of why you shouldn’t organise an event last-minute. If you’re rushing around, trying to pull an event together at the last-minute, it adds additional stress and strain to the organisation. However, it can also mean that things get forgotten or missed. You can find yourself thinking of the bigger things but then overlook the finer details. The more time you have, the better to properly organise and plan every tiny detail of your event.

So, what do you need to be thinking about now for your year end function or next event?

When?

Picking the date is one of the first things you should organise. Will you hold it straight after the financial year? Are there any other big commitments or meetings? Does it clash with school holidays when some employees will be off? What day of the week would work best? During the week or weekend? Will it be during the day or an evening?

Consider all the options before deciding on a date and it’s always a good idea to have a couple of potential dates if you can if you have a specific venue in mind.

How much?

Setting a budget is another very important aspect to planning your event. Depending on the size of your budget, depends on the type of event you can hold, where and how many people can attend. Speak to your finance department to gain an idea of budget or if it’s your first event, you could speak to an event organiser to ask for an approximate cost of how much should be budgeted per head.

What?

Will it be a formal cocktail celebration or a simple sit-down dinner and dance? Would you have any team building exercises? Are there any other meetings that need to happen around the event?

Who?

Is the event open to all employees or limited to certain departments? Is there a rota of who attends each year? Do you have remote or field-based staff? How many employees will be invited?

Where?

Once you’ve decided who is going to come, it can then dictate where the event will be held. If all employees are local and reasonably central to the offices, then picking somewhere fairly local is a good idea. However, if you have employees who commute in from different areas or if you have field-based employees, it’s important to consider the logistics of how they would get to the event and home again after. Would they need any overnight accommodate if travelling far?

If you’re looking for support in organising and running your next event but don’t want the stress or hassle then get in touch with VASS. We have a team of experienced event managers who can take care of all the details, leaving you the chance to sit back, relax and enjoy! Call us now on 020 3370 4075 to find out more.

Zelica Jones 11/18/19 Zelica Jones 11/18/19

5 top event management tips for a good Christmas party

Planning an event can be overwhelming and leave organisers feeling a little stressed, especially as the big day approaches. With the Christmas party season approaching fast, we wanted to share with you our 5 top event management tips for a good Christmas party.

Be prepared

With the big day nearly here, you’ve hopefully ensured that every little detail is booked, paid and ready to go.

Before the event, it’s time to run through and make sure nothing has been missed. Write yourself a shadow itinerary for the day, including everything that needs to happen before, during and after the event.

Include details such as what time you plan to arrive. What needs setting up. How long will things take to set up. Do you have suppliers bringing things in? How long will they need to set up and tidy up? What time will guests arrive? Who will be greeting them? Are there any presentations or awards? Do you have copies of any speeches? Any announcements? Details of the order of service. What time does the event finish? Who will be clearing up after? Is there anything that needs to be packed up and shipped?

Think about all the little details from start to finish to ensure nothing is missed. But remember to include some buffer time, especially for the set up in case anything goes wrong or adjustments need making.

Touch base

At least a couple of weeks before, it’s a good idea to touch base with the venue and suppliers. This should reduce the number of things going wrong on the day and ensures any last-minute bits and pieces are taken care of so everyone is prepared for the day.

It’s also a good idea to also touch base with the guests. Sending out a reminder of the event and any details closer to the day reminds guests that they also need to be prepared. Remind them of the date, time, venue, dress code, and any other details they need. Also use it as a final opportunity to ask for any special access needs or dietary requirements not already noted.

Arrive early

On the day of the event, it is so important to arrive early to ensure any set up is running smoothly or if it’s a smaller event, to be there to answer any questions from the venue and greet any early guests.

When you arrive it’s a good idea to introduce or reintroduce yourself to the operations team who are working on the event. This allows them to know who to contact if there are any questions or issues, ensuring any issues can be identified and resolved as quickly with as little disruption as possible.

Keep track of time

Most events have a few time-sensitive activities or deadlines. Whether it’s what time the food is to be served, when the DJ will be playing or what time for presentation and awards. But you also need to consider the venue closing time. The key to a successful event is the time management of every stage. It’s, therefore, so important to keep track of time throughout the event to ensure everyone sticks to the itinerary.

You need to be clear with the venue on service timings. It might be that you need to gently remind speakers or presenters how much time they have before and during their presentations. You may have to assist in ushering guests from one room to another at the appropriate time.

Ensuring things run smoothly, on time, without disruptions can be tricky when you add guests, speakers and presenters to the mix. You need to remember to remain, calm, friendly and polite, but firmly encouraging them to stick to the timings!

Be the last to leave

We know it’s been a long journey for you leading up to this event and all you want to do is kick back and relax. But until everyone is gone, and things have wrapped up, your presence is still needed. Always ensure you’re the last one to leave so you can say goodbye and see off the remaining guests. But it also means you’re on hand to work with the clean up crew and give direction where needed.

If you haven’t already, it’s also time to pay any remaining bills and tie up with the venue and suppliers to make sure everything is on track for them and there aren’t any outstanding issues to address. You might also want to do a quick once over to make sure none of the guests has left anything behind.

Then it’s time for you to pat yourself on the back. You can slow down, catch your breath and leave on a high knowing that the evening was a success.