To work within the event budget and carry out a successful event requires
detailed planning and constant updates and reviews in all areas, but
especially the finances. After the event’s purpose and how best
to accomplish it are decided upon, preliminary estimates of the costs
should be made (after research) to determine a realistic financial strategy.
In addition to tracking the overall budget by event department, there
should be mini budgets for each department. The majority of events,
whether a seminar series, convention, sports
event, award event, fundraiser,
tradeshow, or product launch are aimed at a target audience with the
intent to raise awareness in either staff or customers with subsequent
increase in company productivity and revenue.
At this point, the event organizers should decide if it makes logistical
sense to bring in professionals, and where. Does the organizing agency
have staff who are both experienced in planning this type of event and
who can be freed from their regular work in order to take on the event
management? If the host organizer is holding a smaller event that needs
to be high impact and absolutely flawless, or a larger event, especially
one with a marketing component, a professional event coordinator is
a good idea. A professional event
coordinator will save time, will not overlook any of the thousands of
details that go into a successful event, and will have plans in place
to keep the event running smoothly in case of the unexpected. Ultimately,
because professional event
coordinators usually have access to discounts from
caterers, florists,
and rental companies, hiring an event manager may not cost as much as
anticipated.
Part of a successful event is looking at each line item in the budget
to decide if the expected outcome is worth the cost. A company wide
training weekend for sales and technical staff on a new product was
scheduled at a mid-sized hotel.
A senior manager attended another event at the venue four months before
his company’s training weekend. He discovered that, after about
an hour, the hotel chairs became very uncomfortable. He brought this
up with the event’s coordinating committee. They reviewed the
budget and decided to opt for a themed buffet
instead of a formal sit-down dinner, and rent padded chairs from a supply
company so that guests would be comfortable for the eight hour long
training sessions.
| Ottawa
Conventions.com
Event Planning 101
Chapter 9: Financial Management
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