DOs and DON’Ts of Event Planning

Here are my tips for planning a perfect event, whether it’s complex with concurrent sessions or a simple affair.

• Meet with your client to discuss the event goals and theme. Is this a staff appreciation event? Is this a bilingual event which requires simultaneous translation? Is it an educational session that confers credits to the attendees?
• In the preplanning phase make sure that the date your client has selected does not conflict with other industry events or is too close to major holidays, otherwise your attendance rates may suffer.
• Certain days of the week are better than others. As a general rule, avoid Monday and Friday events especially during the summer, as people tend to go out of town.
• Determine with the client whether the event is reliant on sponsorships or whether the registration fee will cover all expenses.
• Will it be a half day session, a full day, or multiple days? Will it run over several weeks? The event schedule needs to be nailed down early so that event promotion can take place.
• Will there be concurrent sessions? If so, make sure that the room limits are adhered to.
• Be aware of the client’s attendance expectations for the overall event and for each breakout session.
• Will the event be recorded and available at a later date to attendees and non- attendees? If so, have they thought about the various price points?
• Formulate a budget that takes into account all costs and projects what the registration fee will be. Get sign-off from the client.
• Create a marketing plan that encompasses a social media plan. Obtain sign-off from the client and/or the communications department of the client’s company/organization for all communication materials. Make sure all logos used are current. Promote the event early, be consistent with your marketing efforts and set up processes to assess which campaigns are useful in driving attendance.
• Scrutinize all contracts and ask questions if you are not sure of any clauses. Obtain sign-off from the client before returning any contract (virtual platform, event app, entertainment, speaker agreements, AV, catering, simultaneous translation, interpreter services for hearing impaired delegates).
• If this is a hybrid event, work with your venue planner to optimize socially distanced seating arrangements, AV set-up, and catering. If you opt for external catering, make sure that the venue is in agreement and there are no penalties levied. Many art galleries for example have preferred caterers and deviation from that list will result in extra fees.
• For hybrid events, book an AV technician for the entire day, especially if there are concurrent sessions, simultaneous translation or interpreter services. If anything goes wrong from a light bulb malfunction to a computer breakdown, the AV technician will quickly fix it and the event will run smoothly.
• Create speaker agreements with clearly outlined deadline dates for submission of materials such as bios and headshots. Include a clause specifying that keynote speakers promote the event on their social media platforms and newsletters. Obtain speaker presentations one week prior to the event.
• If the event involves out of town speakers, make sure you book their arrangements well in advance in order to take advantage of discounted airfare and hotel rates. If your speaker is on first thing in the morning, arrange to have them spend the previous night in town. There is nothing more panic inducing than a no-show from your keynote speaker!
• If speakers are not being paid, make sure that they receive a modest honorarium or at the very least a thank you card by the organizing committee.
• For remote speakers, arrange for rehearsals a few days prior to the event to ensure they are comfortable with the platform, have optimal internet connectivity, audio and lighting.
• For the F2F component of the event, make sure you arrive at least one hour early to the venue. Have all emergency contact numbers for catering, AV and speakers.
• Check that the socially distanced seating arrangements you submitted have been followed. If not, call your venue contact and have them make the necessary changes.
• Check that all the AV equipment (screen, mics, computer) are working. Give the USB key to the AV technician so that all the presentations can be preloaded if those have not yet been sent to the technician in advance.
• Ensure you have adequate help with registration, especially if there is a projected attendance of 100 or more delegates. Safety is a priority; have COVID screening protocols in place.
• Reserve tables at the front of the room for committee members and speakers.
• Verify the room temperature throughout the day; there is nothing worse than delegates being too hot as it puts them to sleep! If the temperature is not optimal, make sure you liaise with the venue contact immediately, as large rooms may take up to 20 minutes for the temperature to change.
• Make sure that catering staff are setting up all meals and snacks according to schedule.
• For virtual or hybrid events, ensure that you have a technical team at the ready if you did not opt for virtual platform support or had hired an AV company. The role of this team is assist delegates with tech issues, ensure that speakers have shown up in the virtual waiting room, moderate the Q&A, chat box, add information to the chat box (e.g. speaker website, downloadable document), launch polls, create breakout rooms, and basically ensure that the event runs smoothly.
• Design an evaluation form that is comprehensive (5 point likeard scale) but is easy to analyse. If you are using an event APP, the survey can be incorporated into the APP, which is more efficient than issuing a survey the following day.
• Submit the evaluation report no later than one week post-event.
• Hold a debrief with the client to discuss the event in detail, reconciliation of the budget, evaluation results and any challenges encountered.
• Book your next event with the client!

Top Speaker Tips For Presenting Virtually

Lighting

• Natural daylight is best, if possible sit facing a window. If the sun is too bright, pull down the window shade to diffuse it
  
• A softened, diffused lamp (lampshades do the trick) placed at a 45° angle in front of you, will eliminate most shadows on your face

Attire

• Choose attire that you would wear if you were attending an in-person conference
  
• Plain-colored shirts and pants/skirts are optimal; patterns or stripes may not display well on remote sites
  
• Avoid wearing a colour similar to your background.

Atmosphere

• Pick your presentation spot carefully, where you will not be interrupted
  
• Check what’s visible in your camera background before you start. You may choose to remove personal photos. If you have a company banner, display it behind you.
  
• Explore Zoom setup options. Select ‘Settings’ and consider using a virtual background, or ‘Touch up my appearance’ under ‘Video’

Audio

• When you are not speaking, remember to mute yourself
  
• Test your audio first to make sure the sound is clear
  
• Speak slowly and clearly. It’s much more difficult for participants to process speech over a virtual presentation, where it’s harder to watch the presenter’s face for vocal and body language cues.
  
• Zoom has a feature to cancel background noises from your microphone
  
• Use a pair of wired ear buds (if not using an external high quality microphone) which tends to give the best clarity when speaking

Hints for better presentations

• Close unnecessary open applications and windows to avoid distractions
  
• Put your camera at eye level (use a stand, or stack of books if you are using a laptop camera)
  
• If you look directly at your camera while speaking, your attendees will feel much more included in the conversation. Position the ‘active speaker’ window on your screen directly under the camera so that it is natural for your eyes to be looking towards the camera
  
• Stick a post-it right below or next to your webcam with notes pertinent to the presentation. If you take a peek, you will still be looking somewhat directly at your audience.
  
• Practice and time your presentation; try not to memorize the talk as it may not sound natural.

How to Make your Event more Sustainable – My Top Picks

In our work with clients hosting meetings and events, we make decisions every day from selecting venues, AV companies and décor items to exploring transportation and marketing collateral options. All these factors impact our environment. I have committed to choosing sustainable solutions so that our planet can not only survive, but thrive. I pledge to continuously educate myself, my staff, suppliers, and clients on opting for environmental friendly choices including:

1. Creating a RFP that highlights sustainability requirements.
2. Utilizing a carbon calculator for my events. We are all used to tracking our expenses vs. what we budgeted. Let’s take it one step further and track our carbon footprint.
3. Selecting a venue that complies with eco-certification guidelines.
4. Exploring off-the-grid AV options. At The Sustainable Events Forum, AV Canada used solar powered generators to power the cameras, lighting, microphones, projectors and screens. It can be done!
5. Eliminating the use of plastic water bottles. Our water supply is safe, and contains fluoride, which is known to decrease the incidence of cavities. Instead of supplying plastic water bottles at your events, consider eco-friendly options such as Tabl’eau which uses the venue’s water supply, filters it in their mobile unit and makes it available in lovely glass reusable bottles.
6. Asking the venue to provide food choices that comply with the 100-mile diet, thereby reducing the need for planes to transport items that are out-of-season. The fuel used in planes is a huge pollutant.
7. Exploring ways to reduce food waste such as partnering with Second Harvest.
8. Eliminating the use of paper. There are so many options available that can replace paper, such as posting the agenda on room screens, or using an App such as Eventmobi or Cvent, which can include speaker bios, exhibitor information, the daily agenda and numerous ways to recognize your sponsors.
9. Not offering swag bags filled with plastic trinkets. Instead, ask your delegates to supply their own cloth bag and insist that your exhibitors select meaningful swag items that are not harmful to the environment, such as branded plastic water bottles.
10. Selecting off-site options that are within walking distance of the venue. If there are delegates with mobility challenges, select companies with electric bussing options.

Key Considerations in Planning an Event

When planning an event, there are many factors to consider, the overarching one would be whether to attempt the coordination to oneself or to hire a professional. Event planners have expertise acquired through many years of executing a variety of events and are aware of current trends in event design. They have established processes in place such as the development of a critical path in order to ensure event success. Professional event planners are part of planning bodies (such as PCMA or CanSPEP) and value educational opportunities. They possess insurance and operate with a risk mitigation approach when reviewing venue and entertainment contracts. Moreover, they have a myriad of connections with suppliers (e.g. décor companies, DJs, caterers, photographers, florists, printers).

The following is a listing of key elements to consider when planning an event; all of these will impact the amount of time needed to execute the event.

Event Type and Scope–  Gala, annual conference, launch event, webinar, hybrid event, XMAS party, trade show, fundraising walk, think tank meeting, board retreat

Event Timing– half day event, full day event, multi-day event, sequential or break-out tracks

Event Size– Less than 100 delegates, 100-250 delegates, 250+. This affects venue size and room configurations.

Content Development & Speaker Management– Content to align with event theme, need for keynote speakers or panelists, abstract management services, liaison with universities for CME, coordination needed for receipt of bios and PowerPoint presentations

Marketing – Event promotion is key to the success of any event. Event promotion starts with the development of a marketing plan and can include the production of communication materials (flier, signage, tickets, invitations, event program), media relations (print, radio, TV) and social media.

Logistics required– Arranging for promo codes with various airlines or train/bus companies, need for swag bags, social program, spousal program, transportation during the event,  catering, AV services, photography, videography.

On-site services– Production of name tags, registration, flow of event, run of day (event script)

Evaluation– Creation of a survey and analysis of results

Once the scope of the event is clearly established, the fun begins with the development of the event’s theme and the budget. At Health Care Event Planning, we create optimistic, break-even and pessimistic budget scenarios so that the client is fully aware of the financial realities of the event. We also specialize in working with volunteer committees to establish the content and assist with sourcing engaging speakers that are experts in their field.

What ultimately sets us apart are the value-added services which include:

• Expertise in the health care field
• Translation of documents from English to French
• Extensive media training which enables our team to interview speakers and produce short videos that can be used to promote the event
• Expert moderation and facilitation of workshops and panel discussions

As can be seen, hiring an event planner is an investment that is worthwhile. Let us plan your next stellar event!