4 Steps to Planning a Successful Event with Jodie McLean
By Advice

There’s no getting around the fact that events are expensive and time-consuming! So if we’re going to put on an event, we need to make damn sure it’s going to be a success!

From over a decade running events, I’ve drilled it down into 4 Steps you need to follow.

  1. The Brief: this is so critical to the success of an event because if you don’t start well you’re just going to head in the wrong direction. We often run off and find a venue and get straight into planning mode but its important to spend some time getting clear on our objective, audience, budget and non-negotiables. These will guide every decision you make moving forward.
  2. The Planning: this is where we develop our event concept, source the venue and catering, pull together the content of the event (what’s going to happen at the event) and then actually market and communicate our event. The planning phase takes up 70% of our time and there’s so much I could go into here, but my biggest lesson here is – make sure everything ties together and has a place. Don’t add things for the sake of it and try to ensure you have a cohesive event theme and feel.
  3. The Execution: when it comes to the day of the event, make sure you haven’t left yourself with too much to do. It’s tempting to be all things (like we always are!) but if you’re trying to be the DJ, photographer, welcomer and event manager – you need to get some additional help to ensure the event runs smoothly.
  4. The Evaluation: the only thing worse than putting on a dud event, is putting on a dud event twice. We need to be getting feedback and continuing to improve. Make sure you are getting feedback from your attendees and your stakeholders and debriefing with your team on what you did well and what you can change for next time.

If you want to dive into this further, check out our virtual 1 hour Masterclass on this topic, or download some of our Free Resources to help you with your next event At Events Academy HERE!