On Wednesday, June 22, I started the drive from Sunnyside, Washington, back to Seattle feeling giddy and relieved. After three months of working with Darigold to plan and execute its Sunnyside plant expansion celebration for 400 guests, the event was over and it was a success.
Whether your guest list is for 4 people or 400, planning an event can be a formidable challenge. There are hundreds of details to manage, which also means there are hundreds of possibilities for your best laid plans to be disrupted. Here are five lessons I took away from my experience to ensure your next big event goes smoothly.
1) Encourage oversharing.
Working with busy time-strapped executives has trained me to keep the number of emails I send (and their content) to a minimum. However, event planning is the exception to that rule. Oversharing is key to ensuring everyone is on the same page to achieve the team’s vision. A few of the tactics we implemented were creating a master document clearly outlining essential details and each person’s roles and responsibilities, hosting weekly calls and developing a contact sheet.
2) Resist the urge to do everything yourself.
When you’re immersed in a project, you can convince yourself it’s simpler to power through rather than delegating to someone else. The truth is, the sooner you realize you need help, the better off you’ll be. Make a list of all the activities that need to be completed and be honest about which jobs are necessary for you to manage. For the remaining tasks, identify team members with the bandwidth and skillset who can assist you. When delegating, set deadlines and deliverables to ensure you’re not creating more work for yourself.
3) Make it easy for media to say yes.
Journalists receive invitations to openings, launch parties and press conferences daily and their schedules fill up quickly. If securing media for your event is a priority, I recommend sending invitations as early as possible, preferably at least one to two months in advance. For the actual invite, remember you’re competing with every other organization that wants media at their event that day. The more assets and visual opportunities you can offer in your pitch increases your likelihood of receiving a positive response to your RSVP. For example, in addition to offering on-camera interviews with executives, we arranged a private tour of the facility for media. To accommodate their schedules, we also provided media with the option of an abbreviated tour route. This approach allowed us to host media from broadcast stations KIMA and KNDO/KNDU.
4) It’s okay to be a bit of a worrywart.
No one ever wants to be accused of being a Negative Nancy, but it can actually be a plus when planning an event. By anticipating the worst case scenarios (within reason, of course), you can problem solve and communicate backup plans to your team well ahead of time. This can include renting a tent for inclement weather, having blank name tags for last minute attendees, building in extra time on the schedule and hiring security.
5) Keep calm and carry on.
As I mentioned earlier, no matter how thorough your plan is, something unexpected can still pop up. Even if it seems as though everything is going wrong, do your best to avoid letting it show outwardly. Chances are, if you start panicking so will everyone around you. Remain calm and act quickly, and you should be able to maneuver yourself out of almost any situation.
While planning an event can be stressful and at times, exhausting, the satisfaction and pride from a job well done make it all worth it. The last piece of event planning wisdom I’ll leave with you is from Sunnyside’s plant technical manager and cheese master Tom Rouleau who reminded me that above all; make sure to have enough food for everyone.
(Special thanks to Bear Trade Show, Cliff’s Septic Tank Service, Country Gentleman, Frost Me Sweet, and Roy’s Audio Visual for your services!)
In case you missed it, here’s some great coverage of the Darigold event:
Darigold unveils multi-million dollar plant expansion
Darigold plant in Sunnyside celebrates expansion
