Tips on Planning a Low Stress Event
I would like to share some of my learning’s on planning an event in a way that reduces the stress factor. Events can be stressful. As an event planner I definitely know that. I planned a city wide Canada Day Event in Fort McMurray, Alberta a couple years ago, in 6 weeks!!!!!! This type of event should be done in at least 4 months. I think that qualifies me to talk about stress! J I primarily plan events in Alberta (Edmonton and Area and Fort McMurray) but I can plan them anywhere… and this information can be used for any event, anywhere on the planet!! The event can be a community event, a corporate event, a health and wellness event, a retirement party, a music festival… it could be anything.
These are my top 10 recommendations for reducing stress as the planner of an event:
1. Give yourself time!!! It can be surprising how far in advance certain things like permits, securing a location and booking equipment need to be done.
2. Start with making a list of things to do. That will help you wrap your head around what you need to make happen and what order things should be done. This broad picture plan will help you move forward in a realistic way.
3. Secure, permits, location, budget and timelines before you dive into details. If you are told that you are not approved for a permit, after you have already started the marketing, that could be very stressful and also unprofessional.
4. Build yourself out of tasks on the day of. Your time is best used handling the unexpected or answering questions. If you give yourself specific things to do on the day you may find yourself in a stressful situation handling emergencies, and not able to handle the tasks you assigned yourself. There are so many elements to an event, that you need to be able to mobilize and handle unanticipated occurrences on the day.
5. Put plans in writing so that if you are called away on an emergency on the day of the event everyone will know what they are meant to be doing.
6. Build a team if the event is large. Build the team based on people’s strengths and surround yourself with people that are smarter than you are. You are only as strong as the team around you.
7. Be aware of other events going on the same day as yours. This will cut down on any surprises based on attendance.
8. On the day of an event have a list of important phone numbers with you at all times, have a snack and water with you so that you don’t get so caught up in everything that you forget to take care of yourself and have a copy of all important event related documents with you. You will be surprised how often you will need these things!!!!
9. Don’t expect things to go exactly as you have planned them! Expect an adventure, and welcome the challenge. Your attitude towards this will have a huge impact on the success of the event.
10. Have fun. When you plan an event and have fun with it, it will shine through in the level of impact your event will have. J
Happy Planning!!
April Smith