Right across the country for a while now events have been making a comeback and people are coming back to events.  But no event symbolises this return more than this year’s Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix!  The Formula 1 Australia Grand Prix was run 108 weeks after the 11th hour cancellation of the 2020 event.  The Grand Prix, which may have been buoyed by the Netflix effect of Drive to Survive, was the hottest ticket in town with almost 420,000 attending over the four days and 128,000 race goers attending the final day of the event.

There is other good news in Melbourne, with the announcement this week that the 2026 Commonwealth Games will be held across regional Victoria with the opening ceremony to be held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.  The games will be held 20 years after the 2006 Commonwealth Games which was a huge success.  In the meantime, Melburnians are feasting on a huge number of events with Melbourne International Comedy Festival taking centre stage with hundreds of shows across dozens of venues.  Hamilton and Moulin Rogue continue to wow audiences, and Crowded House taking to the stage at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl and exhibitions of Gabriel Chenal at the National Gallery of Victoria closing in April and Elvis: Direct from Graceland

Further north the Sydney Royal Easter Show celebrated in style with a Royal visitor with Princess Anne officially opening the bicentennial show, only to be marred by the end of the weekend with a large brawl leaving one youth dead, another injured and another in custody and in another serious incident when a four-year-old was left unrestrained on a ride. The ride was subsequently shut down pending an investigation by Safework NSW.

Great Southern Nights is coming to a close after three weeks of reigniting the NSW live music scene and quite literally getting the show back on the road with a number of regional performances.

Sydneysiders are also experiencing The Phantom of the Opera on a harbour stage in not only a spectacular location but in what we have come to know as a very safe COVID experience.

And finally Bluesfest will make a triumphant return over Easter despite two years of shutdowns and the Bluesfest site being inundated with flood waters during the most recent devastating weather events in the Northern Rivers area.

Right around the country things are happening – the Brisbane Cycling Festival, over in the west The Wiggles are back and in Alice Springs, Parrtjima 2022 — A Festival in Light, Parrtjima is a free authentic Aboriginal light festival.  And even better than the Formula 1, the Birdsville Races made its triumphant return on April 10/11.

All around the country people are coming out and enjoying events and event freelancers, organisers and suppliers are settling into the new normal.  But unfortunately it seems the industry is lurching from one crisis to another with staff shortages now the next major challenge facing the industry.

Hospitality venues around the country are struggling for staff, some major event venues are turning away business and the demand for event is outstripping the industry’s capability to deliver capable staff.  At the start of the footy season the MCG was making headlines for all the wrong reasons, queues a mile long with many of the catering outlets shut due to hospitality shortages.

Indications are the problem is not going away in the short term with the National Skills Commission monthly vacancy report showing there were 269,700 jobs advertised in February – an increase of 9,300 jobs from January.  The current rhetoric in the Federal election campaign seems to be more about creating jobs than finding and skilling people up to work in the jobs that are currently unfilled.  And at the same time industry representatives have noted great difficulties hiring event managers with any experience.  It begs the question where have all the event workers gone and what does this mean for the events industry?

Here are the 5 top issues to look out for…

1. Staff shortages are putting pressure on all parts of event delivery and operations.  You may need to make some smart choices about what event elements are essential and what you need to let go.  Make sure these choices and staff shortages don’t lead to shortcuts in managing event details, training new staff or any element of your operations relating to health and safety. 

We think this is going to be the biggest challenge with the exodus of experienced qualified staff from the industry and the remaining increased requirements related to COVID continue to put stress on operations.  Where experience staff could spot a health and safety issue a mile off, inexperienced staff will need training, guidance and supervision to make sure nothing is missed.  You might need to use some external training support to take some of this load.  There are many options to choose from, here is an example of online courses for health and safety and also emergency management. SAFETYINDUCT – Web-Based Learning Space

2. Managing customer expectations will be an essential communication requirement, although don’t expect that will make any great difference as customers don’t appear to be very forgiving now as staff shortages impact other industries as well and add to the frustration many are feeling in the community.     

Customers are different somehow.  The COVID years have done nothing to improve the mood of some customers, the additional rules, lack of staff and not being out so much of the past couple of years means that customers and team members are not “match fit” and that is making challenging customer service situations even more challenging.  Setting the team up for success rather than failure will help you here.  Review your policies and procedures and remove any unnecessary roadblocks for customers or staff.  Once again think about some customer service training or support for your team.

3. Flexible cancellation policies are here to stay because COVID is here to stay for a while longer, and as a result so are flexible refund and exchange policies.  Think about how you can use these policies for positive brand development and yield management.  Your marketing team many need to work a bit harder to fill those seats.  If they don’t already check if your Ticketing provider is enabling self-service to reduce workload for your team and issues for the customer, if not it might be time to start looking for another provider.  Fevre Tickets is a Melbourne based company with this functionality already in place for example.

4. Despite the energy of having people attend in person events being what many of us aspire to, online events still have their place, either completely online or hybrid events which means that event planners need to have all the necessary skills to deliver online and in person events.  Once again, the delivery of these events will be dependent on the availability of staff or contractors with these skills, finding people with AV skills is one of the greatest challenges for event organisers as many have left the industry for more secure work.  Event delivery is not the only challenge, with data safety for personal information collected from event attendees a key issue, checking your IT protocols and ensuring the security of attendee data is essential for event organisers in this space.  If you are doing online or hybrid events making online events bigger, better, and more informative and entertaining than ever will be on top of the to do list for these event planners.

5. Training and great leadership skills are more important than ever. With the lack of experience in the industry getting new people up to an acceptable competency level is going to be a key priority for event organisers and suppliers.   Read our blog on building a learning culture for more information.

If you are a leader, it is important to understand you are being watched all the time by your team, they are looking for you to lead by example, to live the culture of the organisation but also to watch and learn from you about how to handle difficult situations.  If that is not in your skill set then it’s time to do some personal development yourself, none of us are perfect, showing your team you are willing to learn some new skills and develop your expertise is a great way to create a learning culture where the team and the organisation can thrive.

What most people do in their careers is to go to university, get a job and then stop learning.  Stop learning and you stop growing.  If you are reading this article you are not most people, you know that challenging your ideas with new learning and peer discussions will open up future opportunities that you would never discover by doing the same thing every day.

Does your organisation have a learning culture?  If culture is defined as ideas, customs and social behaviour of a society then organisational culture is intrinsically linked to each and every person within an organisation.   In relation to learning and development a positive view and an ingrained custom must be supported and modelled by all levels of the organisation including senior managers.   

Lately I have been delivering organisational training including building resilience, growing emotional intelligence, leadership, effective time management and challenging conversations.  Whilst there is a good gender, cultural and age balance almost exclusively the attendees are not in leadership positions.  This would indicate that whilst the organisation supports development, the senior managers are not modelling the behaviour when it comes to self-development.

This may not be surprising, perhaps those in more senior positions have formal qualifications and feel they can hone their skills in daily practice. I thought that too until my learners started to share some of their experiences.  It would appear in some circumstances, leaders are providing training to staff to mask the leader’s own deficiencies.  One example being an organisation where staff were stressed by organisational changes and having difficulty coping.   Instead of the organisation’s leadership group dealing with the underlying issue of ineffective change management strategies, employees were sent off to resilience training.  In other examples learners have described poor management strategies, overwork and under resourcing.

Organisations have a competitive edge when the encourage and foster a culture of learning and development. The worth of learning includes staff feeling more valued and engaged with the organisation, there is also increased productivity in the long term with improved skills and knowledge. The permission to learn and develop gives employees an opportunity to seek new and innovative ways to achieve the organisation’s vision. Supporting employee’s development strengthens the trust between employees and leaders.

But why do leaders recognise the importance of this development for their employees but not themselves?  There are three main barriers for leaders.  

1. The main excuse is a lack of time, they are so busy they can’t give themselves a break to focus on their own development.  This is where the leader needs to step back and ask themselves is their lack of leadership skills causing some of the issues they are facing and could focus on developing these skills have longer term benefits than just getting the job done. 

2. Some leaders may think leadership training is below them and there is an expectation they are already proficient in these areas and don’t need leadership development.   This is the delusional leader who thinks these issues are because of knowledge gaps of their staff rather than their own.

3. Organisational culture.  Either there is no commitment to learning and development or perhaps worse it has a “tick the box” attitude where employees are sent off to training to spend the training budget without an understanding or belief in the benefits of learning and development.

Effective leaders recognise they have knowledge or skill gaps and then they will fill those gaps so they can build career flexibility as they progress from one job to the next. At each step of their leadership journey, they should take the time to focus on honing those skills for their organisation, their employees and themselves.

A real culture of learning and development needs to be genuinely created and supported at all levels of the organisation.  Management need to model their commitment to personal development and learning so that everyone in the organisation sees that learning and development is valued and without it the organisational vision may remain out of reach.

As the events industry struggles with the challenges of staff shortages and a people with knowledge and experience moving out of the industry to find more stable work, now more than ever a learning culture is essential in event and hospitality organisations and where possible it needs to be fast tracked as new people come on board.  Here are some examples of training processes that you can use either for yourself or your team.

Re-enforcing the basics, understanding, and working on areas for improvement across of the fundamentals. 

Immersive learning,learning on the job lets learners fully immerse themselves in the experience.  To ensure its effectiveness though you must be able to provide structure around the learning and measure the level of skills and knowledge prior to the learning experience and afterwards.  The most effective way of doing this is through questions and demonstrations.  Make a list of all the things the employee must know and be able to do to be proficient in the task given.  Check the list off when they can demonstrate the skills or the knowledge.

Structured work groups where experienced staff are working with less experienced staff, watching and learning is an effective way for your new team members to come to understand “this is how we do things here” without direct instruction.  It’s also a good way for people to pick up bad habits so make sure your more experienced staff are complying with policies and procedures before you let them lead the way.  

Event or hospitality case studies provide practical, real industry examples that can translate management theory into applicable skills.  This is a great way for people to examine issues in a safe theoretical way before being needing to make real decisions in a live environment.

Peer-learning groups create an environment where peers can participate in knowledge sharing, collaboration and feedback, creating an environment with a powerful and personal experience that drives learning and builds effective teams.

Individual Guidance increases self-awareness and strengthens people’s capacity for learning.  Guidance is used here instead of feedback which is backward looking and often has a negative connotation as feedback is most often used in a negative way.  Guidance is giving people advice which is generally more specific than feedback and more actionable.  Sure, it’s good to know if you are doing something wrong by getting feedback, but it is much more useful to get some guidance on how you can do things better in the future.

Reflection allows time to place learnings in a broader context and identify issues and establish the way forward.  Giving people the permission and space for reflection is a great way to embed the learning and see positive results from the learning process.

Deciding What your Event is all about…

Event Scope

The event “what” happens after in depth planning and stakeholder discussions.   After developing the original concept plan which may be altered after the feasibility stage, now is when you finalise the event concept and each individual element.  

This is now the time to create an event scope.  An event scope helps to make clear what is being produced and delivered.  It can be very detailed, but one page may be enough.    It may contain the following:

• An event description
• List of each element
• Task list to deliver each element
• Roles and responsibilities of the main contributors
• List of stakeholders
• Draft schedule or milestone dates
• Basic assumptions (that may change over time)
• A budget summary

Event Description

Your event description is your “elevator pitch”.  It is the way you describe your event in a concise manner so all involved have a clear understanding of the event vision and what you intend on delivering.

Project Management Approach

A good way to make sure you get everything done is to use a project management approach.   It is not as complicated as project managing the construction of a building for example but following some of the same approaches can help simplify the planning and delivery of events.  

A project management tool that may be helpful is a work breakdown chart this is one way of applying project management theories to events.  As you can see from the diagram the work breakdown chart simplifies the tasks required to complete an activity and the activities required to achieve one of the objectives set in the event plan.  

Budget

The event scope will be controlled by the event budget so having and understanding and control over the event budget is essential for a successful event.  Unfortunately, when running events things don’t always go to plan and extra spending often required so make sure when setting the budget, you get quotes for anything you need to buy or hire and then add in 15-20% extra as a contingency.    If you don’t spend the contingency, then that’s great but you also know it’s there if things get a little tight. 

Costs to consider

The clearer you are about the costs before the event the calmer you should be, it also might be a good idea to set up approval processes if you are not the only person spending the money to make sure you know about purchases as they happen, and you can manage the budget accordingly. 

Use this spreadsheet as a guide and transfer to downloaded event budget spreadsheet.

Marketing

Events are “experiences” and therefore are marketed in a different way to a product.  There is nothing tangible the event attendee can take away apart from photos and souvenirs so when marketing the event, it is up to the event marketer to give people a real understanding of the event experience.  

Be very clear about your ideal customer, the more you understand your customer the more likely your event will appeal to them.  Some questions to ask about your customers:

Understanding your ideal customer helps identify the benefits of attending your event and use these insights to create a desire to attend. 

When you are identifying your customer, try to expand you event audience and think about other customer segments that might not immediately come to mind.

Customers

Remember the whole idea about running events is to give attendees a great experience.  

People want to feel connected, to each other, to a cause, to an experience.  Event managers are in a hugely privileged position they get to craft and deliver some amazing experiences for people.   Events provide people with an opportunity to get away from the realities for life for a couple of hours, when you put the customer in the very centre of everything you do when planning and delivering your event you are guaranteed a success.

Pricing

There are a number of different ways to come up with a price for your event.  

1. Breakeven – how many tickets do you need to sell to cover your costs
2. Stakeholder testing – what will people pay for the event
3. Similar events – what are other people charging for their events

If capacity of your venue an issue, then you can charge more because of the scarcity of available seats, if capacity is no issue, then setting a cheaper price may help increase the number of attendees. 

The most important consideration with pricing is that people get value for money.  Customers are savvy, you may be able to scam people the first time but never again.

Throughout history our communities have come together to celebrate, to learn, to enjoy theatre, music or sport. 

Event management therefore is as old as civilised society however it remains a small industry of unique individuals who have a huge range of skills and who at times have to work under an enormous strain to ensure that the “show must go on”; people who forego their own weekends, nights and public holidays to ensure the enjoyment of others.   That said it is so much fun.  

One of the most challenging elements of event management is focus!  Events are time specific therefore you don’t get the gift of time, all the way through the process you will choose to complete one activity over another competing activity.  Sometimes these will be choices you make and other times they will be forced upon you by suppliers or circumstance. 

But before you do all of that you need to get your event off the ground.  You may not need all of what follows to get your event off the ground but thinking about the event vision, event concept, creating event goals, knowing how to pitch your event and whether your event is feasible will certainly increase the chance of your event being a success!

Writing a vision for your event

Let’s talk about vision – why are you running your event? 

Great events are about the bigger picture.    Ask these questions…

• Why is the event being held?

• What will engage your audience?

• What do they want to hear, to see, to smell?

• What will make them lean in for more, get them off their devices and shush the person sitting next to them? 

Events are about make an emotional connection and you need to be very clear about what you are trying to achieve.  Is it to raise money, give back to the community or celebrate an important event in your life?  The Why is critical to the eventual outcome. 

People do and buy things that make them feel good.   Your event must tap into something special inside each of your attendees.  A good example of this is if you are running a school fete.  A great way to connect with the attendees is to get their kids involved.  Parents love seeing their kids in the spotlight!

A vision creates understanding about what you are trying to achieve, the purpose of the event and the principles that drive your decision making along the way.

Sometimes you will be the event manager not the event creator so if you are it is even more important to understand why the event exists, this understanding will drive everything you do and help you connect with volunteers, suppliers, customers and any other stakeholders.

Sometimes it might seem a bit of an overkill to create a vision for your event, however, with all of the competing priorities you will face when creating and managing an event along with everything else in your work and personal life the vision will keep you anchored in what you want to achieve.  When you feel a little lost come back to the vision and remind yourself why you began the event in the first place.

It’s important that your vision is simple to understand, to communicate, to inspire.  It should be short and easy to remember for you and your employees.  It needs to be aligned to the organisational or personal values and it should be ambitious, so it challenges yourself and others.

Ask

• Why is the event being held?

• What are your personal or organisational values? 

These will underpin everything you do when managing the event.

Crafting an Event Concept

It doesn’t matter how big or small your event is, all events start from an idea, a concept.  Once you have created your vision it is time to craft the event concept.  The event concept is the way you describe the event.    It may be a community fete, an outdoor festival, food and wine festival, an auction, a trivia night, a sporting event, a wedding, the list goes on and on. 

Event concepts can change over time as you get more information from stakeholders and you understand the environment in which the event will be held, so don’t get too caught up if the concept changes over time, as long as you can connect it back to the event vision that is ok.  

To come up with some event concepts you can use the thought starters following to work through some of your ideas.

3 Ideas that suit this Event Type

• 3 Crazy Event Ideas

• What is expected of this type of event?

• Based on other events what could I do more of?

• Based on other events what could I do less of?

• What would make this event different from other like events?

Event Goals

Once you have your vision and concept you can then create goals to keep you on track during the planning process. Event goals will also provide you with the basis of you post event review.  Checking back against goals that were set at the beginning of the process will help show how well the event performed and whether it should be done again in the future.

A straightforward way of setting goals is to use the SMART model.  Are your goals Specific, Meaningful, Achievable, Relevant and Timely?

Six goals should be enough.

Your Event Pitch

To get your event off the ground you may have to pitch your event vision and concept to a committee, your boss or sponsors, this is a crucial stage of the event. 

Some of the things you will need to consider are your own presentation ability, can you speak clearly and concisely to a group of people?  You may want to learn more about presentation skills.

Make sure you understand your audience, what is in it for them listening to your pitch, how will the event benefit them?

A school committee for example may want to understand the costs of conducting the event and the benefits to the school before giving approval.  A sponsor on the other hand will want to hear the benefits to their brand by being involved. 

When pitching match your tone with the event, if it’s a fun event your pitch should be upbeat, if it’s a serious event be serious, dress professionally.  Be ready for questions you may be asked by your stakeholders and make sure you have an answer.

Is Your Event Feasible?

After your successful pitch, you may need to conduct a feasibility study.  This is when you provide more detail about the event including the concept, the activities, the timing and the venue. 

A feasibility study helps show if the event concept practical and if it can be delivered by the resources available.  Resources include available money, people and time.   A feasibility study will also help you determine if the event will make more money than it will cost to run.

A formal feasibility study includes the following subject headings –

• executive summary – This section is no more than one page long and summarises all of the information in the rest of the report
• event description – details all your decisions to date about the event, it would include the event vision, goals and general concepts.  You would also include a suggested event date or range of dates in this section
• environmental analysis – details the environment in which the event is to be held, also list the potential environmental impacts.  These maybe things such as noise, waste, traffic management and other event arrangements that may impact on the surrounding environment
• marketing strategy – here you would detail the potential purchasers of event tickets and sponsors.  The marketing strategy details how the event manager will go about engaging with the marketplace
• organisational strategy – how the organisation will be able to meet the task requirements of the event.  It will detail what current organisational resources are available to work on the event and also what additional resources, if any, are required
• implementation schedule – the important time frames you have identified for the event.  It will include important milestones
• financial projections – all known event costs and those assumed or estimated costs.  It will also include assumptions about sales and attendances at the event, these projections should be as realistic as possible
• findings and recommendations – a summary of the information included in the rest of the document in the form of a finding or a recommendation as to whether the organisation can confidently proceed with the running of the event

It may not be necessary to do a formal feasibility study; a discussion may be enough to consider if the event concept is feasible. 

Event managers need to be the calmest person in the room because things can and do go wrong, by being clear about your event vision and concept, setting realistic goals, pitching your event to get the support you need and finally making sure your event is feasible will put you in a much better position to deal with issues as they arise and still put on a fantastic event because of you preparation and planning.

Throughout history our communities have come together to celebrate, to learn, to enjoy art, theatre, music or sport. 

Event management therefore is as old as civilised society however it remains a small industry of unique individuals who have a huge range of skills and who at times have to work under an enormous strain to ensure that the “show must go on”; people who forego their own weekends, nights and public holidays to ensure the enjoyment of others.   That said it is so much fun.  

Over the past two years event managers around the world have been halted from sharing their skills with the world, and what the world needs now is to come together (safely) and have a good time.  So to take some of the stress out of event management, break it down into seven steps – why, what, when, where, how, who and how well.  Following this process can help what seems like an overwhelming list of things to do become more achievable.

The seven steps process while simple, can really help identify what needs to be done to create and manage a great event.  It doesn’t matter if you are someone volunteering to run your first school fete or sporting club family day or your cousin’s wedding, a product launch or a conference by using the seven steps you will have all you need to manage your event.

One of the most challenging elements of event management is focus!  Events are time specific therefore you don’t get the gift of time, all the way through the process you will choose to complete one activity over another competing activity.  Sometimes these will be choices you make and other times they will be forced upon you by suppliers or circumstance.  It helps to keep track of each part of each step, using a tool like Monday.com or trello.com or your own checklists or the event manager’s favourite tool a spreadsheet!! Any of these tools will help you keep on top of the huge number of decisions you must make and tasks you must complete or delegate.

Event managers need to be the calmest person in the room because things can and do go wrong, by planning and using the seven steps you will be in a much better position to deal with issues as they arise and still put on a fantastic event.  Each step will be outlined in our series of blogs so keep heading back to EventMploy.com to make sure you cover each step.

Before you start let’s get the creative juices flowing by thinking about events you may have been to in the past.

Think about the 3 Best Events You Have Attended

Event 1 ____________________________

What made it great? (list three things)

What would have made it greater? (list three things)

Event 2 ____________________________

What made it great? (list three things)

What would have made it greater? (list three things)

Event 3 ____________________________

What made it great? (list three things)

What would have made it greater? (list three things)

Read our other blogs to find out more about each step.

Over my time in the events industry, I think I have hired well over 2,500 people.  This is a mix of casual event staff, full time employees and contract positions. Over the 30 years I have been doing it not much has changed in relation to how important a CV and cover letter are for people getting a foot in the door.  Even if I have worked with someone or they have been recommended I will still ask them for a CV in the very least.

CV writing and/or updating can be a tedious and scary job when starting your search for a new gig, especially if it’s your first time or if it has been a long time since you have actively looked for a job. Unfortunately, it is one of those jobs you just must do to give yourself a chance at landing that next gig.

Your CV and cover letter if that has been requested is where the employer makes their first impressions of you and whether you are right for the role or their organisation. 

Knowing how to write a CV and how to highlight the skills and experience needed for the role will help you stand out from the other applicants and get on the shortlist for an interview.

What most people do is write a CV and only update it when they are looking for a new job, and because we use this CV for all our job applications, we don’t vary it, just attach it with the cover letter and hope for the best.  If you are doing this then you are missing a perfect opportunity to demonstrate to the employer how your experience and skills fit perfectly to the job they are recruiting.

Employers don’t need to know everything you’ve done in your career just the things that are relevant to that role.  If you are just starting out and haven’t got much experience to write about then put everything in, this will indicate to a potential employer that you are at least trying to get some experience.

The Importance of a good CV

In the events industry you are probably being hired by the person you will work with, and they are most likely in the middle of planning an event when they need to bring more people on board.  They don’t have time to read through irrelevant information in your CV so keep it brief and to the point.

But remember this is your chance to let a potential employer get to know you and its as important for an employer to suit you as it is for you to suit them so don’t “guild the lily” as the saying goes, be honest about your skills and experience. 

Let them know what value you will bring to the event or organisation and whether you have what is required to be successful in the role.  Make sure your CV is clear about how you can do this and leave the hiring manager is no doubt that you are worth an interview.

Here are our tips for how to get started.  If you don’t know where to start with your CV there are thousands of free samples available online.

10 CV Essentials

1. Contact details – Your name, phone number, email address (make sure it’s a professional sounding one) and LinkedIn profile link.  Make sure your contact details are easy to find on your CV.
2. Professional summary – In a couple of paragraphs describe your experience. Summarise your values, your achievements and what value you can bring to the role.  If you are replying to a mass job advert they here is a good place to use keywords from the job advert to help get you through the automated selection algorithms.
3. Skills summary – List the skills, competencies and systems that are most relevant to the job. Use those keywords here as well.
4. Achievements – List your key career achievements, not what you were responsible for – what you actually achieved.  It is great here if you can back this up with facts or numbers.
5. Work experience –
   1. The most detailed section of your CV, with positions listed from the most recent.  Include employer names, positions and primary responsibilities.
   2. Because we work in a gig economy if you have done the same role for a number of organisations you could list them all in one section.  For example, if you have had experience as a stage manager you could list all the shows here and your experience as an event manager could be in another section.
   3. Wherever possible and relevant demonstrate your achievements with facts and figures.  Once again not what you were responsible for, what you achieved.  For example “delivered a three day festival on budget with 95% satisfaction rating from event attendees. 
6. Education, certifications & qualifications – list the qualification, year of completion, the institution’s name and relevant subjects studied.
7. References – always note referees on request.  This way they will need to tell you they will be contacting your referees, this will give you a chance to pick the right person to talk about your suitability for the role and also call them and explain the job and ideally what you would like the referee to highlight.
8. Format – make sure it is in a well-recognised format such as Word or pdf.  Make sure if you export to pdf that you check the formatting prior to sending as sometimes it is not exactly the same as the original version.
9. Final check – Don’t forget to spell check your CV, in the event industry we need people with exceptional attention to detail, if you aren’t checking your CV for errors I can only assume your work will be as sloppy.
10. Get it out there – Finally, attach or submit your CV and cover letter if needed. At this stage you would not need to provide certificates or qualifications until you get an interview or the job.

In this short video EventMploy’s founder, Lisa Price talks about three event trends that we are now seeing in the events industry. What event trends are you seeing?

Five tips of a corporate event planner

Are you creating corporate events for your clients? As we begin to see the return of corporate events our attention needs to focus on how we can make our corporate events more memorable.  Our post-COVID world is so different from the one we left behind.  Our events need to be different as well.  There is no doubt that most humans like to interact socially and maintain connection. During the world wide pandemic we missed the shared interactions with people and places. Yes, we did have conference calls but there’s only so many one person can deal with.  As life is slowly returning, we look forward to having memorable events and experiences.  I know I won’t take those social occasions for granted again.

Events can be a great challenge to pull off but can be rewarding.  It doesn’t matter whether the occasion is small or large – if you get the little things right your event will stand out from the crowd.  Here are five tips to make your next event engaging and memorable.

Here are five tips to make your corporate event memorable and engaging.

1. Know what your client wants from the event

Understanding your client, their audience and what is the purpose of their event is the first step in planning a memorable event.  What are your client’s values, mission, and their event goals?  Who are their target audience?  Once you know this you can start to create your event.

Using your experience, you can take the client’s vision and match the concept to align with the needs and wants of the guests.  Matching the format of the event to the event purpose is the first step.  Regardless of whether the purpose is to provide information or lead generation or promote a new product or service the best way to make your event memorable is to entertain the guests.  Having fun is not just for children.  Adults also like to have fun and motivation levels are increased when our minds and bodies are stimulated by fun, interesting and novel experiences.  

With that in mind though we need to make sure the event aligns with the event goals, the company brand, and the guest demographic because fun in the wrong context can be disastrous making your event memorable for all the wrong reasons.  For example, if you are creating an event for a younger demographic remember this is a generation who are well informed about sustainable living and healthy lifestyles, they will want to see an event that matches their values.  You might be able to achieve this with choices of sustainable event consumables and less focus on alcohol at social events.  Regardless of the event demographic, you need to think about the vision and purpose of what the event and how you will match this with the needs and wants of the guests.  Start with the end in mind and create experiences that tick the box for both the client and their customers.

2. Craft a memorable theme 

To say that creating an event theme is challenging is an understatement.  After reading the first tip you know we are trying to satisfy the needs of both our client and their customers.  This is not an easy task.  And if you have been working in the industry for a while you will know client expectation is not always matched by the client budget!

Using the art of creative thinking is a key skill for an event creator.  Many of us think creativity is something you are born with, like most things it can be a learned skill.  Having a creative process will help, you could use brainstorming to come up with some new ideas, storytelling or storyboarding to formulate and communicate the ideas to your client and then create parameters around what you must deliver, this will help you think about other more creative ways to get to the end point.

Once you’ve decided on the theme, look at how it can be conveyed through all the event elements.  The more elements you include the more memorable it will be.  You could use event invitations as a teaser, and you can tell the story about the theme through the marketing strategy.

Don’t underestimate the importance of decor to create the right environment for your event.  Décor support the creation of the right atmosphere, use shapes, structures, and colour to continue to support the theme within the venue. 

If your event is catered remember the event menu is great chance to support your theme, if it is a community-based event highlight local producers or a sustainable event could have a menu featuring only sustainable food elements.

If you’re on budget use your creative thinking to come up with some innovative ways to craft the theme.  Taste, sight, and hearing are the human senses normally stimulated at events but think about our other senses to help you create a more memorable experience, could you use smell or touch in your event concept to mix it up a little?

3. Use experienced event suppliers

You don’t need to deliver the event on your own.  This is an industry that relies on suppliers to help you create memorable events.  As you might be unsure about how to execute a particular staging effect for your event, look for a specialist supplier as they will have the expertise you need give you the desired outcome and options which you may not have considered.  As they have additional experience with other events, they usually have connections with venues as well which will help smooth the way through the event process.

When looking for a supplier, find one that with experience and knowledge with the type of event you’re hosting.  Making enquiries takes time but it will help achieve the outcome of your event.  Over time you will develop a list of preferred suppliers who you will go to for all your event needs.  Make the most of the many social networks within the event industry to get recommendations or leads about who can best help you achieve your vision.

Working with a specialist supplier will give you peace of mind as you can leave them to the area of their expertise and then move on to the other aspects of the event you need to arrange.

4. Create a memorable atmosphere

The best way to create a memorable experience is to deliver an event that removes any distraction between the attendee and whoever or whatever they have come to experience.  Unfortunately for a lot of events what guests remember is that the food was cold, or they couldn’t hear the speakers.  Your aim as an event creator is to remove all those distractions with a well planned and executed event. 

Attention to detail will always be necessary in delivering a memorable event.  Have you thought through the customer journey from the minute they hear about the event until well after the event has finished?  What is their first interaction with the event, how do they get to the event – whether it is a face to face or virtual event, what will they experience, how comfortable will they be, will they feel safe, will their needs be met, how will they interact with other people and what will they do when the event is over.  By asking these questions you can meticulously plan each stage of the customer journey.  The more effort you make with the planning, the less effort rectifying issues or placating unhappy clients.

5. Measure How Well

We cannot improve and grow as event managers unless we measure each event we produce and identify what went well and what didn’t go well.  It’s a good idea to get this information from all our stakeholders – our client, their customers, the supplier, and the venue.  After obtaining feedback from each stakeholder, you will be able to identify what we should do more of, what we should do less, what we should keep doing and what we should stop doing.

One of the best ways to obtain event feedback is by observation.  By being actively engaged in the delivery of your event you will see what your client is seeing, you will be able to experience what the guests are experiencing.  Aim to be so organised that on event day you leave space to walk around your event and collect primary feedback during the event delivery.  This information will be like collecting nuggets of gold to help you with your next event creation and plans.

By completing this process, you will develop a continuous improvement program and the ability to create more memorable events as a process rather than just by good luck!

Unlike being in the product business there is no second chance with events, and how each person experiences in their own unique interaction with the event, you won’t make all of the people happy all of the time.  The more your work at your craft the easier it will be to create memorable events that make a difference in the lives of the guests and a satisfied client who will keep coming back for your expert services.

Event professionals; here are the job application tips you need…

Are you looking for a job in the event industry? We know how painful it is to even start writing an application (procrastination, anyone?), so we’d like to help you out with some hints for building a cover letter and by providing resume tips which will make prospective employers think, ‘I must have a conversation with this person!’

Applications

As someone with a background in events, you’d be aware that as events roles are more specific than those in other industries, they require precise descriptions of your achievements.  For example, if you’ve had a career as a stage manager, you should list the events you’ve worked on, the size of the audience, and the challenges you’ve encountered along the way and successfully overcome. For an employer, a solid example of an achievement in the world of events counts for a lot and makes your application real to them.

Below are a number of things to be mindful of when preparing a good application:

Don’t include photos or your date of birth.

Ensure that your online presence is up to date.

Most employers use automated systems to sort through applications. The keywords you use should suit the job advertisement.

The scattergun approach is out: it’s vital to tailor your resume and cover letter to each application.

Put yourself in the role of the employer and take the time to work out what they would need from an employee.

Dot points in your resume make it a quicker and easier read for an employer.

List your achievements alongside responsibilities. If possible, make the achievements measurable, for example: ‘reduced expected installation time by 3 hours.’

Tell the truth, but tailor the description to make it attractive and relevant to the employer.

Proofread your application and ask someone else to have a look, too.

Follow up your submitted application with a phone call to the employer. It not only makes your name memorable when the employer is sifting through many applications, but gives you a chance to demonstrate your politeness and enthusiasm.

Now… interview time!

The event industry is largely personality-based, reliant on teamwork and great communication with your colleagues in order to successfully deliver the event. Whether you are a stage manager or a part of the lighting crew, being able to communicate what is needed to perform your task properly is critical.

Although the phrase ‘emotional intelligence’ is rarely used in the recruitment space, it pretty much sums up what you need to be a good event staff member. Being able to achieve effective harmony when engaged in highly stressful situations is an invaluable attribute. Therefore, if you can demonstrate likeability, a consensual approach to work, and a touch of humour in an interview with your prospective employer, you will already be ahead of the game. A senior event manager does not want to be managing personality clashes while bringing together a stressful event, so demonstrate trustworthiness, cheerfulness and reliability at the first possible moment.

During the interview, make sure you discuss how you roll with difficulties or challenges and provide a number of examples. A good and thorough answer to this question is more vital in an event industry interview than the majority of other industries. General preparation such as gathering knowledge of the event, or similar events, will also stand you in excellent stead and assist you in asking knowledgeable questions about the job.

Remember, the event industry is a small world, and reputation counts a lot. Obtaining jobs through word-of-mouth concretely demonstrates your desirability as an employee. Having great referees proves your worth and also gives you a massive leg up.

Finally, the biggest tip.  Show ENTHUSIASM (yes, with capital letters!). There is very little that works as well as hearing an interviewee’s keenness and excitement  about being part of an event.  Don’t worry about being cool, be eager!

We hope this has given you confidence and guidance when applying for jobs in the event industry. Start using these resume tips today.

Needing to write a great CV? Read our blog 10 CV Essentials for Event Profs.

Good luck!

Spread the word about your event

Spread the word about your event A lot has changed for events since 2020, as social interplay in society was impacted by COVID-19.

Virtual interactions grew in prominence as people stuck in home confinement used technology for social connection.

Many of us in the event industry had to adapt swiftly, augmenting technology to create unique, immersive virtual experiences for attendees.

This year will be a journey of recovery and rebuilding for the event industry, and we at EventMploy are excited to be on this journey with you and provide you with the tools to efficiently manage your events. 

In 2021 we expect to see a consolidation of event technologies, with greater emphasis on creating micro-experiences.

We also anticipate the rise of hybrid events as we move back toward in-person events again, whilst maintaining an element of the virtual component.

To start with, the soirees may be smaller than before but they will not lack charm, style, or affluence.

Whether you are planning a small wedding, or a sporting or business event, there is so much that happens behind the scenes.

As an organiser, your event begins with establishing  goals and objectives; this is followed by organising the date, venue, budget and freelancers.

Other vital elements involved are the creation of a master plan, finding the right sponsors and partnerships, creating a publicity plan, and finally determining the preparations for the day.

Every step of this process is critical to the success of the event. Even the minutest detail matters.

A professional event planner juggles both the creative and management side of the occasion, which includes both budgeting and marketing.

Here are the top creative ways to increase awareness and exposure for your physical event:

• Event discovery sites can help you reach urban audiences who are always on the lookout for the next exciting event in their neighborhood.
• It goes without saying that these platforms can really boost your reach and sales. Most event-goers rely on such sites to build their itinerary.
• Social media is probably one of the most powerful tools to market your event,
• and it requires surprisingly little effort. You can use platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to spread awareness.
• Facebook, with its advanced features, allows you to target ads toward people who have viewed your post but have not purchased tickets.
• This re-marketing tactic is truly effective in convincing people who are interested but are unsure; it’s the little nudge they need to say yes to an event. Instagram ads work similarly.
• Use your social media channels to provide information about the event as well as a platform for ticket sales.
• What better way to engage the audience than to promote your event through a highlight reel.
• Affiliate marketing, more commonly known as influencer marketing, can give your event much-needed clout.
• Influencers carry massive sway over their followers and their recommendations are highly revered by the online community.
• So naturally, collaborating with the right influencers can give you access to their followers and spread the word online.
• Harness social channels to find influencers that align with your brand and use their advocacy to market the event.
• Brand ambassadors can give an unrivaled boost to event awareness and promotion.
• They can be celebrities, influencers, subject matter experts, or popular bloggers.
• Podcasts have witnessed impressive growth in the last few years and are a great medium for promotion.
• Platforms like Spotify rigorously plug podcasts into their audience.
• You can launch your own podcast, or join forces with an existing podcaster as a guest speaker or sponsor.

You might not have the budget to pull off every one of these strategies,

Experiment to find out what works and what doesn’t.

Once you have the right marketing mix in your playbook, you will be able to enact your publicity plan without a hitch.