Finding a Location Part 3

Any successful event must meet the budget. It is important to calculate your budget.

With an open-ended budget, anyone can plan a great event but when your financial resources are limited you must be resourceful and creative. A professional event planner with experience can always plan a great event with any reasonable budget.

Ask yourself these questions:

- Do the venues fall within your budget parameters for space, technical and catering expenses?
- Have you negotiated a favorable rate for services and demonstrated the value your role?
- Have you allowed flexibility in your budget in case line item expenses exceed plan?
- Incorporate what management prefers.

At the end of the day, event planners must present their recommendations to their internal client and obtain approvals.

And finally;

- Will the management team approve my recommendation(s)?

If the answer is no, go back to 'Finding a Location Part 1' in our series and start over. The perfect location may be hard to find but it's there if you keep looking. With all things considered; date(s), budget, availabilities and image simply pick the best location you can afford. If you are not 100% pleased start the process earlier next time, plan accordingly and keep your files, contacts and Database up to date.

Creating the budget is the most critical element of any event. In fact we say the budget is the event. Every event has a budget, or should have a budget and planning one is no easy task.

You can reverse engineer your budget by proclaiming the total amount you have to spend and work backwards with the elements of your event that are essential or you can prioritize the elements of your event putting the least important things (your wish list) at the bottom and shop smart.

We find that reverse budget planning works best when you have the right tools, know your market and have the experience to understand the marketplace you are working in. Being organized is your best asset.

Here is a handy and inexpensive way to help you plan a budget for any sized event. It has many pre-made event templates created by professional event planners and maximizes your efforts. You can also customize the software for your individual needs and it allows you to reverse engineer, create To-do lists, can be exported into excel or emailed and when you are ready you can print everything out and put it all into a binder. We think you'll find this tool invaluable.

Happy planning.

Ref: About.com

Finding a Location Part 2

After you have identified the type of event you are planning and its purpose, several other factors come into play as you find the venue itself.

Here is Part 2... finding the right event space. The venue must have an appropriate space for the type of event an organization plans to hold.

Ask yourself these questions:

- Does the event venue meet the spacial criteria of your program?
- Can the venue accommodate your production, entertainment, A/V, sound, and other technical needs?
- Does the condition of the facility reflect the high standards of your organization?

Step Two

Build a menu. Food & beverage are probably just as important as the business meeting topic itself. Although people don't attend events for the sole purpose of getting a free meal, they do want to leave an event satisfied with a sufficient menu. If this doesn't happen, it's a reputation that will follow the event planner...

Ask yourself these questions:

- Buffet or sit down menu (how much time for the meal on your agenda?)?
- Do any of the attendees have dietary restrictions?
- Will the attendees be pleased with what is being offered?

In our next post we'll share with you how to calculate your budget, incorporating what your managements prefers and the image of your venue matching the corporate culture.

Meanwhile happy planning!

Ref: About.com