Whether you are organising a small meeting or a large conference, creating an event is a huge task, especially a creative one. No matter how complex or simple, every event requires detailed organisation and planning. From drafting an accurate budget to selling out your creative event, there are several components you should start considering early to make the entire process as stress-free as it can be. Although creative events are different, each having varying budgets, audiences, and goals, several steps are involved in the event creation process to keep it on track and enhance the chances of success. Below is a step by step guide on creating a creative event.
1. Define The Objectives And Goals of The Event
Before you jump into logistics like speakers or venues, you should identify the reason and purpose for creating the creative event. Ensure that you answer this question: what is the ultimate or primary objective for the event? It is why you are creating or planning the event to begin with. Is the creative event seeking to drive some sales, increase brand awareness, or support the launch of a product? Remember, creative events are to leave a lasting impression in an audience’s mind. Hence, determine what you’re looking to achieve and how the event can help you achieve it.
Next, set up the objectives. Whenever planning an event, ensure you include the purposes. The objectives should be realistic and quantifiable. The objectives help you gauge the success of your creative event. With the goals and objectives in place, you can now create the preliminary scope for your creative event. Although not cast in stone, the preliminary event details should include dates, number of attendees, your creative event’s location, and other vital information. Building your preliminary project scope and goals allows you to frame the event and get some buy-in from the leadership.
2. Establish The Budget For Your Event
You must create a budget early in the process of creating your creative event. It helps in clarifying the other aspects of the plan. Establishing a budget also enables you to avert unwanted surprises, such as running out of money for décor. You have a better likelihood of succeeding if you plan your budget early in the process and continue updating it as you make some final touches. This helps you stay close to the creative event creation process. You will revisit the budget as your plan becomes more solid. The line items might undoubtedly undergo some changes, so you should have a fluid budget reflecting any updates and changes you make.
3. Build Your Creative Event Team
Depending on the size of the event, you might need a dedicated team to ensure its success. If you don’t have a team and are building it from the ground up, it is essential to create it early for accountability. The team should report to your project manager, who has access and visibility to your creative event’s moving parts. The team might include people/roles like project manager, show floor/venue, creative designers, scheduling, communication and marketing, sponsorships, check-in, and registration.
Creating the team isn’t enough; the team should be organised. Hence, you should make an event management plan. This is more than a to-do list. It involves having a detailed breakdown of all actions or items that identifies the owners, due dates, completion status, and dependencies. Fortunately, there are several dedicated event management tools like Eventtia.
4. Pick A Date And A Venue
The next two significant considerations for your creative event are the date and venue. Research the venues early. Consider factors like size and accessibility. Remember, the event marketplace is overcrowded. Hence, finding when a venue will be available is essential. Look for a thematic fit, budget fit, and location in the avenue. Is the venue accessible? Are the restrooms conveniently located at the venue? Does the venue have enough lighting, and how are the emergency response teams in that area? These are some of the things you should consider when selecting a venue.
5. Develop Creative Event Branding
The branding of your event, from the theme and event name to the website design, look and feel, set’s the event’s tone. You want to have a strong shining personality with your event. A strong event brand offers a vision and helps steer the event’s direction. The event brand should reflect your brand, but it should also have a brand of its own. Consider how you can weave the event brand with the individual components of the event. The brand typically includes event name, theme, typography, colours, logos, on-site décor, signage, emails, and more. After crafting the event elements above, ensure that you use them across all your platforms, including social media handles, tickets, emails, website, event app, and registration.
6. Plan the Program
As with other things such as budget, set your agenda early. Will there be a keynote speaker in your creative event? Do you have an extra evening or day planned for your sponsors? Will you have a single track of talks or workshops, or will the audience have to choose between various sessions at a time? You will build a higher-level view of the program when answering the preliminary questions above. Remember, your audience might want to know what to expect, and you will be marketing the event. Hence, ensure you have the basic framework of what your creative event should look like. This is also an important selling point for your sponsors.
7. Confirm the Sponsors, Speakers, and Exhibitors
If the creative event is large enough, you might want to invite some exhibitors and sponsors to offset the expenses. You also need to identify the speakers for each session if the creative event is session-based. Compile a list of potential sponsors or exhibitors. Before you reach out, research their services and how they may benefit from making an appearance in your creative event. You will be armed appropriately when selling the idea or inviting them.
8. Identify Your Tech Tools
The event space has benefited a lot from technology. When mapping your creative event, you should identify your technological needs and how you can implement them. Some technologies must be in place before the event’s commencement, while others might hold on closer to the event date. Registration and ticketing, engagement, live streaming, and recording tools are some of the technological tools. You can even subscribe to an all-in-one mobile event application.
9. Creating A Promotional And Marketing Plan
What will you do to attract an audience to the creative event? All the successful events have a promotion and marketing plan to drum up excitement and spread the word. Where do you start? There are many ways to begin marketing your creative event. Goals and objectives, tactics to achieve the goals, and cadence and timelines to achieve the objectives are the vital components of a good marketing plan. You can even perform a mock trial to see whether your creative event is selling as you would have wanted. You can sell the creative event on your social media, cold emails, or even on your website.
10. Determining Your Measurements
Measurements are essential because they tell you how the creative event has performed. Hence, you should also develop the metrics you’ll use to measure that success in creating the innovative event. There are several ways of measuring event success. You can use the data obtained from the event management app, online and social buzz, or event surveys to measure how well your efforts paid off. You can also get insights about improving your creative event by evaluating your performance next time.
Conclusion
Each of the above elements can be combined into an event master plan. Working through each of them helps you create an actionable, strong plan for your creative event. Planning is essential and should begin as early as possible. Use the above step by step guide on creating a creative event and attract enough audience.
