Step 3: Content

Now that you have decided what you want to achieve and decided on the budget, the next thing to decide is which type of event you will run to achieve your aims.

If you want to launch a product or service, perhaps a launch party is the way to achieve it, whereas if you want to increase your contact list then an informal networking meeting might achieve more and cost less. There's usually more than one way to stage an effective event for any particular purpose. If you're not sure what's possible or looking for inspiration, take a look at some of the example event scenarios in our case studies.

In the real world, getting to this point can be very stressful - here's why, and how to make it as easy as A-B-C ...

As mentioned, there's usually more than one type of event that you could run to achieve a given set of objectives. Equally you could spend more or less lavishly on running basically the same type of event. And lastly you could potentially achieve most of your objectives with a different budget and totally different type of event.

The problem is actually that you have three inter-related variables - let's call them your aims (A), your budget (B) and your content (C) - which makes it quite hard to firm up a cohesive plan.

The trick to make this difficult problem easy to solve is to decide the order of importance of A, B and C by noting which parameters of each are fixed and which you can vary. This enables you to fix one of A, B or C, optimise a second, then the third will then usually be easy to work out.

Let's suppose that you want to get as many of your customers together to hear about your new product. You estimate that 50 people might turn up, and you have been given a budget of up to £500 to stage the event. From this you realise that you can spend a small amount on printing/marketing and need to look for catering with a modest cost per head. There's probably no budget for speakers, so you need to sharpen your persuasive skills and find internal presenters or perhaps people from supplier or partner organisations to put on an attractive show. In this example, Aims were fixed, Budget was optimised and that pointed the way to deciding the details of your Content.

Flexing your content

There are many aspects of the content - what you put in to the event for your attendees - that you can change or adapt. The main thing to consider is the type of experience that you want your attendees to have at your event and what their expectations might be from other events that they are used to attending.

Two very important factors are location and timing. Bear in mind what the budget can afford and the impression that you want to create. If you are thinking about using an hotel meeting room, can you or do you need to decorate it and how much would it cost?

Think about how your delegates will get to the location. Are public transport links good and how frequent? Or if you think that they will use their own cars, is it easy to find and is there plenty of car parking?

Does the timing of your event require an overnight stay, for either you or your attendees? Hotels that specialise in conferences usually have plenty of rooms for everyone, but may limit the proportion of rooms allocated to your event or ask for a large non-refundable deposit to protect against the risk of an empty hotel if you were forced unexpectedly to abort the event at the last moment. Whatever you decide, make it clear if you've arranged any special rates and whether you will take care of booking accommodation for your guests, or simply provide relevant information to enable attendees to take care of this themselves?

To give a giveaway or not to give a giveaway?

When it comes to preparing materials to be distributed to delegates and possibly gifts or prizes, there are as many opinions as people you ask - in other words, there is no hard and fast rule. The only real reasons to distribute printed material or gifts are:

1. If it helps the event activities flow more smoothly e.g. use notes and worksheets where there is detailed information to absorb at the time
2. If it helps people remember a positive experience at your event e.g. branded merchandise to keep your name at the forefront of their mind when they are ready to take the next step

Consider how much impact giveaways are likely to have relative to spending your budget on other content aspects, such as their comfort, catering or the information you impart.

Refer back to your aims to ensure that the type of event, location, budget and speaker(s) will meet your expectations.

plusforevents.com helps you to focus on the content your audience wants

• monitor response to specific ad campaigns
• early warning of higher or lower than expected demand
• layout your venue to best accommodate the expected audience

How are others using plusforevents.com?

See our application guides for more information about how it works in

• Professional association meetings
• Sales & marketing seminars
• Training courses
• School plays
• Breakfast seminars
• Internal meetings
• Shareholders’ meetings
• Annual conferences