Never leave an event to chance and always try and give yourself more time than you think you’ll need.
For event planning, I like to follow the 5 Ws and one H in this order.
Who, Why, What, How, Where, When
WHO: Using your ICP definition and segments, and customer segments, align your event strategy for the first half of the year accordingly.
WHY: Two parts. 1) Why would people register and attend. What’s the value they’re going to get. 2) Why do you need to host or partner with others to host events. Use your pipeline and revenue targets to set the right event plan. Don’t do it it isolation.
WHAT: The theme and takeaways of the events. What will people learn, get, and talk about after the event.
HOW: The design and run of show of the event. Think event experience, event length, and activating the senses. How can you use an event experience to deliver the what for the why to the right who.
WHERE: The place that will make the event truly be remarkable yet also on budget.
WHEN: Look at the calendar carefully. Should you piggy back off of other events? Are you close to other events?
Use this to help plan each event but also you can use it to organize your overall event calendar.
Which if you haven’t created one yet, do it now.