Never make the mistake of thinking event planning is a solo endeavour.
It takes a team of people working together to design, plan and implement an event worth attending. And many of those teams are backed by boards, executives and other decision-making powerhouses who will either make or break your event.
It is critical to ensure you have their buy-in before you dedicate your time to creating your fantastic event.
Need funding? Volunteers? Contacts? Marketing?
These things are more than merely necessary for your event. Their successful implementation stems from the support you receive from those higher up in your team.
Start there.
Make sure your board or executives genuinely understand the importance of your event. Make sure they know the purpose of what you are trying to achieve. Make sure they are actively on board — not saying yes to say yes — that they are committed to your cause.
Regardless of whether you need to approach your board, executives or manager, there are a few things to keep in mind:
Whether your event is going to be massive or is a small community bingo night, a pitch shows that you are serious about making your event a success and will help you pinpoint problem areas before the questions arise.
This is easy to miss when boards usually see a select few from your team, or those whose support you seek have a traditional chain-of-command. Whoever is going to be responsible for putting the event together needs to be present at the pitch. Period.
Is someone going on holiday? Will you be halfway through planning when someone changes jobs, titles, positions? How can you expect to get buy-in for an event if the team planning it won’t be there to see it through?
Don’t just look for a simple yes of agreeance. Outline areas where you expect your board to step in to help. Do you need their experience and knowledge to navigate part of the planning process? Will you need their assistance to secure funding? Could you use their contacts to help market the event? Your board (or executives) are not merely there to sign off — make use of that.
As you are planning, give them updates. Keep them in the loop not only with your successes but with your challenges too. If you’ve got them committed from the beginning, then use them as sounding boards to work through issues within the planning process so you can get back to doing what you do best — planning a fantastic event.
It only makes sense that any successful event is rooted in a team who is on the same page from the beginning. Make sure yours is one of those teams.