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Events and Event Planners

Deciding to host a company seminar or event can be a tough decision. This decision can be easier to make if you are aware of the benefits, pitfalls, and costs that are often associated with these types of events. Together, this information can help you make the choice that will benefit your company the most.

This article will help you understand the benefits that holding a company seminar or event can have for your business, teach you how to avoid the common pitfalls that can undermine a successful event, and inform you of the costs that you can expect if you decide to host an event.

Benefits

According to the University of South Florida’s College of Business, the trade show and event planning industry is reported to have combined annual revenues of more than $7 billion. With such enormous revenue, it’s worth looking at the benefits of holding events for your company.

Helping the Economy

Even in an economic recession, event planning is big business. In the webinar “Economic Significance of Meetings to the United States Economy,” which was hosted by Meeting Professionals International (MPI), Robert Canton from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PcW) and other industry leaders and individuals, it was revealed that there are 1.8 million meetings each year. Over $263 billion is spent to make those meetings happen. Of those meetings, 85 percent are held in hotels, accounting for 30 percent of all hotel room bookings in the U.S. You can help support the economy by holding events.

Profit

Obviously the business most likely to profit from event planning is the business of event planning itself. Certified Special Events Professional Dr. Joe Goldblatt’s research shows the worldwide spending for special events is $500 billion annually. But other businesses can benefit as well. When you hold an event, you can raise profits through activities such as raffles. Sometimes, such as in the case of fundraisers, increasing funds is the primary purpose of the event.

Raising Awareness of a Brand or Company

Word of mouth is a powerful tool. While your money could be spent on advertising, there is no guarantee that someone will see it. If at least a portion of funds dedicated to advertising were dedicated to holding an event, more people could become aware of what the company or brand has to offer. Those people, in turn, may tell other people and help promote your business. If the event is televised, this increases the amount of people who have access to your brand or company. All of this can potentially increase your profits.

Boost Employee Morale

Many businesses choose to hold events such as holiday parties and company picnics for their employees. Holding such an event may boost your employees’ morale. Even opening up business meetings to more than top-level employees can boost morale and help employees feel more important to the company.

Pitfalls

Planning an event for your business can be a stressful process no matter how big or small it ends up being. The best way to make the event planning as smooth as possible is to be aware of some major pitfalls most people run into when preparing for their company’s events. This way, you can do your best to avoid these common headaches with this foreknowledge.

Coordinating With Vendors

Depending on what your business is looking to accomplish, you might have a half-dozen company or vendor representatives that you have to coordinate the day and time with and hope that they all line up on the correct dates. This is a shot in the dark at best unless you have prior accounts with the aforementioned vendors, which would provide the ability to coordinate on a much bigger scale without all the headache of sales pitches. The easiest way to acquire this is by hiring out to a professional events planner. They have multiple clients who they do consistent work with no matter what the need might be.

Technical Knowledge Needed

If your business is budget minded and looking to save on the company quarterly, you might sway towards the option of booking your own event. While this is a great way to save money in the short run, it could really turn into a much greater problem in the long run. While some people have the ability to coordinate with all of the companies, most do not have the technical knowledge needed to setup the audio and visual side of the event. This can include setting up microphones, speakers, PA systems, projectors, projection screens, stages, and sometimes even lighting. This is a common problem that is forgotten at the beginning stages of planning an event, but is one to look out for nonetheless.

The ability to coordinate with multiple companies and vendors to work together all on the same date is one that few companies have the patience for. Combine that with the headache of setting up all the different types of audio and visual equipment that can be needed for many different types of events, and most companies would be in over their heads. Avoid these common pitfalls by letting an events planner organize all of this for you.

Pricing

The trade show and event planning industry in the United States consists of approximately 3,500 companies that earn a combined revenue of over $7 billion per year according to Hoover’s. When planning events for your business, there are a few aspects to consider when it comes to pricing.

Specific Items

Some of the event costs that are required include the fee for the instructor or presenter, any marketing costs associated with the promotion of the event and any training materials that are provided to the attendees. Other items include the rental amount for any equipment you use, the cost of renting the venue (if necessary), catering and any stationary that must be printed and provided.

Hiring an Event Planner

Event planners handle all aspects of the event you are putting together. The way they charge depends on the actual person and can be a flat fee per project, an hourly rate, a commissionable rate, a percentage of expenses or a percentage of expenses in addition to an hourly rate. According to CostHelper.com, the average cost of an hourly consultant can range between $40 and $250 per hour. Full-service planners can charge between 15 and 20 percent of the total cost of the event. For instance, if it costs $10,000 for the planner to put together the event, they charge between $1,500 and $2,000 as their fee.

Conclusion

Hosting a company seminar can help boost the morale amongst your employees. This morale boost can lead to a more productive workforce and more profit for the company. Other events can help raise community awareness about your company and bring in profit. If you are charging admission to your event, or selling merchandise to attendees, you are making money that you otherwise would not have.

The biggest pitfalls of an event often occur during the planning stages. Clear communication is an important factor when it comes to organizing an event. It is important to coordinate efficiently with the vendors who will attend your event, so that it will run smoothly.