Bad Event Planners Habit to Avoid
At our blog, we love being positive – sharing good news, helpful tips and more. But there are times when seeing the bad side of things, can help us to improve as event planners. And we think this is one of those times.
These are some of the most common “bad event planning habits” that we see event organisers frequently make – and we’re pointing them out, so you can steer clear of these potential pitfalls.
Thinking of Social Media as an “Extra”
In 2019, social media isn’t simply “another way” to promote your event – for certain events, it’s THE way to get your event branding seen by the masses.
We’ve seen some fantastic events marred by poor attendance. And for some, the lack of enthusiasm was only due to a lack of awareness – with event planners who focused their efforts (and budgets) on traditional marketing channels, when social media platforms could have given their event the boost in recognition it needed to pull in big audience numbers.
Paper-Based Check-Ins
One of the fastest ways to turn off an excited audience, is to funnel them through a slow, paper-based check-in process. This isn’t fun for staff members either, as they frantically search for audience members’ names on giant sheets of paper – while queues continue forming.
Unless you’re hosting an exclusive, intimate event with only a handful of audience members, we highly recommend digital check-ins instead. You could go high-tech and use an event app for best results – or trust Excel sheets and laptops. Both options surely beat eyeballing paper-based lists!
Assuming Wi-Fi Isn’t Necessary
While it’s true that 4G technology and data-driven mobile plans mean that Wi-Fi access is no longer as important as it used to be, this shouldn’t be taken for granted.
Audience members from out of town, or who experience poor signal connections, may need to use your Wi-Fi to get the most out of their event experience – barring which, they may miss out on some of your event’s best activities, games and interactions. This is especially important if you’ve integrated the use of an event app into your event’s activities.
Neglecting Networking
Whether in business or consumer events, networking is a huge value add that you can gift to participants. Many event planners though, still leave this up to chance – or put the responsibility of networking on participants.
Include networking activities into your event programme. Better yet, improve engagement levels by gamifying networking! Your event attendees will appreciate the effort and thought you put into details like this. (And saving them the awkwardness of exchanging cards or contact information with
Long Post-Event Surveys
The most satisfying conclusion to an event is when your final speaker, presentation or segment has left audiences on a high. They’re happy and will be reflecting on all their favourite memories (from the event) on their way home.
Unless… you hold them back by tossing them a long post-event survey. And if it’s a paper-based event survey that involves shading ovals with pencils… that’s even worse. Avoid distracting audiences with post-event surveys, by simply integrating them into your event. This is easy to do with an event app. (Not sure how? Just ask us.) Or speed up the survey process with an easy-to-use, electronic voting system.
