Events without a hitch

Making Your Event Go Off As Planned
Making your event run as smoothly as possible is not an easy task. While it may look like all you need to do is follow your set schedule, that's very often not the case. In fact, few events go off exactly as planned, but a good event coordinator with a good staff can handle all of the SNAFUs that pop up, making event attendees completely unaware that disasters have occurred.
That, in fact, is the main goal of your event: even if something horrible happens, do everything you can to conceal this from your guests. They don't need to know that the hotel has double-booked rooms, only that there's been a slight scheduling change. There's no need to tell them that three of your session moderators are running late; simply find someone to cover those sessions. But how can you be ready for these emergencies? Here's a list of preparations you should make to guarantee everything goes off as planned.
First, when you're reserving rooms and making location arrangements, ask if you can have an extra room in reserve just in case it's needed. If there's a cost, see if you can fit it in your budget. This can be helpful for several situations: you need to move to a bigger room, you need an extra room for storing event materials, or you discover that the venue has double-booked some of the rooms and you've been kicked out of rooms you thought you had. You don't want to be scrambling around trying to find a room while your event attendees are standing around in the hallway.
As far as personnel go, you'll want to try to have a few reserve staff members on hand at any given time. If possible, always have two people working a booth or table so there will be someone there in case one of the two people has to leave. It's also nice to have someone knowledgeable about most of the aspects of the event available to handle emergencies. You can't put out fires and manage the event, so having an event co-coordinator or assistant is invaluable. Also, although it's not directly related to event emergencies, don't forget to try to schedule a break or two for yourself during the day. Even if it's only 15 minutes, you'll appreciate having a moment to yourself.
Also, although it should be common sense, some people purchase only the exact amount of materials for an event that they need. If they have 400 registered attendees, they will get 400 information packets and prepare seating for 400. But what happens if attendees lose their information or if people who did not pre-register show up? If you haven't planned for this, you may find yourself telling attendees they don't have a seat, and that can be both embarrassing and damaging to your company's reputation. Always order an extra 25 or 50 items if at all possible, including meals. Most caterers actually have extra meals ready just in case, but it's always best to talk to them about it beforehand.
With a little preparation, you should be able to handle most emergency situations with no problem and keep your event on track. Again, as long as everything is on time and looks like it's running smoothly, none of your attendees will have any idea that things aren't going as planned.

Anders Boulanger is a professional corporate entertainer, magician and speaker. He makes his living performing for corporations all across Canada and the U.S. Visit his website at www.andersmagic.com

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