19 Event Planning Quotes to Inspire EventProfs #EventsBySwaggerents @swaggerents

19 Event Planning Quotes to Inspire EventProfs to Conquer Roadblocks

Tips for Choosing the Perfect Wedding Planner!!!

Preparing for your wedding is one of the most exciting times you will share together as a couple. Unfortunately, it is also one of the more stressful times in a young couples life together.

Planning for the ceremony, inviting guests, choosing a best man, picking ushers and brides maids etc! The list of things to do seems never ending. In addition to all of the personal decisions to be made, you need to select a venue, hire a caterer, hire a florist, decorate! it’s another seemingly endless list. But with the help of a professional wedding planner, you can eliminate much of the stress that accompanies planning a wedding.

But how do you know the wedding planner you choose will be able to fully meet your expectations?

The following tips will help make choosing the right wedding planner a little easier, and will help ensure that you find the wedding coordinator that can offer the best service.

Weddings Begin With Choices of course all weddings bring a flurry of choices, and certain decisions have to be made early. When considering a professional wedding planner, the first choice is what type of service you need. Full service wedding planners are ready to handle every detail of your wedding and reception, including hiring a venue, decorating, contracting with florists and caterers, and generally looking after every detail of your big day.

Many wedding planners also offer partial services, or day of coordination. These services are designed to help couples find an appropriate venue, and contract with the various vendors that will be needed for the wedding. Partial services can save couples a little money, but by their nature still leave most of the heavy work to the bride and groom. In the long run, a full service wedding planner can save both time and money, and can certainly lessen the stress load.

Interviewing Your Wedding Planner:
Before choosing any wedding coordinator, you’ll want to set up some interviews. Not all wedding planners are created equal, so give yourself some time to speak with a few different coordinators and compare costs and services. The first question to ask any prospective wedding planner, is where they were trained in the profession. Not all wedding planners have had professional training, and you want to be sure you choose someone who is well trained and experienced in their field. You will also want to ask how long they have been working in the industry, and what types of weddings they have organized in the past.
A good wedding planner should be able to provide a work history that gives you confidence in their skills, and should also be able to provide recommendations from past satisfied clients.

As you interview potential wedding planners, be sure to ask what level of service they provide. A good wedding planner should be able to handle all of the details of your wedding, from venue to décor, to catering etc.
Successful wedding planners should be able to take your initial ideas, and enhance them with concepts of their own. They should be quick with suggestions to make your wedding more beautiful, more personal, and all that you both dreamed it could be.

Total Cost and Your Budget:
While consulting with your wedding planner, be sure they understand all of your budgetary restrictions. Being able to work within a set budget is an important part of being a wedding planner, and they should be able to make suggestions that can save you money while providing first class service on the day. A good wedding coordinator will have contacts with a variety of vendors and caterers so that they can provide the best service at the best price for all of their clients.

Finally, ask about what will be covered in the total cost. Will the vendor’s and caterer’s fees be included in the total cost, or will they be paid separately. This applies to any support staff required prior to, and on the day of the wedding as well. Confirm when payment is due, and what forms of payment will be accepted.

Hiring a wedding planner can help to take much of the stress out of planning your wedding. When choosing a wedding planner, look for someone that understands what you want on your wedding day. Choose someone you are comfortable with, who will work closely with you and who is committed to bringing your dream wedding to life.

What To Do When Event Disaster Strikes!

What To Do When Event Disaster Strikes!

When event disaster strikes - and it does to everyone in this industry at some time or other, it helps to have a game plan. There are two possible general scenarios from which you will need to recover. One occurs when the event itself is in jeopardy and something must be done to make it continue successfully. The other occurs when you have to save a client and your reputation. These situations assume that you have already taken every precaution for controlling risk and have completed proper risk assessments before the event has even begun.

Saving an Event

When you are called upon to “save” an event, it usually means you must add, delete, substitute, reconfigure, or accommodate something in order to make the save possible! In almost all cases, the “save” is necessary because of unforeseen and unimaginable circumstances.
The following key rules are offered for handling those eleventh hour challenges, whatever their size and scope

*Keep a cool head and a professional demeanour; Your client depends on you to know the answers and also rely on you to fix the problems. If you go ballistic when faced with a challenge, you both lose! Find a non-public place to discuss the problem with team players. Always be the expert, always remain in control of your emotions and your temper, and always be a leader.

*Pull your core team together and determine what options exist; Questions to ask include, What are the key elements of this event that must happen? What is the most important thing to client? What are the physical and logistical limitations? What resources do we have to make changes – financial, human and technical? What are our options?

*Divide and conquer; As a group, determine the best one option and put all of your resources to work to make it happen. Once you have decided on the solution, make sure to clearly define individual responsibilities. During this crunch time, it’s important for everyone to be working parallel ahead toward the same goal.

*Don’t rule out help from your competitors; Make sure the new plan is clearly articulated to the client and approved. Also, be sure to communicate the plan to the entire event team, including all support vendors who may or may not have been contracted by you. Learn from the challenge.
What lessons were learned from this challenge that can be applied to future events to prevent similar situations from developing?

Saving a Client – and Your Reputation

Sometimes no matter how much you anticipate, how much you plan, how many times you double-check details, or how hard you try to make the “save,” Murphy’s Law strikes and a situation develops that has the potential to do serious damage to your reputation and your relationship with your client.
Every event planner experiences this at some point in their career.

*When an event goes wrong or something unrecoverable happens, the key points to consider are; If the event is still ongoing, minimize any adverse effects on your client, the guests and the venue. It may be possible to minimize effects if the people on your team react quickly and competently, as outlined in the first section. For example, in the case of technical problems such as microphone or audio difficulties, computer glitches and such, if backup equipment and software are available, a minor problem will remain just that and may not require any compromises. However, if they are not and the problem is not resolved swiftly, it quickly becomes a big problem and a major interruption in an event’s flow, which will probably require some settlement with the client. Preparation and anticipation are the key words here.

*Communicate to your client exactly what has happened and why it has happened, as soon as possible and as honestly as possible; When a problem is obvious to guests or an audience, and to your client – and obvious is the key word - the worst thing you can do is to remain silent. Your client wants to be kept “in the loop” and must know what is happening literally from moment to moment. This communication is ultimately what will probably save your reputation and your client. Without it, the client can feel as if you are trying to hide something. Even if the problem is due to someone’s incompetence, admit it up front and take immediate steps to solve the problem. Don’t hide.

*Formulate a methodology to appease and keep your client; Now comes decision time, If in your assessment - or by way of client comments - the event was compromised by a problem, then after the event a continuing dialogue with the client is very important. Explain to him/her you are concerned that the event was not up to the standards you promised and are known for.

Learn from the problem, As in the case of saving an event, what lessons were learned from this problem that can be applied to future events to prevent similar situations from developing.

Why You Should Hire an Event Planner for Your Corporate Event!!!

If you’re on the fence about whether or not you should hire an event planner for your corporate event, think about this: Have you ever started a large project around the home which ended up being a budgetary disaster? What you thought might whittle the budget down actually ended up costing you more money and stress in the end than outright hiring a contractor to do the work for you.

Sometimes your efforts to keep within a budget by doing things yourself ends up costing you more than hiring a professional expert contractor to begin with. This theory goes for business decisions as well.

A Corporate Event is Not the Venue for Cutting Corners

Experts are considered experts for a reason. In addition to any formal education they may have received, true experts have also spent years of their lives obsessing over their field of expertise. They’ve found out what’s effective and what is not. They know their craft so well, that they are able to tell you what ideas for the event are worth your time and money, and what ideas should be tossed.
While some DIY projects can be a load of fun, there are some things you may want to consider turning to the experts for.

Should You Hire an Event Planner for Your Corporate Event

Of course we think the answer is yes, but here’s why:

*A professional event planner will help you develop a reasonable budget and stick to it. This helps eliminate unpleasant and expensive surprises down the road you may not have thought of.
An honest expert should also keep you from spending money in areas that aren’t cost-effective.

*Corporate events are a big, big deal. Your company’s reputation depends on it. Hire an event planner for your corporate event to make sure you are covering all your bases.

*Eliminate stress by allocating work to the pros.

*Extra insight. Remember, true experts are obsessive in their field, and the details matters most to them.

https://about.me/michealawoliyi

How To Guide for Small Business and Corporate Event Planning

Whether you are preparing to host a small business or corporate event, planning a great event requires strategy.
In this series, we will look at some guidelines for small business and corporate event planning.

Pre-Planning:
Define Your Purpose – Is this event for recognition? Introducing a new product? Team building? Keep your purpose at the forefront so that you focus your efforts where they matter.

Define Your Target Audience – Now that you’ve defined your purpose, define your target audience. You must know who you will be catering to in order to effectively put everything else into place (budget, style, venue, event goals).

Examine the Calendar and Set a Date – Be sure to plan your event far enough in advance to avoid calendar or scheduling conflicts. If you know there are industry-relevant events in your area during certain times of the year, be sure to avoid those too.

Write Down Details as You Go – Begin making a list of details, from lighting needs and parking arrangements down to the appetizers and the napkins on the tables.
Keep this list handy as you continue planning your event, and add to it as you go. This will make sure you don’t miss any little detail. Remember, details matter and can affect your reputation! Be Flexible with Small Business and Corporate Event Planning The pre-planning stage is where you can write down all of your grand ideas for the event, but be prepared if you need to compromise on some of your ideas.
Hiring a professional event coordinator can become a huge asset in this area. They can help you get the most bang for your buck.

Now that you have thepre-planning portion of your small business or corporate event in place, the next part is to analyze your budget.
At this point, you should begin to line up your list of priorities within the context of a functional budget. The following will give you some direction for your small business and corporate event budget planning goals.

Small Business and Corporate Event Budget Planning Tips

Determine How Your Event Will Be Funded – This could be from event ticket sales, sponsors, or self-funded from the marketing budget. Get a good estimate on the numbers before you sign any venue or vendor contracts. Now days, even crowd-funding has become a popular way to raise some money to fund your event if it’s appropriate (offers benefits to public attendees). Be cautious with this approach.
Identify Your Expenses – These include special permits, licenses, venue, rentals (sound, lighting, tables, chairs), food, and entertainment. Look at your list of expenses and determine if there are any appropriate business who might be willing to provide one or more of those needs for your event in exchange for being named an event sponsor.

Prioritize your Event Expenses – Once you have a good idea of what your spending budget and expenses will be, look back at your list of ideas to prioritize those items and decide which ones make the cut and which ones don’t.

Need Help With Small Business and Corporate Event Budget Planning?

One of the most costly mistakes a small business or corporation can make, especially if it’s their first event, is to underestimate their expenses and overestimate their budget. This is why hiring an expert who has knowledge and experience when it comes to small business and corporate event budget planning is a great idea.

Who To Hire For Your Wedding!

Congratulation! Now you’re engaged! it’s time to start the planning of your wedding, but where do we start from? With all the many to-do lists, all the different choices of photographers, planners, designers, florists, bakeries, caterers and venues, it can all be quite overwhelming for many brides!

Being an event producer I can completely understand when brides come to me with questions about what each service entails! Many wedding stylists and event design companies overlap in many of these areas as well, but it’s good to know what you’re getting before you pay your deposit and sign any contract(s).

So what is the difference between all of these different titles and how do you know who to hire for your wedding?

Wedding Designer/Stylist: From my experience, many brides think that wedding stylists and designers just assist with the table centrepieces, prop sourcing and details, but much of the design work is in the small details and working with your entire supplier team. These creative minds bring to life an inviting and aesthetically pleasing environment that reflects you and your partner. 
If you have many varying ideas and different design desires, wedding designers can help you narrow down your wedding style and assist you in the realisation of what is really important to you and your fiancé for your wedding.
By taking inspiration from you and your partner, wedding stylists assist you in selecting your colour palette and inspiration board, creating a mood or vibe for your wedding and how you want your guests to feel when they enter your wedding environment, choosing linen selections and table centre pieces, prop and detail sourcing, right up to the installation on your wedding day and much more. Their main focus is to guide the whole look and feel of your event, ensuring that your supplier team is on the same page, working collaboratively to create a cohesive flow of your wedding aesthetic and style and bring all the design elements together on your wedding day.


Wedding Planner: A planner assists with all logistical management, development of wedding day timelines, handling vendor sourcing and referrals, telephone calls and emails to all contracted vendors, and handling bookings, negotiations and contracts. As well as making sure every supplier’s end goal is in relation to the client’s vision and design for their wedding.


Creative Director: A creative director, sometimes referred to as an art director, oversees the creative presentation and style of a wedding, editorial shoot, or other project. Their job is to make things interesting and beautiful, sometimes by sourcing the right props, wardrobe, or other items. They ensure the work the design team is hired to do... 
implementing the client’s vision throughout the process.


Event Designer: Essentially the same as a wedding designer, except that they typically specialise in a variety of events i.e rehearsals dinners, birthdays, anniversaries, bridal showers, engagement parties and corporate events.


Wedding Coordinator: Typically ‘day of’ or ‘month of’ coordination  for your wedding take on the time management of your entire wedding day, communicating with all other contracted vendors, working behind the scenes with the venue staff and overseeing that everything runs on schedule.




Keep in mind that when making your decision about who is right for you and your wedding dreams! Connect with their style and don’t be afraid to ask questions and share your desires and opinions. It’s the only way they will really get to know who you are and achieve the style you’re wanting.

It takes a lot of trust to put your wedding dreams in the hands of someone else, especially when design is not tangible, but rather visionary and something that has to be seen to be experienced. However, if you have faith and trust that they will do the job that you’ve hired them for, they will make it magical...

http://about.me/michealawoliyi

How To Organize A Successful Charity Concert!

So, You Want to Organize a charity Concert

Many people ask, How do I raise money for a cause?
Planning a concert is always a great choice. I can tell you that doing so is a very fun and rewarding experience and that almost anyone can do it. Of all the non profit fundraising ideas out there, the charity/benefit concert has to be one of the best.

This article contains the advice for organizing a concert that I wish I had before I started as an event planner. You can find step-by-step fundraising guides elsewhere but I think that this is the information that you really need to know if you want to keep from losing your mind!


Building A Team: (The Basics)
The first thing you should realize when you are planning a concert or coming up with any non profit fundraising ideas is that you can't do it alone.
You must have a team in place of like-minded individuals who you can trust. It does not have to be a big team. The most important thing is that the team members share your enthusiasm for the cause because after all, they are not being paid. Surround yourself only with people who are constantly positive and encouraging. This does not mean naïve. They should be people who are intelligent, who you trust and who believe in you and the cause of the benefit concert.
Most important is that you can count on your team to support you throughout your time planning the concert.
Try to find people with different skills and different connections around town that may be useful.
To get to the point though, not everyone is going to follow through all the time. In a volunteer event like this, you have the ultimate responsibility to get things done when others don't. So, always be wary when people say they will do something. And do not wait around forever for them to take action. Give people deadlines and don't be afraid to follow up. Your team is your life support, but do not lean on them too heavily.


There Will Be Thrilling Highs and Devastating Lows:
When learning how to organize a concert, it's important to remember that you will have to be tough. It is an admirable feat to take on the responsibility of creating a concert for charity. It may be one of the most demanding things. That's why it is important to be realistic about your motivation from the beginning.


Here's how it will probably go:
You will have a lot of enthusiasm in the beginning which is obviously why you took on the challenge in the first place. You will experience thrilling highs of signing on a new sponsor or getting press coverage or booking a great band, but you will likewise experience painful lows. A major sponsor might back out, a team member quits, you feel exhausted, etc. These are the realities of organizing a concert, especially a charity/benefit concert where everyone works on a volunteer basis and so on.
If you are not willing to go through the highs and the lows, then you are not ready to do something of this nature. The most important thing is to always remember why you are doing this in the first place! to raise money and awareness for a great cause and to create an amazing event that people will enjoy.
Stay positive and never let anyone tell you that you won't succeed. To make it all the way through successfully though you must maintain an open mind and always be willing to change some of your original plans. Sometimes you've just got to roll with the punches.

Be flexible, adapt, and keep moving. In the end, this is business and not a fairy tale. You'll be fine as long as you keep your head up.


Overestimate How Much You Will Spend and Underestimate How Much People Will Give:
In planning a concert of this nature, the goal is to raise as much money as possible and you have to be smart about how you go about doing so. There will be inevitable costs such as booking a venue, advertising, and merchandise if you choose. Always try to get people to donate instead of making you pay at first, but know that this will not always work.


Network Constantly:
If you want to put on the best show imaginable, you have to fully dedicate yourself to the cause of your charity/benefit concert. That means becoming a full time evangelist for your cause and your event. Tell all your friends, post updates on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook, schedule appointments with business leaders, The point is, you have to be always on and enthusiastic.
You are the leader who other people have to want to follow and to help. If you are honest and sincere about your mission, you will find that you will earn some unlikely commitments. Some of these commitments will not come until the very last minute which is why you have to maintain your passion. Never be afraid to ask for help. You may be surprised by how much people are willing to give. You never know unless you ask!


Set Goals Daily the Night Before:
You should always have around 2-3 must-do tasks per day. They do not have to be major milestones but they should always be moving you forward. This will help you stay motivated, give you and your team a clear sense of purpose, and guarantee productivity.
As mentioned previously, give team-mates deadline and very specific tasks. This alleviates confusion and keeps you from having your time wasted.


Communication Is Key:
The most important skill that you are going to need when planning a concert to make it a true success is that of communication. When you speak with people, always be prepared. Demonstrate your passion to the cause, be able to illustrate why your cause is in need, and show people how they will benefit from being a part of your event.
People are not just going to give themselves to you. You have to demonstrate value, and there is no better way of doing that than genuine, face-to-face communication.

Also, respond to email and phone calls as soon as you can. It can be seen as highly disrespectful to keep people waiting and it would be a shame to lose support because of simply putting someone off an extra day or two. It is okay to have your team-mates help you with this. Just never let someone feel as if they are being hung out to dry. Always let people know how much you appreciate their support and how much they mean to you. Often times, it's really the little things that go the longest way.


Smile and Have Fun:
Being a great leader and creating an extraordinary event means inspiring those around you. How can you inspire people if you are not inspired yourself? Enjoy the experience and appreciate every moment! I can not stress enough the importance of smiling. Whether you are meeting with a potential sponsor or assigning a task to a teammate, you have a much better chance of succeeding if you have a smile on your face and can deliver the message that your main objective is for everyone to have a great time.
A charity concert is supposed to be just that, and there is no reason that you can't enjoy yourself in making it happen as well. It's all about the attitude...


Take Some Time Off:
This does not mean to stop spreading the word but rather it is a reminder that you do not have to be running around 24 hours a day 7 days a week thinking that you will fail otherwise. If you are determined, then you will get the job done. In order to keep from going insane though it is very important to take some time off and do something fun. Go to the beach, hangout with friends! You have to take some time off in order to stay fresh. In fact, doing something new may help you think about a problem from a different angle or come up with a creative new initiative for your team. Basically, don't burn out. Life is too short. (speaking from experience)


Conclusion: 
In the end, it's all up to you. Believe me, organizing any kind of grassroots event will not be easy, planning a concert is no exception. But if you really devote yourself to it and work hard, then it will be one of the best experiences of your life.
And don't forget to take lots of pictures. When it's all over, the memories will be all that you have left.

I hope this article has been helpful.
If you have any question or feedback, feel free to leave a comment.
Best of luck!



Awoliyi Michael
http://about.me/michealawoliyi