Tips and Training >> Definitions >> Event Management
What is Event Management?
Event management typically applies to business engagements in which a group of attendees are invited to attend a presentation or a set of presentations by executives or distinguished guests. Events such as these often include multiple presenters and increasingly, these events include multiple locations.
Managing an event that spans multiple locations includes the need to focus on both the message and the delivery mechanism for each location. Every attendee will take away their own sense of the message and their location's venue selection combined with the method of presenting the content will play a large part in that perception.
What is a Multi-Site Event?
Through the use of high quality and interactive video conferencing, event planners can include from 2 to 20 or more physical locations in a single event.
Multi-Site events, such as these, offer an opportunity for a message to be communicated to large groups simultaneously. This can be powerful, especially when launching a new product or making key announcements.
To realize the powerful impact that Multi-Site events can offer, content must focus on well selected, large and powerful messages and all locations should have a relevant tie to the messages.
Planning to achieve the desired impact for a Multi-Site event is critical. Regional perspectives may be influenced by factors that are outside the planning process. This can cause diminished impact. Highly focused messages can be effectively communicated if they are well crafted and delivered with the understanding of each participant's regional influences.
What are the key event planning considerations?
Timeline: A large multi-site event requires at least 10 days of planning time per site. So, a three location event requires at least 30 days to plan. A six site event requires 60 days to plan.
Style/Theme: Often overlooked in the planning process, Style/Theme is critical to creating impact. This does not need to be elaborately planned but an event logo, logo notepads, food and beverages, small gifts and event signage all lend their own significance.
Start and End: Consideration should be given to how the event begins and ends. A common mistake is to plan for the multi-site event as though it were simply a large meeting. Making this mistake can cause attendees to diminish their view of the event and its message. An event plan should set the start time up to 60 minutes before the published start time. The end time should be not less than 30 minutes after the published end time. This is to account for early arrivals and late departures of meeting attendees.
Difference between an Event and a Meeting
Timing, theme and attention to the message all distinguish an event from a meeting.
Attendees begin forming their assessment of an event well prior to its start time. This assessment first begins with the form of their invitation and continues as they make their way to the meeting location. Registration tables, beverage services, pens and note pads all should be available before an event begins and they all contribute to the event message. An event is successful to the extent that it causes attendees to connect with a message or direction.
Conversely, meetings generally are not organized with a degree of attention to the participant experience. They generally focus on achieving an objective, often while in the meeting itself.
Meetings could be considered more tactical while events are more strategic. Both are important, however they require very different levels of planning in order to ensure success.
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