Holiday Event Planning Tips: Part I
11/29/2010
Event Planning for the Holidays?
Is it time to:
A: Scream, pull your hair out, and start crying?
B: Find an assistant so you can pass the buck?
C: Run away and hide until January?
D: Get your act together and start planning?
The sooner you start your preparations, the more organized you’ll find your event, and for most of us, that means a real shot at actually enjoying our own get-togethers. We interviewed many of our customers and found that a combination of tangible “real world” and virtual “digital world” activities works best to drive and increase event attendance.
Here are the first five Holiday Event Planning Tips to keep you on top this holiday season.
1) Practice Proper Pre-event Publicity (that’s a mouthful!):
| Real World
Start printing promotional props that prod people into paying attention. |
Digital World
Get early save-the-date notices posted across the web. |
| Send invitations to your mailing list to ensure RSVPs and boost ticket sales. | Update your website on the home page with a save-the-date notice. |
| Post flyers around town. Flyers are fast, fun, and always fresh. | Post your event on Eventgroove or another online event site. |
| Posters make an even bigger impact than flyers. | Create a Facebook post on your fan page, linked to your personal page. |
| Event Tickets, designed properly, get as much attention as any advertisement. | Good old email – send out an email blast to your list from your online event site. |
2) Bigger is Better, Everywhere is Better.
| Real World
Size really does matter! Make more of an impact with giant, custom advertisements. |
Digital World
In addition to the usual suspects–Facebook, Twitter–post your event in more digital places. |
| Large Posters get as big as 3 feet wide and 6 feet long. Just try to ignore them! | Local Community Calendar: post your event, and if possible, provide frequent updates. |
| Banners are durable and can unfurl your message anywhere, inside or out. | News sections of websites: See if appropriate local sources will post your event as news on their sites. |
3) Start Taking Names!
| Real World
Ensure that everyone at your event really belongs there and figure out who you’re talking to at the same time! |
Digital World
Engage with your RSVPs. They say they’re coming, but as we all know, it will take reminders to make it happen. |
| Economy Event Badges are perfect for short-term identification at great big gatherings. | RSVPs. With Eventgroove (or other event sites) you start tracking RSVPs. Respond to your RSVPs and thank them. |
| VIP Event Badges in durable plastic last as long as you need them. Make your VIPs feel…Very Important! | Facebook. Ask your event attendees to RSVP on your fan page or at least comment. |
| Lanyards and Badge Holders encourage everyone to display their badges with pride. | Friendly Responses. Send out quick emails to your RSVPs. You can do this from Eventgroove. |
4) Amp up the Details!
| Real World:
Large events need extra organization. Create schedules and directories to post at the venue. |
Digital World:
More details make it more interesting. Update your website, Facebook, and Twitter with tantalizing event details. |
| Event Programs provide you with a format to pass out all the information your guests might need. Create a guide to your event and clear up the confusion. | Update the news sections of Eventgroove (event site) and your organization’s websites: Provide schedule and agenda. |
| Posters let you list schedules and activities, display maps, or show off any other information everyone needs to know, | Send Mobile Update of the Event Details. If you have your event attendees’ mobile numbers, send out concise event details on SMS. |
5) Secure Sweet Sales Success
| Real World:
You’ve posted posters and flyers around the city, and you’ve sent invitations to your lists. Now, be more specific and do a second round of posting. |
Digital World:
Put the power of the Internet to work for you! Advertise online, create a page for your event, and start selling tickets any time, day or night. |
| Event Programs provide you with a format to pass out all the information your guests might need. Create a guide to your event and clear up the confusion. | Online Sales. Eventgroove is about selling online. So start selling! It’s a 24/7/365 sales channel, always open, always there for you to sell more tickets. |
| Posters let you list schedules and activities, display maps, or show off any other information everyone needs to know. | Check your actual sales in the Eventgroove Event Dashboard. You can check both online sales and also input your offline sales. |
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