Customer service is key in any industry, but in events it can make or break your reputation. Here are 4 fails from the world of events and what all event planners can learn from them.

When something goes wrong at an event, the way that you handle it with your customers will ultimately impact the view your attendees have of the entire experience. Good or bad, event customer service will be discussed among your participants and potential future attendees. Looking at these examples of what not to do can help us to learn more about the industry, the service we deliver and how we should treat our guests.

3. Make Sure Your Technology is in Working Order and Have a Plan B

   Every eventprof has had their fair share of battles with technology during their events. One thing you must be sure to do in your planning process is to test, test, and test again. The worst thing that can happen is when you tech goes down in front of your biggest audience. This can really cut into your ability to provide proper customer service. For example if your email or social channels fail, you may be missing out on the opportunity to connect and respond to your attendees. Poor technology can also limit or hinder certain aspects of the event that you plan to provide.

   If you plan to have a live streaming or interactive session online, the last thing you need is your internet or website crashing. In 2014 the Academy Awards planned to have a live stream available during the awards show, but when the whole world was watching their stream suffered a nationwide outage. This left many viewers unhappy and unable to watch the awards.

   This not only posed issues for the people trying to view the broadcast of the event, but also caused many issues for the network as they lost out on the opportunity to show advertising and many viewers ended up watching the live stream on a competing service. Unfortunately, the Oscars has continued to have issues year after year and has gained a reputation for their less than stellar live streaming capabilities.

   When you decide to provide a service like this, you must also be sure to invest in the additional testing to be sure it will work as planned and have a backup plan. Take the time to practice and rehearse for how the event will play out. Unexpected challenges will always arise, but you should be sure your technology and your tech team can handle difficulties quickly and efficiently.

4. Don’t Forget Social Media Channels

   Customer service today means much more than answering questions on site or sending out a post event survey. Most every event has to manage multiple inquiries and comments from a variety of different platforms, often times coming in during all hours of the day and during your busy event.
   Twitter has really become a very popular option for sending in customer services complaints, comments and questions, and to be honest seems to get some of the most prompt responses. When the entire world can see the comments that are being broadcast about your event you should do your best to respond and to do so quickly.

   The biggest mistake you can make is creating these social media channels for your event or business, but not implementing a plan to manage and respond properly to comments or questions. Be sure you are always putting your best face forward both on and offline when it comes to customer service!

In Conclusion

There are lots of etiquette do’s and dont’s event planners should keep in mind while planning events. Remember to stay positive, communicate clearly and be professional at all times to ensure a successful event for everyone. A good attitude and proper etiquette only makes you stronger as a planner and respected by everyone you come into contact with.

As an event planner there are ways to do things in the correct way and things you should never do. Here is the unwritten event etiquette rules every good eventprof should follow.

Event etiquette is important to ensure you do not overstep your boundaries or get a reputation for being unprofessional. Below are a few things you may want to review to ensure you only get talked about for the right reasons.

6. Invitations, RSVPs and Thank You’s

   You know how infuriating it is when your guests don’t reply to your invitation to let you know whether they are attending your event? Or when they send apologies super late? This is the height of bad manners so don’t fall into the same traps as your attendees. As an event planner you know better than anyone the knock on effect late RSVPs and notifications can have so always lead by good example.

   Likewise at certain events such as dinners, parties, golf events and corporate hospitality you are expected to thank the host personally for inviting you and perhaps even follow up with a handwritten letter, or at the very least an email in today’s modern times, following the event.

7. Boundaries Have a Purpose

   One thing you should make sure you never do while planning an event is overstepping your boundaries. This may not make sense for new event planners, but for any veteran who has gone through the ropes of planning an event, he or she will know it’s never ok to jump on tasks that need approval. For example, if a sponsor wants to switch booth locations and you decide it’s ok and approve this for them, you can create a stir of heated emotions from other sponsors who did not receive those same benefits. It’s never OK to assume anything at an event. Always triple check with every party included before saying that golden word – approved.

   Another example of boundary stepping might be moving a speaker from one date and time to another. Unless they are switching with someone who actually wants to make the switch, never sign off of these types of requests. Speakers and sponsors pay big dollars to get slotted in specific timeframes to speak at events. Again, never assume, always ask the stakeholders involved and then proceed.

8. Table Manners

   Whether you are enjoying a formal networking 3-course meal yourself or running a dinner for your guests you need to be aware of dining etiquette. This is more than knowing your wine glass from your water glass and which utensils to use, having good table manners is vital for giving a good impression.
   If you are the host and it isn’t clear from the seating plan, make this clear to the F&B staff so they know who is their contact and that they should serve everyone else first (particularly important for females hosts). At a formal dinner it is expected that everyone around the table should introduce themselves at the start of the meal and conversation should be kept to small talk, never turning to politics, religion and inappropriate jokes or comments.

9. Put on a Poker Face

   If there is absolutely one thing to never do as an event planner, it’s speaking out of line or showing negative emotions to your extended team, partners (vendors, contractors), or even worse to your attendees. Having a bad attitude as the event planner will get you nowhere. Negative actions can easily be spread by word of mouth to everyone at the event, which not only makes you look bad, but the overall event will get a bad review.

   If you find yourself feeling stressed or distraught by elements of your event hold them in until you are alone back at your hotel or home. A few examples that could cause event planners to feel outraged may be vendors not showing up on time, a slow start on the first day of the event – which can cause a chain reaction to slow down all sessions for the day, or food and beverage catering not arriving with the correct orders you placed. All of these may seem like easy fixes, but for a planner who has been working on these items for months they can stress you out, especially after triple checking that all was correct prior to the event start date.
   Remember to keep your cool, and as mentioned before never let negative emotions show. Go home at the end of the day and cool down in private. Just keep in mind you are the event planner, and people look to you to fix any issues, so keep a smile on your face and take a deep breath when issues pop up – everyone makes mistakes so don’t take it out on them or yourself.

5 Top Tips for Virtual Event Planning Success

1. Engage Your Audience
   Unlike conventional event planning you can be more easily ignored when you are virtual which means you will need to bring out the bells and whistles to get things going and keep the attention of your potential clients or attendees. A great way to do this is to create a media kit for your products and services with a professional layout and great graphics to “wow” them from the start and give them a reason to connect to you.
2. Play to Your Strengths
   Always offer things that you know that you can provide really well so that you don’t make promises that you can’t keep. Be honest but always be up for a challenge, little experience doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t do it!
3. Build Experience
   Start small, don’t feel like you have to plan a sell-out festival on your first try. You could even start with children’s parties, a friends’ birthday or other family events to get a feel for what is involved.
4. Be Bubbly and Enthusiastic
   Making people want to work with you is an art form which is made harder by doing it virtually and those with happier personalities will often win through. Whether you are trying to convince a client to hire you, a collaborator to work with you or even just to increase your presence online, stay happy and bubbly because it really shows through emails, social media and meetings.
5. Don’t Forget to Take a Break
   One of the advantages and disadvantages of virtual working is that you can work at your own time and in some cases work and deadlines can take over. Event planning can be tough and stressful and the quickest way to burnout is not taking some time for yourself. As you will be working from home you should have an area that is completely work free for you to relax or avoid the stress (and temptation) of picking your work back up again!

In Conclusion

There are lots of etiquette do’s and dont’s event planners should keep in mind while planning events. Remember to stay positive, communicate clearly and be professional at all times to ensure a successful event for everyone. A good attitude and proper etiquette only makes you stronger as a planner and respected by everyone you come into contact with.

As an event planner, you want and need to constantly stay on top of trends, and keep ideas fresh and creative in order to stand out from the crowd. Here are a few ways you can take your event planning skills up a notch to beat your event competition and look like a rockstar planner.

3. Make a Headline

   Great event planners are known for what they do in the industry. Make sure you’re using your personal brand on a daily basis – whether by being active on social media, blogging, or doing interviews for news outlets. You want to get your name out there, and into headlines. Think like a newsmaker. How can you take your events brand to the next level? Try testing the waters by submitting articles about the events you have planned along with testimonials from clients and photos. You never know who may want to interview you and turn you into a star! The more engagement you have with attendees, the better your chances are of receiving praise and fame!

   Remember to always stay professional, and know people will talk. Just like any other major brand, you’re representing yourself as a brand when planning events. You want to be known as the creative, innovative, fun, and professional planner everyone wants to work with

4. Be Inspirational

   Innovation can be a tough thing to accomplish when trying to beat your competition. Unless you’re finding ways to inspire audiences and keep them entertained, you may be falling flat in this area. You want to plan events where you’re influencing everyone from the attendees to the vendors, to even your own staff. This can be the toughest area to knock out of the park, especially with so many other planners challenging you with their fresh ideas. So, find something eye-catching and run with it.

   For example, come up with a theme that really hits home for everyone attending your event. How can you ensure they are feeling like they are all apart of this theme each day of the event? Take a leap of faith, and test fun ideas – you never know, you may hit one way outside of the park! People expect the biggest and best ideas while attending an event, so never feel afraid to test a crazy idea and receive feedback.

5. Blend Technology

   Staying on top of technology trends is a must for event planners. New tech trends are key to use in order to keep your event looking fresh and on top of the curve. What new event apps are coming out soon? How can you blend digital with physical at your events? Start looking at ways you currently use technology at events, and brainstorm on how to take this up a notch. If your registration has been manual in the past, think about going digital to create a better, more seamless experience for your attendees. There’s nothing worse than standing in a long line to speak to someone on the events staff to register, when you could have done all of this at a kiosk or online before stepping foot in the venue.

In Conclusion

Being known as an innovative event planner is key to a long-lasting career in the events industry, and to look like a rockstar against your competition. It takes a lot of hard work, time, and inspiration to think creatively and implement innovative ideas at any event. Test, test, and test again all of your ideas – even if they seem silly, you never know who may love it and share your cool idea with thousands of others!