Get em there!

So I'm going to go back and detail a few of the steps that I took while working on the sendoff.  Today's lucky topic is marketing!

This is one of the more important parts of planning an event.  You can plan the coolest shin dig ever, but if you don't tell people; no one is going to be there.

So some tips for those of you with a low marketing budget:

1. Target your audience.  When deciding what type of event to plan, one of the things we talked about was making sure you knew who your target crowd was.  Use this information to help figure out how and where to market.  Whats the age range? Is there a particular interest among your target crowd? Where do they hang out? (If you are throwing a concert, then music stores are a good place to advertise) 

2.  Using this same information, what types of things appeal to them?  Would bright colors work better for the event? Is humor the best course?  Or do you want something more professional? What would attract more people for your type of event?

3. But diversify:  Don't be afraid to market outside of this zone to anywhere you think might get some foot traffic.

4. Use different mediums:  Fliers are underrated.  They do at least catch attention.  Facebook and social media are the new ways of getting anything out there.  Use them! If you aren't good with that type of thing, make a friend who is =).Other avenues include newspaper ads or articles, as well as local radio stations.  If your event is for a good cause many stations will promote it for free in their community events section. 

5.  Word of mouth: Don't ever underestimate this.  Make your friends and your partners, co-workers talk it up and get the people they know excited.  Its a chain. 

6.  Have a plan.  Develop a marketing strategy and know who is going to be in charge of what parts. 

7.  Be creative!  I've seen some really cool things done to market for events.  You could put the event title on balloons or other random objects and give them out.  You could dress someone up in a silly costume and have them hand things out.  Find something funky, fun and out of the box.

Senior Sendoff!

Hey !  So my event finally happened yesterday!

The day was beautiful and we had a pretty good turnout.  I was very happy with all of our volunteers and everyone that we worked with.  It was so great to see all the work that I put into this event come alive.  If you are interested, check out the article that was in URI's newspaper, The Good 5 Cent Cigar.

http://www.ramcigar.com/senior-send-off-event-held-for-students-soon-to-graduate-1.2189307

So Since I'm in the Event Evaluation phase I figured I would go over the types of questions to ask yourself when you finish up an event.  This is the event evaluation form that I created for the Student Programming Office.


1. What were our goals / opbjectives / expectations for this event?

2. Did we meet those goals / objectives / expectations with this event?

3. Did we meet our budgetary goals?

4. What could we have done differently to make the event better / more productive (number of volunteers,   preparation, management, advertising, professionalism, flow of the event)?

5. Did we face any group conflict with this program?  what was it? How was it resolved? What could we have done differently?

6. Would we bring this vendor / performer in again? Was it worth it? (financially or otherwise)

7.  Would we execute a similar program in the future? What changes would we make?

8. How does this program allow us to grow as a group, officers, and leaders?  Was it a good program?

The main course

Hey all sorry for the delay its been a CRAZY week.  But I'm back now for the meat of the planning. Yes that was intentional ;)

step 5: Programming

This includes whatever type of entertainment that you plan on having.  You can do so much with this.  If you are having a fundraiser you could use any of these options or many more.

You could hire entertainment of some kind.  There are many sites that offer performers, magicians, acrobats, live bands, to come in and perform for your event.  These can get rather pricey however, and you need to see what works in your budget.  You could hold a stand up contest, or hire a couple comedians.  A fun one that I have heard of and never gotten to try is a murder mystery dinner.  These aren't very hard to plan and  you could buy a kit online or just read the rules on a site and make the stuff up as you go.  With a fundraiser another good option might be too have a slideshow with pictures for the cause you are raising money for or have speakers address the group about the project or cause. Silent auctions (or the not so silent kind) can also be fun dinner entertainment if you have items that people would be willing to buy.  Many places will donate quality items for a good cause.  Just ask nicely!

If this banquet is more of a celebration dinner, slide shows are still a good idea but focused on the group and its members.  You could have departing members give speeches or perform 'roast'.  All of these things can be found online and you can get some how to do guides from there.  I'm sure I'll hit all of them eventually, but for now I would just so google them.  And keep in mind, these are only a couple of options, there is so much more you could do, just be creative! 

This is one site that offers a lot of great options in the Rhode Island area, There are many others:

                                                              http://funent.com/

A third option for a banquet is to make it an award ceremony.  In this case, you would need to create a timeline for the evening including how long any introductions are, if any important people need to give speeches, and how long you are giving them.  You need to know how many awards are being presented and the likely time of each award.  You need to order the awards (plaques; trophies; certificates; etc).

Step5 (part 2)
Once you decide what your doing, you need to organize it and fit it into your plan.  Because there are so many options I'm not going to go into each one, but I can give you some basic tips.  First, pick a form of entertainment.  Remember to consider your budget, your audience, and  your location when making this choice. 

When planning you need to come up with a timeline.  Figure out when you want the program to start, how long its going to go, and if there are things such as intermission.  You have to decide if you want it do be happening during dinner or after.  There are benifts to both.  Time constraints might mean you do both at the same time, but if a speech is really important, you would likely want to plan it while people are not eating.

You need to stay on top of things.  You need to keep in contact with whoever you are working with, outside companies and vendors etc.  Remind them of times and dates, handle contracts, and confirm payment methods.  Be clear about the time you expect them there to set up and if you have any requirements in regards to content (especially with comics and musicians!).  Make sure they have any equipment they need and make them be clear about what they expect you to provide.  This could range from microphones to lighting or just water for the performers.  Ask!

Make sure you handle your basic needs; tech stuff, microphones, projector if you plan on a slide show.  If you want publicity arrange for the press, or at least someone from your group to take pictures.  And if its a fundraiser of course remember to market, early, hard and to the right people.  

Without having a specific type of entertainment I can't give you too much more.  If you would like tips on working with any of my suggestions or an idea you have, let me know! I'd be glad to give my suggestions!

Well time to go catch up on life; wish me luck! TTFN

Banquet Dinners

Well Everyone, hope your all doing well.  Time for another event run down!  Last night was the A. Robert Rainville Leadership awards banquet for the university of rhode island.  I was not involved with planning this one, but did receive the award for outstanding student leadership.

I had a great time at this banquet and thought I would tell you how to plan one! 

First: why would you plan a banquet?  You could do it as a celebration (to close out a year, acknowledge seniors, or executives who might be leaving) or you could do it as a fundraiser.  To hold this event as a fundraiser the primary difference would be to charge each person who comes for a ticket.

Step One:
Pick a date:  Avoid holidays, or days that have other big things happening (superbowl for instance).  Have some back up dates in case you have trouble finding a location.

Step Two:
Reserve a Venue:  Consider size.  A fundraiser would likely require a larger area, a celebration is often more intimate.  Think of your expected attendance.  Some dinner Venues require you to use their catering services.  Compare prices and menus.  Find something that works for your budget.  Also consider tech needs.  If you would like to have a slide show or some other form of entertainment, you would like to ensure that your venue is equipped to handle it. 

Step Three:
Menu:  This can be done two ways.  You can have buffet style, or a more formal style in which the guests are served.  In either case remember to offer vegetarian options and to ask quests to inform you if they have any food allergies.  You can offer one main option and a vegetarian, or more.  Find what fits into your budget. 

Step Four:
Guests List:  You need to decide who is coming, and what your cap is.  For a celebration banquet this is much easier.  You just invite the organization and any special guests and work on an RSVP function.  Invitations should be going out as early as possible in order to give people to time respond and clear schedules.  I recommend a month at least.  I also recommend having the menu prepared at this time so that you will be able to inform guests of prices (if there is one) and to ask which option they prefer for a meal choice.  When doing this for a fundraiser your approach could take two paths.  You could invite past donors, members of a certain community etc... What this means is that there is a set number if invitees and who ever responds from that will be your guests (you may want to put a cap on how many guests each invitee is allowed to bring.  Even if you don't you should request to know if they are bringing anyone, how many, and what their dinner choice would be as well).  The second way to do this is to keep it an open event.  This would mean that you advertise to the general public and a larger less specific audience.  You would manage this by having a registration deadline and by limiting the amount of people that you allow to rsvp.  IE (first 150 people).


So these are your first few steps to planning a successful banquet dinner.  I have to run for now, but there is a bit more that you need to do.  Step 5
is going to be designing your programming and that's a big one, so we'll talk about it next time.  Time to go celebrate, have a good rest of the week everyone! TTFN!