Contribute to the Organisation of an Event

Customer Service Level 2

Contribute to the organisation of an event

Understanding event organisation

Main objectives

•Understand the roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of people involved in events

•Understand the different types of events

•Understand the different types of resources required to make an effective event

•Understand the different needs of attendees at events

•Understand the requirements of health, safety and security at events

•How to deal with types of problems that may occur during events and how to deal with them

Who gets involved in an event?

Event manager/event planner

•Overall responsibility of the event which include concept, design and delivery end to end.

Event co-ordinator

•Overall responsibly for co-ordinatingwith all parties such as suppliers, venues and attendees

Administrator

•Responsible for arranging pre-event information and gathering post-event information

Delegates/attendees

•The guests attending the event

Activity / discussion

Types of events

•Annual General Meeting (AGM)

•Trade shows

•Training conferences

•Academic conferences

•Team-building event

•Awards ceremony

•Seminars

•Weddings

These are just some of the events that businesses may run, however depending on the sector there are considerably more…

Annual General Meetings

•Formal meeting held once per year by companies

•Legal requirement to be held

•Attended by senior representatives of the company such as directors

•To discuss accounts, performance and election of directors of the company

•Usually completed by Ltd, Plc and voluntary organisations

Trade shows

•Used to showcase products and services that companies offer

•Usually not open to the general public

•Generally held in large exhibition centres

•Large event

Training and academic conferences and seminars

•Used to train both internal and external customers on a set of learning objectives

•Can be held in-house or external venues

•Can be over one or a multiple of days

Team-building events

•Used to create more effective working environments for employees

•Generally held away from the workplace

•Informal environment

•Can involve both indoor and outdoor activities

Awards ceremonies

•Used to celebrate success on achievements

•Delivered in a formal environment

•Can also incorporate other events such as dinners and after-show activities

Seminars

•Used to discuss a particular subject or topic

•Delivered in a formal environment

•Can also incorporate other events such as dinners and after-show activities

Weddings

•Celebration event

•Varies in size

•Usually both an all day and evening event

Resources required to make an effective event
Delegate packs / Refreshments
Meals / Audio/visual
Rooms / Stationery
Identificationbadges / Welcome packs
Salesmaterials / Accommodation

What else can you think of?

Needs of attendees

Venue Dietary

Audio/visual Access

Logistics Language

What else can you think of?

Health, safety and security

It is important to ensure that this is always considered before any event.

What do we think we should think about when we are planning our event?

Problems that can occur

WeatherVenue cancellations

Hospitality cancellationsDelegate cancellations

Stationery does not arriveDelegate packs do not arrive

Dietary requirements are not metProjector failure

What else can you think of?

Preparing for an Event

Main objectives

•Identify venue requirements for an event

•Consider resource requirements for an event

•Look at pre-event documentation

•How to deal with attendee responses for events

•What to consider special requirements of attendees

Venue requirements

Types of venues

There are many types of venues that can hold events. Depending on the event, you will need to select the most appropriate and cost effective for the organisation.

•Hotel meeting rooms

•Hotel conference rooms

•Conference centre

•Exhibition centre

•Theatre

•Meeting rooms within the organisation

•Restaurants and bars

•Wedding venues

Obtaining resources

It’s important to plan for everything that you require, sourcing suppliers that meet both the needs as well as deliver value to the organisation. Some resources you need to consider include:

•Seating and table requirements

•Refreshments

•Lunch/dinner

•Accommodation

•Guest speakers

•Audio/visual equipment

Pre-event documentation

To ensure that any event runs smoothly it is vital to send out pre-event information to delegates. Sometimes this is called ‘Joining instructions’.

Pre-event documentation

Things you should include in your joining instructions are:

•Event location, date and time

•Dress code

•Facilities at the venue such as accommodation and parking

•Travel information both by car and public transport

•Overview of the event

•Information you require from the delegate

Collating delegate responses

Collating delegate responses

It is vital to ensure that you collate delegate information prior to the event, which will include:

•Delegate personal information

•Confirmation of attendance

•Special requirements

Pre-event information should be collated as early as possible prior to the event to ensure effective planning.

Special requirements of attendees

Some attendees may have special requirements that you may need to accommodate.

These could include:

•Dietary requirements

•Accessibility requirements

•Language requirements

Special requirements of attendees

Setting up an event

Today’s objectives

•Recap on previous session

•Identify different room layouts and select the best for the event

•Identify all resources are in place pre event

•Identify the standards required to present the organisation in a positive way

Room layouts

There a number of room layouts that you can select to best optimise your event.

There are a number of factors that you need to consider when choosing your room layout, such as:

•Event type and objectives

•Number of delegates

•Room constraints

•Event delivery style

U-shaped Boardroom Theatre

Classroom Cabaret Dinner/ Dance

Selecting the bestlayout

What room layout would you choose for the following scenarios:

•Sales seminar with over 250 delegates

•AGM with 6 delegates

•A training session with 20 delegates?

Getting it right on the day

Before any event it is important to ensure that all resources have been identified and are available.

Getting it right on the day

•Break-out rooms

•Refreshments

•Lunch/dinner

•Delegate packs

•Health and safety

•Audio/visual equipment

•Stationery

Manage your time effectively

On the event day, there will be a lot happening quickly and it can be easy to lose track of your objectives.

Manage your time effectively

•Checklist

•Allowing enough time

•Have resources available the day before

•Plans in place for problems that could occur

Project professionalism

Its always important to represent your organisation in a positive manner. This is especially as important during an event.

Some key things to remember:

•Appearance

•Tone of voice

•Choice of words

•Posture

First impression –7 SECONDS!

•You are evaluated by everyone every day

•People look at your visual and behavioural appearance from head to toe.

•They even listen to your tone of voice.

•Demeanour, mannerisms, body language and even grooming are assessed.

•You make a lasting impression instantly.

•You may impress some and disenchant others.

Do’s and Don’ts – Male

•Novelty tie•Sportswear

•Visible tattoos•Portfolio or briefcase

•Novelty socks•Clean, smart, professional shoes

•Conservative tie•Personal stereo on

•Chewing gum•Dirty shoes

•Neat, professional hairstyle•Visible body piercing

•Baseball cap•Neatly trimmed, clean nails

•White or co-ordinating pale coloured long-sleeve shirt•Mobile phone on

•Dark socks•Little or no jewellery

•Discreet belt

Do’s and Don’ts – Female

•Mobile phone on•Solid colour, conservative skirt or trouser suit

•Dirty shoes•Sportswear

•Light natural-looking make-up•Coordinating blouse or skirt

•Matched light hosiery•Neat professional hairstyle

•Visible tattoos•Conservative low-heeled shoes

•Manicured nails•Chewing gum

•Visible body piercing•Low-cut tops

•Jeans•Sandals or dirty shoes

•Personal stereo on•Portfolio or briefcase

•Excessive jewellery•Limited perfume

•Excessive make-up•Simple jewellery

•Visible underwear•Hipster trousers

Make a good impression

What would your impression be?

Listening techniques

•When you are conversing with a customer, learn to tune out all distractions and focus totally on what your subject is saying

•As the customer speaks, concentrate on what the customer is saying (rather than thinking about how you want to respond). Otherwise, you will miss the fine points that could lead to more probing questions and more valuable information.

•Do not interrupt. People like to talk and do not like to be cut off. Once customers exhibit a willingness to talk, you should focus on the information they want to provide rather than trying to interject your own opinions, which may cause them to ‘clam up’.

•Do not just listen to their words. Also focus on the of tone, inflection and body language. These can be as telling as the words themselves, because they reveal how the customer feels.

•Make eye contact with the customer to show that you are paying attention.

Organisational values and standards

Values:Principles or standards of behaviour

Standards:A level of quality or attainment

Organisational values and standards

Organisations will have a set of values and standards because:

•They provide us with a framework of how we treat one another

•They provide us with a framework of how we treat our customers

•They help us make sense of our working life and how we fit into the bigger picture

•They provide us with a framework of the overall company vision, strategy and goals

Post-event actions

Main objectives

•Understand how to ensure that the venue is restored following the event

•Carry out follow-up actions after the event

•How to carry out evaluation following the event

After the event

After your event there will be a number of things that you will need to consider. It will vary depending on the event that you held, as well as the venue.

If you hire a venue, you are usually issued with a contract, with terms that you will need to agree to.

After the event

Most contracts will include:

•Date of the event

•Number of delegates

•Resources required

•Catering requirements

•How the venue should be returned

•Price

After the event

There are a number of things that you need to consider following the event, such as:

•Returning the room to the original layout

•Packing away any equipment such as audio/visual etc

•Recycling any unused delegate packs

•Security of the room/venue

•General housekeeping

After the event

•It is important to ensure that all actions following the event are completed. If things are missed, this could cause financial penalties if you are not meeting the terms of the contract with the venue.

•Completing a simple checklist will alleviate this.

Follow-up actions

Following the event, there may be a number of actions that you will need to complete according to your event plan.

This should be discussed with the event manager prior to the event. Follow-up actions will vary depending on the type of event being held.

Below are some examples:

Sales events

If you have held an event to advise prospective customers on a new product or service that you offer, you may need to contact the delegates to gather their thoughts on the product or service.

Training events

Following a training event, you may need to send a copy of the training materials to the delegates for future reference.

Evaluation

Following any event it is important to evaluate its success against an agreed set of criteria. This could be delegate feedback on a training event, or an increase in sales after a sales seminar.

Evaluation

Some ways of completing an evaluation include:

•Completing surveys with delegates

•Analysing sales figures

•Face-to-face feedback with delegates

•Comments cards.

Selecting the best method of evaluation will be dependent on the type of event being held.

Evaluation

•Completing surveys with delegates

•Analysing sales figures

•Face-to-face feedback with delegates

•Comments cards

Self-evaluation

It is also important to evaluate your own performance through self-evaluation so that you can continue to improve your own performance in your job role.

You can design a simple questionnaire that you can rate yourself against. You can then ask your line manager to complete the same.

This will then give you an idea of areas for improvement for the future.

Simple self-evaluation example

Task / Good / Fair / Poor / Good / Fair / Poor

Recap

•Recap on event organisation

•Recap on pre-event actions

•Recap on setting up for an event

•Recap on carrying out post-event actions

Who gets involved in an event?

•Event manager/event planner - Overall responsibility of the event which include concept, design and delivery end to end.

•Event co-ordinator - Overall responsibility for co-ordinating with all parties such as suppliers, venues and attendees.

•Administrator - Responsible for arranging pre-event information and gathering post-event information.

•Delegates/attendees - The guests attending the event.

Types of events

•Annual General Meeting (AGM)

•Trade shows

•Training conferences

•Academic conferences

•Team-building event

•Awards ceremony

•Seminars

These are just some of the events that businesses may run, however depending on the sector there are considerably more.

Resources required to make an effective event

Delegate Packs / Refreshments
Meals / Audio / Visual
Rooms / Stationary
Identification Badges / Welcome Packs
Sales Materials / Accommodation

Health, safety and security

It is important to ensure that this is always considered before any event.

What do we think we should think about when we are planning our event?

Problems that can occur

Weather / Venue Cancellations
Hospitality Cancellations / Delegate Cancellations
Stationary does not arrive / Delegate Packs do not arrive
Dietary requirements are not met / Projector Failure

Collating delegate responses

It is vital to ensure that you collate delegate information prior to the event, which will include:

•Delegate personal information

•Confirmation of attendance

•Special requirements.

Pre-event information should be collated as early as possible prior to the event to ensure effective planning.

Special requirements of attendees

Some attendees may have special requirements that you may need to accommodate.

This could include:

•Dietary requirement

•Accessibility requirements

•Language requirements.

Room layouts

There a number of room layouts that you can select to best optimise your event.

There are a number of factors that you need to consider when choosing your room layout, such as:

•Event type and objectives

•Number of delegates

•Room constraints

•Event delivery style.

Getting it right on the day

•Break-out rooms

•Refreshments

•Lunch/dinner

•Delegate packs

•Health and safety

•Audio/visual equipment

•Stationery

Manage your time effectively

•Checklist

•Allowing enough time

•Have resources available the day before

•Plans in place for problems that could occur

Project professionalism

It is always important to represent your organisation in a positive manner. This is especially as important during an event.

Some key things to remember:

•Appearance

•Tone of voice

•Choice of words

•Posture.

First impression –7 SECONDS!

•You are evaluated by everyone every day.

•People look at your visual and behavioural appearance from head to toe.

•They even listen to your tone of voice.

•Demeanour, mannerisms, body language and even grooming are assessed.

•You make a lasting impression instantly.

•You may impress some and disenchant others.

Listening techniques

•When you are conversing with a customer, learn to tune out all distractions and focus totally on what your subject is saying.

•Do not just listen to their words. Also focus on the of tone, inflection and body language. These can be as telling as the words themselves, because they reveal how the customer feels.

•Make eye contact with the customer to show that you are paying attention.

Evaluation

Some ways of completing an evaluation include:

•Completing surveys with delegates

•Analysing sales figures

•Face to face feedback with delegates

•Comments cards.

Selecting the best method of evaluation will be dependent on the event being held.

Self-evaluation

It is also important to evaluate your own performance through self-evaluation so that you can continue to improve your own performance in your job role.

You can design a simple questionnaire that you can rate yourself against. You can then ask your line manager to complete the same.

This will then give you an idea of areas for improvement for the future.