Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Successful Events Are Planned Professionally

By

Expert Author Richard Brody
As an experience and professional event planner, with more than three decades of experience, I am often asked by others why they would benefit from the services of a professional, rather than just doing it themselves. Some of those reasons include: ability to perform a thorough needs analysis; professionally negotiating every aspect; cost- saving ideas; understanding the differences between value and perceived value; marketing; organization; and time management.
1. Professional event managers perform a needs analysis first, prior to doing anything else. This analysis thoroughly examines all aspects of the organization, including their history and heritage, what the needs are including rooms, travels, meetings, seminars and/ or training, anything given complimentary to others, costs of everything including food and beverage and audio- visual, anticipated revenues (including fees, subsidies, sponsorships, etc.) and expenses, and the goals and intents of the event. These areas then become the basis of a professionally designed Request for Proposal (R.F.P.) that should always be customized and used prior to even considering contract negotiations. The R.F.P. then becomes an addendum to any future contract. Organizations should run away from anyone claiming to be a professional who does not do this procedure first!
2. This procedure then forms the basis for negotiations. Every perceived and conceived of area must be negotiated. A true professional should always do his homework and thus garner maximum results by using win- win negotiations techniques.
3. A professional should be able to review the methodologies and needs, and come up with a plan to effectively save monies in every aspect of the event from the preliminary planning step, through the marketing, organization, planning and implementation stages. There is no one answer, and thus a professional must customize his plan to the organization, and not just provide some rhetorically attractive, yet inappropriate for the individual organization idea. Stay away from boiler- plate or one plan fits all philosophies.
4. Value and perceived value are not the same when it comes to events. It is not what an organizer pays that means anything, but rather how attendees and potential attendees perceive that value. It is because of this that it is so essential for organizations and their planners to prioritize their needs and provide a program that attracts attendees and sponsors, and makes people want to attend.
5. Organizers need to examine their event marketing in terms of its usefulness, effectiveness, costs, and purposes. Pre- event marketing should always begin significantly in advance!
6. Great event planners are always productive and great time managers.
7. True professionals are superbly organized, never leaving anything to chance, planning and backup planning!
Should your organization use an event planner? It all depends on the needs, the budget, the and the costs. An effective event planner should always guarantee you that the amount that he saves will be better than revenue neutral, when compared to the savings and efficiencies.
Richard Brody,with over 30 years consultative sales,marketing,training,managerial, and operations experience,has trained sales and marketing people in numerous industries, given hundreds of seminars, appeared as a company spokesperson on over 200 radio and television programs, and regularly blogs on real estate, politics, economics, management, leadership, negotiations, conferences and conventions, etc. He has negotiated, arranged and/ or organized hundreds of conferences and conventions. He's a Senior Consultant with RGB Consultation Services, an Ecobroker, a Licensed Buyers Agent (LBA) and Licensed Salesperson in NYS, in real estate.
Richard has owned businesses, been a Chief Operating Officer, a Chief Executive Officer, and a Director of Development, as well as a consultant. He has a Consulting Website ( http://tinyurl.com/rgbcons ), and his company PLAN2LEAD, LLC's site ( http://www.plan2lead.net ), and can be followed on Twitter

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