{"id":354,"date":"2019-05-16T09:08:48","date_gmt":"2019-05-16T09:08:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.eventscase.com\/?p=354"},"modified":"2023-03-07T14:18:49","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T12:18:49","slug":"event-planning-tips-how-to-keep-everything-on-time-on-budget-and-on-track","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/event-planning-tips-how-to-keep-everything-on-time-on-budget-and-on-track","title":{"rendered":"Event Planning Tips &#8211; How to Keep Everything on Time, on Budget and on Track"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Planning an event can be a tough exercise. Whether you\u2019re managing just one conference, or a series of exhibitions over the course of a few months, you\u2019re likely to face the usual challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These include, but are not limited to, the following pinch points:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Lack of time<\/b> &#8211;<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Often a result of having too many events or tasks to manage, we all wish we had just a few more days to finish everything off. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Lack of budget <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; Most events need to be financed in some way. It\u2019s very easy to overspend, especially when you\u2019re doing something for the first time.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Lack of cooperation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Even some of the most experienced event managers have trouble organising speakers, suppliers and attendees. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Lack of organisation <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; To ensure success, every team member has to be organised and pulling in the same direction.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">EventsCase has seen it all over the course of our lifespan. From dealing with <strong>event managers<\/strong> on a day-to-day basis, we have picked up several useful <strong>event planning tips<\/strong> that could help you avoid some of the issues above.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Event planning tips for saving time<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you need to unlock a few hours to knuckle down on the things that matter, why not allow your technology to handle some of the more mundane, time-sapping duties? Use an <a href=\"https:\/\/eventscase.com\">event management platform<\/a> to automate the sending of important information, like booking confirmations, and FAQs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can use the same technology to facilitate <a href=\"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/one-to-one-matchmaking-software\">one-on-one networking<\/a> between attendees, which could save you countless hours over a busy event.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another, more basic idea is to plan your event as early as possible. That way you\u2019ve given yourself the maximum amount of time to organise it. You should also get used to delegating tasks to other team members, seeing as you can\u2019t be <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">everywhere<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at once.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-350 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Beautiful-young-woman-holding-a-laptop-expressing-concern-and-worry-200x300.jpeg\" alt=\"-\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" title=\"-\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Beautiful-young-woman-holding-a-laptop-expressing-concern-and-worry-200x300.jpeg 200w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Beautiful-young-woman-holding-a-laptop-expressing-concern-and-worry-420x630.jpeg 420w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Beautiful-young-woman-holding-a-laptop-expressing-concern-and-worry-40x60.jpeg 40w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Beautiful-young-woman-holding-a-laptop-expressing-concern-and-worry.jpeg 667w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Event planning tips for tracking spend<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spreadsheets can help you manage your budget effectively, but don\u2019t forget the capabilities of <strong>event planning tools<\/strong> for the same goal. They will provide a more in-depth view of your costs and expenditure, allowing you to make adjustments where necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ratios are also important when planning event budgets. For a typical conference, you can expect to allocate around 20% to hiring a venue, with speakers requiring 30%. Most of the remaining 50% will go towards marketing and production costs. Don\u2019t guess these percentages &#8211; they need to come from analysis of your market.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Above all, though, don\u2019t be afraid to ask for more money if you can justify it. Around <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eventmanagerblog.com\/event-budget\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">26.1% of event managers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> expect their event budgets to rise in 2019. Sometimes, things just cost a bit more than you anticipated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-351 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Top-view-of-businessman-looking-at-business-sketches-on-floor-300x191.jpeg\" alt=\"-\" width=\"300\" height=\"191\" title=\"-\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Top-view-of-businessman-looking-at-business-sketches-on-floor-300x191.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Top-view-of-businessman-looking-at-business-sketches-on-floor-768x488.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Top-view-of-businessman-looking-at-business-sketches-on-floor-991x630.jpeg 991w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Top-view-of-businessman-looking-at-business-sketches-on-floor-94x60.jpeg 94w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Top-view-of-businessman-looking-at-business-sketches-on-floor.jpeg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Event planning tips for gaining cooperation<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Events can fall apart through no fault of its organiser. Speakers, suppliers, attendees and sponsors each have different duties to carry out. When they become hard to work with, problems occur.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our advice is to log each interaction with these parties in a system. Having a single database will allow you to see who\u2019s on top and who\u2019s lagging behind.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes it pays to take a hard line with certain individuals. If a speaker has failed to submit their slide deck on time, you should already have someone lined up to replace them if necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Occasionally, the problems are in your own team, which is even easier to solve. By using a <strong>project management system<\/strong> to assign tasks and deadlines, everyone will know where they stand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-352 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Blue-Ring-Binder-with-Inscription-Budget-Planning-on-Background-of-Working-Table-with-Office-Supplies-and-Laptop.-Budget-Planning-Business-Concept-on-Blurred-Background.-3D-Render.-300x225.jpeg\" alt=\"-\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" title=\"-\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Blue-Ring-Binder-with-Inscription-Budget-Planning-on-Background-of-Working-Table-with-Office-Supplies-and-Laptop.-Budget-Planning-Business-Concept-on-Blurred-Background.-3D-Render.-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Blue-Ring-Binder-with-Inscription-Budget-Planning-on-Background-of-Working-Table-with-Office-Supplies-and-Laptop.-Budget-Planning-Business-Concept-on-Blurred-Background.-3D-Render.-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Blue-Ring-Binder-with-Inscription-Budget-Planning-on-Background-of-Working-Table-with-Office-Supplies-and-Laptop.-Budget-Planning-Business-Concept-on-Blurred-Background.-3D-Render.-840x630.jpeg 840w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Blue-Ring-Binder-with-Inscription-Budget-Planning-on-Background-of-Working-Table-with-Office-Supplies-and-Laptop.-Budget-Planning-Business-Concept-on-Blurred-Background.-3D-Render.-80x60.jpeg 80w, https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Blue-Ring-Binder-with-Inscription-Budget-Planning-on-Background-of-Working-Table-with-Office-Supplies-and-Laptop.-Budget-Planning-Business-Concept-on-Blurred-Background.-3D-Render..jpeg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Event planning tips for improving organisation<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If we\u2019ve learnt anything from our years in the <strong>events business<\/strong>, it\u2019s that you can be as calm as the sea while everything is being planned. That doesn\u2019t prevent a complete catastrophe on the day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well-organised events answer to schedules for each staff member, detailing where someone needs to be at a specific time. You should have a single channel for communicating with your team (a WhatsApp group is perfect) and keep everything topical. Pointless conversation will make the emergencies harder to find.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To alleviate the strain on your resources, be sure to move as much of the pressure across to your technology. Tasks like the sending of \u201cthank you\u201d messages can take hours to complete. It\u2019s the same for networking between attendees; self-serve technology lets them book meetings on their own accord. A machine can do these tasks quicker, and with fewer mistakes. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><i>Need more event planning tips? View <\/i><\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/\"><b><i>our blog<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Do you want to know how technology can help you in managing events before, during and after they happen? Book a demo today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Planning an event can be a tough exercise. Whether you\u2019re managing just one conference, or a series of exhibitions over the course of a few &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":713,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[9],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4567,"href":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354\/revisions\/4567"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eventscase.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}