Event Goals: Remember the Three S's

I was recently contacted about a series of public events to take place this fall. Thrilled about the opportunity, I dove into my list of questions and quickly learned that some serious gaps existed in the company's pre-planning. Estimated attendance was based off 10% of the population and prices for food and beverage were being discussed before an expense budget had been drafted.

This made me start think about setting goals. Getting caught up in the details of the event can, for some like me, be exciting and motivating. Who wants to spend time thinking about the implications of low attendance when invitations need to be designed and flowers need to be selected? Thinking about making, raising or spending large sums of money can be daunting. But guess what - goals actually help with that!

Setting goals can be motivating if you start out with a brainstorm session. What will make this event perfect in your eyes, the attendees' eyes, the executives' eyes, the donors' eyes? 400 people? a sunny day? spending $0 and raising $infinity? The sky's the limit.

Then, for your second exercise, think about minimums and worse-case scenarios. What if it rains? How many attendees will cover the event's costs?

Somewhere in the middle of these two scenarios are your event goals.

And here's the kicker. You and your team need to remember that goals are flexible. They are words on paper (hopefully - be sure to write them down!), but real life changes. Maybe that potential sponsor you thought perfectly aligned with your event is struggling to make ends meet. Or that ideal venue isn't available on the one day your company has available for the event.

That doesn't mean you give up trying. You go out and find another company or multiple companies to sponsor. You locate a venue that is one street or one town over and adjust your attendance estimates for it. And you make note of these obstacles so that you can prepare better next year.

So for the company planning to have 10,000-30,000 people at 10 first-time events this fall, I suggested we use that big idea brainstorming to their advantage and pair it with some worse-case scenarios to set realistic goals, budgets and timelines.

And to remember the three S's: Setting goals Secures Success.