Home shows are a great way for companies to showcase their business to a target audience. If you organize an event yourself, your brand will become the top dog of all companies that exhibit there. This is a great opportunity to position yourself as an industry leader. There are a lot of things you need to do to keep things running smoothly. Planning, preparing and booking guests are part of the process. You also need to market the event for people to show up and register exhibitors.
That is the hardest part. Learn how to set up events that users talk about and keep coming back to.
What you need to set up events
Do you love spreadsheets? If not, by the time you are done with your event, you will have a lot of moving parts that need attention. You must take enough time to plan the event. On average, planning takes between 6 and 12 months. To organize an outstanding event, you have to organize yourself. It starts with bringing your team together. An event cannot be held by one person. Instead, you want to have a team of employees who oversee certain aspects of the event.
One person can focus on marketing, another on booking speakers, one person is responsible for booking the venue and managing this relationship. Other aspects that need to be monitored are sponsorship, marketing, volunteer management and participant experience. You should have an extensive table that describes the task for each person or committee responsible for each task and when the task needs to be done.
Visualize the participant experience
Your event will be a total failure if no one shows up. It will be difficult for you to find sponsors again next year. You have to think about every part of the participant experience, from where they register and how they walk around the exhibition space. One of the most important parts of the participant experience is check-in and registration. You want to make sure that registration and recording name badges is as easy as possible. This is the first impression people have of your event and you want it to be a good first impression. A long wait or fumbling for information doesn't make a good impression.
Promotion of the event
A brand new event is very difficult to market. Participants and sponsors will try to shy away from the first year as they have to wait for them to approach. You don't want to be associated with a bad event and you don't want to invest in something that is going well or badly. Your job in promoting the event is to understand what attendees and sponsors are looking for – prospects, home renovation ideas, and networking opportunities. You must demonstrate that the event offers this and more. You may be able to give the event more credibility by booking a well-known speaker. You don't have to have HGTV celebrity, but you want a name that people know.
How to create a great event
Planning a great event is not easy. It takes a lot of people and planning to organize events. If you want to have a spectacular event that sponsors and attendees will love, you need to have a team that manages various aspects of the event. Would you like more great DIY tips? Check out this page often to find more great articles!
