Do you know why you are holding your event?

​Everyone loves an event. Who doesn’t love a party?! But how many of us know why we hold them?

I often work with organisations who excitedly exclaim ‘We need to have a gala dinner!’ or ‘We need to have a big event’. And my first response is ‘Why?’.
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Don’t get me wrong, I am an event manager so I know the power of events but it is easy for enthusiasm to override reason (Rhonda from 'Utopia' might disagree!).
​There is no right or wrong reason for holding an event, the key is knowing why you are holding it, identifying the gap in the market, strategically planning it and assessing it for future reference.

A recent conversation in a bar perfectly highlighted this. A guy asked me what I do, I replied I manage events, he responded that he does events online and ‘it’s a hard gig isn’t it, trying to get bums on seats?’.

My instant response was ‘not if you are holding the event for a reason’. He was dumbfounded at this comment. I went on to explain you hold an event because there is a need for it, not for the sake of holding the event.

The first three questions I ask when an organisation says they want to have an event are:

• What is the purpose?
• Who is your audience?
• What is the need?
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It is very difficult to get bums on seats if you don’t have a clear idea of your audience and their need for this event. While this sounds like common sense, you would be surprised the amount of times that these questions are asked too late in the planning process.

There are many reasons for events:

• Launch a product
• Raise brand awareness
• Stakeholder engagement/acknowledgement
• Professional development and training
• Fundraising
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So next time you are planning your event, ensure you have a clear purpose, need and audience.

Author

Georgie Stayches is Founder and Managing Director of Fetching Events & Communications, a boutique agency specialising in event management, communications and volunteer management.