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Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Hosting an Event- Why Should you want one?

Hosting an event is an opportunity to meet new clients, re-unite current clients with each other, inform an audience about your new products, and gain media coverage for your business.
Recently, Outright Communications hosted the event Sinful Secrets for Business & Books at Chapters on Calgary Trail. It was successful in that it provided information for the audience, generated traffic for the location, and provided business leads for the company.
But when thinking about hosting an event there are many factors you need to consider.
You need to make sure your entire team is on board with all the planning – because they are vital to its success. Planning an event can take months, not weeks and you need to make sure your team is up to the challenge, and also that your budget will allow for incidentals. It’s rare that event can be pulled off without one or two glitches!

Here are some tips if you want to get the word out about your company.

Before the Event
First steps to a successful event include thinking about:
Specific goals that you want to achieve
  • Why you are having an event?
  • Who are your intended attendees?
  • What methods of promotion will you use?
  • How large of an event/location do you want?
  • How will the audience benefit? What can you offer?
  • How will you structure the event? How long are the speaking presentations? What props will you need- projectors, power point or other forms of visuals?
  • Will the date conflict with other events- and do you have enough time to put everything into place?
Getting the Word Out:
What’s the point of going through the trouble hosting an event if no one shows up? Your company suffers and your credibility flies out the window. The following tips will help to ensure that you aren’t left talking to an empty room.
  1. Seek out sponsors who align with your business. They can send out your company and event information including brochures and Event posters to their client base. Make sure you’ve chosen people who suit your target audience.
  2. Have brochures, business cards, product samples and gift certificates to encourage people to visit your business after the event.
  3. Collect marketing collateral from your sponsors to be used for prize giveaways.
  4. Have a draw for prizes and gift certificates that incorporate your sponsors and your business.
  5. Have ballots that allow the participants to receive more information about your company or future events- by way of email address or phone number.
  6. Post your event on Facebook, Blog, your website, your sponsors’ website and their Blogs.
  7. Send a media invitation to all your local media.
  8. Place your event information onto all the local free event listings on line, in print, and on television.
  9. Hand out postcards to everyone you meet and have them available at the location you are hosting the event at. Give them out at networking events and to all your clients so that they can spread the word.
  10. Invite a client to participate in the event- this shows that you have even more credibility in your business- a real person who has benefited from your expertise.
After the Event
  1. Follow up with the sponsors and location thanking them for participating and telling them the results of the event, and that you hope there will be future opportunities to work with them on other presentations.
  2. Have your company sit down and do a post mortem to analyze the event- did you achieve the goals you set out to achieve? What would you change for next time?
  3. Follow up on any business leads and include offering them specials on products or services to encourage them to work with you.
  4. Take a breath and plan your next one!
In saying that, Outright Communications would like to thank all those that attended their first event- we had a great time and hope you did too.
As a post event special, we are currently offering $50.00 off the purchase of a media kit writing and design package. A Media kit is a necessary component for business building, attracting media coverage, and increases your chance of being on radio and TV! It also assists reporters in the guest selection process. Click here for details:http://www.outrightcommunications.com/media-kit-offer.html