Events are about details. If you don’t pay attention to details I strongly suggest you pursue another career path, or alternatively read below.

If you are convinced that details are indeed a priority I strongly suggest you think about using a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to manage your next event.

Project managers use WBS to break down projects in smaller parts. By doing so they can define what needs to be done to get from the idea of a project to the actual project. A WBS also helps you in assigning tasks to team members as well as resources.

All the above is pretty straightforward. What I want you to consider is the hidden benefit of coming up with a focused WBS.

By breaking down to a fair amount of detail you’ll be able to think about details. Wait a minute didn’t I suggest you few lines ago to get a new job, you superficial planner?

Well maybe you got a chance.

What we’ve seen is that by using a WBS you can actually identify details.

The trick is that is you can think of new ways to add value to that particular detail.

Think about a conference where a WBS task is to buy presents for speakers.

Your question should now be: how can I add value? What would make that present unforgettable? This will help you in approaching the task creatively.

See, you are thinking about details now.

I have to admit I was the least detail person you will ever meet in your life. Such technique has allowed me to:

- identify the details of a given event

- make those details unforgettable

At the end of the day what you are managing is a sum of details. Never forget that.

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Lately I have been having a great conversation with few of you on what were the top 5 qualities of the successful event manager. Although not in the Top 5, a lot of you named multitasking.

I agree. Even if you are involved with planning a dinner with friends, tasks will include collecting RSVPs, arranging food and drinks, selecting the music for the night, etc,. Most of the times you will find yourself doing few of the above at the same time.

If you work with events you have to multiply that by a hundred.

Nonetheless, I have to admit that in the back of my mind I am not 100% sure that I am being productive when holding 2 phones, replying to an email and making online payments at the same time.

Therefore, I went out and did some research about this interesting subject.

WebMd explains that

…we consistently perform better and faster when tasks are done successively, rather than all at once

That hurts right, looks like awful truth though.

Bad news are not over…

I kept researching and stumbled upon the difference between multitasking and continuous partial attention as per the article of the Huffington Post

Continuous partial attention and multi-tasking are two different attention strategies, motivated by different impulses. When we multi-task, we are motivated by a desire to be more productive and more efficient. Each activity has the same priority - we eat lunch AND file papers. [...] In the case of continuous partial attention, we’re motivated by a desire not to miss anything. There’s a kind of vigilance that is not characteristic of multi-tasking.

Ouch…

The New York Times tells us that multitasking decreases our productivity and it shares some tips as well:

Check e-mail messages once an hour, at most. Listening to soothing background music while studying may improve concentration. But other distractions - most songs with lyrics, instant messaging, television shows - hamper performance. Driving while talking on a cellphone, even with a hands-free headset, is a bad idea.

What about you? Are you still convinced to define yourself as multitasker in your resume?

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A few comments. Read all the answers as you may be inspired by the very latest and I can tell by the quality that every single participant made an effort in writing. I am very happy to finally see event professionals exchanging opinions and talking about their experience, you will notice that we will all benefit from this.

Statistically here is what the majority agreed on:

The first answer is the one that I thought to be the best. Best means more comprehensive and spot on according to my experience. Nonetheless, you might find that other answers are more inspiring that is why I decided to post them all.

Kevin Jurczyk - National Marketing Director at Branstrator Sunrooms and Basement Systems of America says:

1) Excellent time management-

The ability to coordinate not only yourself, but the scheduling of the entire team helping with the event. It’s all about planning, and re-planning and scheduling.

2) Resourcefulness-

In my opinion, this is the most important. With years of experience in events, there is always something that requires a creative fix. Whether it be a piece of tape, or re-working a display because the display across the aisle looks too much like yours. You have to be very resourceful and use what you have. Ability to pool together the individuals you need.

3) Communication-

Share your ideas and your vision openly with your team. Communicate on a level that is respectful to everyone. Do not talk down to anyone, regardless of their role. Everyone has their part and it ultimately leads to your success, make sure you communicate clearly and respectfully. Accept criticism and be open to new ideas.

4) Passion-

Without passion you cannot over come the bumps and triumph when all seems lost. I can train time management, but I cannot teach passion.

5) Strong will, but a level head-

You have to be able to carry out your vision and sometimes crack the whip to get it done. Resolve problems and issues quickly. And you must be able to stand calm at zero hour when something doesn’t go your way. Your team should look to you for everything, the last thing they need is a shaky leader that makes rash decisions because they crack under pressure.

Chris Donahue - Regional Technical Trainer at PSAV - Presentation Services says:

1 - Excellent Time Management
2 - Good Communicator
3 - Attention to detail
4 - Ability to creatively solve probelms
5 - Staying calm at all times

Chris Catoggio - Independent Event Services Professional says:

Probably number 1 is great people skills. The Event Manager needs to be communicative, with the ability to listen and understand what the client is looking to achieve, as well as being able to convey that concept when selecting and negotiating with vendors.

Number 2 is organized. The event manager needs to coordinate a number of responsibilites and manage many teams simultaneously.

Third, an event manager needs to be flexible. In any event, things can and will change with a moments notice. The event manager needs to be able to, for lack of a better word, PUNT.

Fourth, an event manager must be responsible. Regardless of what goes right and what goes wrong, the success of an event, and all it’s coordinates, is the managers responsibility.

Fifth, a successful event manager needs to be enthusiastic and passionate about what they do. Enthusiasm and passion brings about creativity and generates excitement. Maybe, this should be #1!

David Schenberg - CEO Busy Event - a div. of Panamedia says:

1. Treats everyone as a peer and with respect.. even under pressure
2. A level of experience that allows the client to sleep at night
3. Ability to diffuse an explosive situation
4. Extensive network of trusted professionals they can count on
5. Active exploration and listening skills that translate into critical knowledge

Nicole Price - Event Guru at McCormick & Schmick’s says:

I feel very excited to answer this as I just yesterday experienced my *worst* ever customer service experience … with me being the customer.

Therefore, I absolutely stand for the fact that #1 is:

1- Flexibility with respect to understanding your customers’ needs
2- Strong organizational skills AND the ability to communicate them
3- Accessibility - to your customers and colleagues
4- Grace under fire!
5- Excellent, well-trained team to help implement and run the event

In a nutshell … able to achieve just about anything in a New York minute while keeping a smile on my face, managing half a million other items at the same time and making it all look easy.

But it IS easy, right? That’s why we do what we do.

Kevin R. Johnston, CMP - CEO, Advantage Event Group says:

I think there are may attributes that would needed to be successful; here are my Top 5:

1) Blackbelt Contract Negotiator - Ultimately, the event measurement is two fold, satisfaction and budget. A great event with superior satisfaction is often viewed as unsuccessful when the finances are all in

2) Must have a huge rolodex - you cant me a master craftsman in all areas. Having the ability to assemble the right players that will deliver consistently is a must.

3) Must be respected - if a producer is not respected by his boss, peers and contractors, the results may be good, but never great.

4) Must double as a janitor or fireman - often, dealing with cleaning up messes and putting out fires is part of the job. Quickly, quietly and efficiently. Get it done, then get bact to the task at hand.

5) Passionate - if it is just a job or a paycheck any event planner will be viewed as average. The passion to make it more productive, more exciting ,more more more is what drives this business. Other wise we’d all be eating on white table cloths with votive candles and parquet dance floors.

Dare to be different, take calculated risks and make sure that you have a great team that has your back (and you theirs).

Cher Lon Malik - Office Manager Informatica says:

1. Passion
2. Multi- tasker
3. Flexibility - do not freak out — there will be last minute changes always
4. Charisma
5. Approachable

Rohit Kumar - Ph.D. Student at Carnegie Mellon University says:

To add a one more:

Cant do everything yourself: Ability to delegate by trusting people, setting benchmarks (past successful events), sharing vision and establishing feedback channels.

Anuroopa Banerjee Gupta - Marketing Communications expert says:

1. Plans for the best -is well prepared for the worst and equipped to turn around the worst to the best advantage. ( I know of someone who was working on a tradeshow. She got the entire booth set up done till 3 am and when next day she arrived at the booth 30 minutes before showtime she realized the Co. president’s profile shot poster has been posted in a manner that his nose got chopped off- She actually got a 7ft x 3 ft poster mounted before the show- she had an extra poster)
2. Has excellent interpersonal skills
3. Is a great negotiator
4. Has excellent time management capabilities
5. Is a driven go getter, self motivated and never crumbles under pressure

Tushar Panchal - Public Relations, Communications, Branding, Corporate Affairs says:

a) Get the Brief right
b) Know your Consumer
c)Work within budgets
d) Time is crucial
e) Never ever lose control

Michael Miller - Director of Sales & Marketing at Tiki’s Grill & Bar / Holokai Grill says:

1. Understanding and exceeding client goals
2. Plan and execute events so that guest enjoy being at the event
3. Follow through
4. Have a critical eye for details (before, during and after the event)
5. Ability to train and retain great staff.

Laura Rivas - Events and Sales Manager says:

1. Attention to details
2. Good organization skills
3. Flexibility to change
4. Excellent communicator
5. Diplomacy (w/ clients and vendors)

James Minella - Event Operations Director says:

I think, just like any position, each person has to identify their strong points and accentuate those assets while identifying their areas of improvement and addressing those on a daily basis. In general, I would say any successful Event Manager is:

1. Be Extremely organized - overly so
2. Maintain a big picture philosophy at all times, meaning you work on ever detail while keeping in perspective the larger impact and goal
3. Be a good - no great - multi-tasker. To successfully run any program you are going need to ensure that 50 things are getting done at once, whether it’s in preparation or execution of the program.
4. Possess strong interpersonal skills. You need to be comfortable realting to and dealing with high level executives, government officials, vendors, co-workers, sponorsor representatives, customers,supervisors, suppliers, full-time staff, part-time staff and more.
5. Be Creative and Flexible. I think these two go together because in the event business things are always changing. Which requires you be flexible to develop a solution and solution comes about as a result of yoru creativity.

Nicole Bennett - Owner, Perry Consulting says:

1. Knows how to listen to understand - your clients are not in this industry and therefore don’t speak the lingo or know what is available. You have to be able to discern their needs.

2. Flexibility - people don’t like block walls, you have to be able to provide options.

3. Enjoy creative problem solving - no matter how well you plan, something will pop up and you must enjoy being able to solve challenges quickly and with the resources at hand.

4. Time management skills - you should know how to multi-task but you should be able to plan your day in a way that gives you blocks of time where you can focus soley on the project at hand. Your end product will be much more thorough. You should also be organized so you don’t waste time looking for things and reinventing forms/files etc.

5. Industry expertise - your clients come to you because they trust you have knowledge in an area they need guidance. You do your customer and the industry a dis-service if you call yourself an event professional if you don’t have the skills/experience to back it up.

Suzan Patrick - Seasoned Meeting & Event Planner says:

Patience is my number 1. Without it, we don’t belong in this arena.
Flexibility is number 2. There are always going to be “fires to put out”, things that change and people who don’t do what they say they are going to do.
3 Listening skills - it’s one thing to listen - and yet another to hear. Hear what’s said and what’s NOT said.
4 Intuition - I think this goes without say many times, but a keen intuition - being able to foresee things, predict what may need to happen (or not)….is very important.
5 Finally, I would say organizational skills. The best planners I’ve worked for/with are the ones with binders with tabs, sticky notes, checklists, to-do lists, etc. We are a rare breed (and we’re not all Virgo’s)! Planning events requires the ability to think on your feet, but remember it all!

Nicole Jensen - Independent Events Services Professional says:

1 - Fantastic self-discipline. I’m still learning this one.
2 - Expert in listening so that one does not make the event turn out how they want it, but how the client wants. In the long-term this also means market research. Listen to your market and customers.
3 - Flexibility. Management means problem solving. Keep those ideas and options coming!
4 - Time management, naturally.
5 - Personality. You cannot expect to manage people’s “super happy fun times” with a blank character!

Petra Johansson - Independent Events Services Professional says:

In no particular order…

1. Strong organisational skills, ability to multi-task
2. People orientated and approachable
3. Strong communicator
4. Ability to quickly find easy solutions to any problems
5. Have a passion for event organising

Betsy Fowler - Events Services Professional says:

It would seem we all agree you need to be organized and come prepared for the worst. But from step one you need to be able to listen. This will put you in sync with your client and your team and let you stay at least half a step ahead. All that and a sense of humor (and perhaps a little Jimmy Buffett “if we weren’t all crazy we would be insane”) equal a successful event planner

paula entwistle mille - account manager at ketchum says:

besides all qualities related pretty much to working at PR/comm. agencies etc I would add:

-problem solver by nature.
-predict all sorts of problems at the event and look at individual logical solutions to each.
-Know each and every vendor of every little thing to produce even at a personal level.
-creative profile if you are to create the event/the story behind the show and above mentioned characteristics if you are to executive and manage it on the daily basis

Jose Farias - Event resource specialist says:

Learn, Teach, Focus, goal, reward.
To keep relations and create new ones.
to create teamwork with the winning attitude to rice from the competition.

A true leader.

Doyle Slayton - Executive Director & Sales Strategist at SalesBlogcast says:

1. Organized
2. Leadership
3. Steady
4. Creative
5. Connected

Chandrabhan Gupta - Management Consultant & Expert Banks Security says:

1. A great show management skills.
2. On Time Event management skills.
3. Ability to work out and provide best economical infrastructure for the event.
4. A flowless Event coordination skills.
5. A good crowd controller.
Above 5 qualities are required for a successful event manager.

Greg Ruby, CASE CEM CMP - Experienced Event Management Specialist - Baltimore Convention Center says:

1) Be detail-oriented, but don’t sweat the small stuff. Focus on the more important items with the bulk of your work, but do a cursory check on the less important items.
2) Never let them see you sweat! Always remain cool, calm & collected when dealing with other people, while you may be a bundle of nerves on the inside.
3)Have a sense of humor. We are not talking rocket science here. Have fun with the work and the peope you work with, and in most cases they will want to work with you again in the future.
4) Be well connected. You can’t do it all and are going to need help. Have names in your rolodex of people who can help you.
5) Think outside the box. Just because it has always been done that way doesn’t mean that it still has to be done that way. Take risks and be bold.

V I N I T G - ACE / PINNACLE \ MYSTIQUE says:

-Value for money
-Image Enhancement of client
-Crisp & precise time management
-Event Concept to match Corporate goals
-Customized new event -each time

Sanjeev Kotnala - AVP and National Head. Brand Communications. Bhaskar Group says:

SUCCESFUL EVENT MANAGERS are like the events- or alumni of an institute. Its success of their event that get then the tag of being successful and they are as good as the last assignment.

Hence in my view what is needed are
PASSION: The job of event manager at any stage turns out to be a thankless job. The person must have an internal passion and zeal to overcome simple failures and learn fast to be able to work on the newer assignment.

KNOWLEDGE AND BUSINESS SENSE: He must understand the business as well as the covert and the overt business and professional reasons for the event to be happening. And hence must be in a capacity to provide the right input and direction.

SWISSKNEIF: He must be like a multi dimensional multi tasking perosn with no hitch in rolling his sleeves at times to overcome the shortage of resources otr while trying to last minute crisis management.

MANPOWER MANAGER: It’s the main resource that he works with and here his methods to excite motivate or reprimand are essential the tools he plays with. This may in fact be one of the most important factors.

CONSISTENCY-: He moves through a ladder of confidence- trust-faith and respect. And hence he must- do something like he does everything. It holds back any surprises and builds in a level of trust required to have a successful event.

Communication- networking- keeping all on loop- exploitation of the situation are some other factors- but the top 5 in my view have been listed above.

Ramesh Chetwani - SPEX Manager, Informedia India says:

Well, all qualitites mentioned can be rated as Top 5. However, what are the key qualities that will distinguish an Event Manager (EM) with the rest? What are the 5 stars that shine on an EM’s shoulder?

1. Being Pro-active (I was surprised no one mentioned this quality)
2. Intelligent
3. Excellent Salesman
4. Multitasking
5. CRM: Customer Retention Management!

I can back up all with good examples, but then who will finish my book!

Silvia Malesardi - Events management Assistant at Trentino Tourist Board says:

1 a good planner
2 good communication skills
3 playmaker (in relathionships)
4 manage the complexity
5 high self-control

Rita-Eileen Glynn Smith - Marketing, Event Management & Communications Professional says:

I could reiterate what everyone else has stated (and quite nicely I might add), however, I thought I’d have a little fun with this.

You must be psychic – to anticipate what no one else can imagine; You must be modest – there’s no job “too small” that you wont do; You must be clairvoyant – to intuitively understand what hasn’t been communicated or articulated; You must practice magic – because sometimes you’ll be expected to create something out of nothing, and you must like to smile – because come ‘showtime’ – it’s the best feeling ever.

Emma May - Sr. Events Marketing Manager at Athlon Sports says:

Event managers are some of the hardest working people in business today and there are many more than five attributes that make one successful but here are good starts:

1. Strong & pleasant negotiator
2. Extraordinary work ethic and ability to roll up sleeves
3. Always remember who he/she is working for (the client)
4. Calm under pressure/good poker face
5. Detail oriented/good eye for design

Richard O’Malley - Owner-President The O’Malley Project says:

1. Great relationships with quality vendors.
2. The will to get their hands dirty.
3. Motivational.
4. Attentive to the needs of their crews.
5. Desire to create something great, not just get through it.

Jill McClure, CSEP, CMP - Senior Vice President says:

I’ve known many event managers who can organize their way out of a wet paper bag with the lights off. But, these are the qualities that make someone succeed, and not just survive.

1) Understands the business case and financial outcome required for the event
2) Knows how to be a problem solver; events are vehicles for strategic solutions and not just a list of logistics to organize.
3) Provides leadership for the entire team including vendors, stakeholders, clients, staff, etc.
4) Communicates effectively and delegates efficiently
5) Negotiates with an outcome of fair profits, fair deadlines, and fair expectations for all parties involved.

Christopher Noyes, CMP - Events and Progrmas Director at Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce says:

1. Passion
2. Multi- tasker
3. Flexibility
4. Good with People
5. Resourcefulness

Pai Gee-Janssens - Positively Contributing to a Flatter World says:

Cares about overall quality & event success vis-a-vis all event stakeholders -> including the organising team! (o:
Knows how to prioritise
Thinks on their feet
Great at delegating
Not resistant to doing the dirty work when need-be

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It is one of the most adopted and therefore definitely worth a review and interview with its Director of Marketing, Jack Mardack.

How does it work?

Few things that I love about the service:

- There is no standard price. They earn a percentage based on your ticket price.
- It’s customizable. You can pretty much input as many details as you prefer. The event page is greatly adaptable and here are few examples.

Alumni Meeting

Fundraising Event

Social Meeting

- Online secure payment. If you don’t work regularly with events this might be a bit of an hassle to set up. Great tool.
- Affiliate Program. A brand new program where you can promote events and earn up to 35% commission (If you blog about events and have ads you might want to consider this instead of random text ads)
- Tagging, personalized URL, RSS. Welcome to Web 2.0, finally some fresh air.
- Promotion. Eventbrite immediately indexes the event with major search engines. This usually takes forever if you don’t have an updated platform up and running.
- Survey, etc. There are few more you can check them out here

I decided to ask a few questions to Jack Mardack, who was very kind and answered as follows:

What is the idea behind Eventbrite?

Eventbrite is a self-service event registration and online ticketing platform. The idea behind Eventbrite is to empower individuals, companies and organizations of all sizes with the tools they need to successfully promote and sell-out their events on the Web.

What’s in it for event managers?

If you are someone who is already tasked with managing events and selling tickets, Eventbrite can make your life a lot easier and make you more successful. We give the event manager control over the entire process, from pre-event marketing, to registration, to ticket sales, and even give them powerful customer relationship management tools they can use to market future events or promote other products and services.

What’s in it for Average Joe?

What’s in it for the Average Joe is the ability to go from being an Average Joe to being a successful event manager in about 5 minutes. See previous answer. We’ve worked hard to make our tools as easy to use as they are powerful. The result is that everyday people, from all walks of life, are using Eventbrite to promote and sell-out events of every conceivable type and size.

What’s in Eventbrite’s future?

We’re committed to continuing to enrich our features and to making Eventbrite even more powerful. The future is we will remain focused on providing event managers with everything they need to succeed, and on making it as easy as possible for anyone to make their event a success. What we see for the industry is that many more individuals and organizations are going to become event organizers. This is going to produce an incredible number and diversity of events, many of which are going to try to find their audiences on the Web. It’s going to be a really long tail, and Eventbrite will be there for all of them.

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Last week I had the chance to read about De-growth. I am very convinced now that less is actually more. I think the concept behind the movement outperforms every green/sustainable theory so far. It is quite embarrassing there is no Wikipedia entry about it in English. I will commit to translate it from Italian.

There are several hundreds of posts around the blogosphere on how to green your event. You can follow my Blogroll to stumble upon a few. As a matter of fact most of the green/sustainable practices cut emissions, waste, etc. My point is that it is not enough. I’d suggest that what you do in your event actually generates value for internal (participants) and external (community) stakeholders.

To guide you through my point I’ll reference to the first example of how to achieve the optimum level of satisfaction and being useful.

Sustainable Dance Club. Outstanding. People dancing generate energy. What about collecting that energy and generate electricity to light the club.

Use Fon for your wireless. Most of the times you won’t use all of your bandwidth, with Fon you can share the signal with people close by either by charging them or for free, securely. Opening the wireless could be a great business card for the community where you operate, think about it. The wireless signal is also sometimes perceived by some as pollution and intrusive, making it an opportunity for the community to connect to the Internet can be a way out.

Choose location within your premises. In order to make such a courageous choice you actually need powerful content. If your attendees participate for other than content reasons you might want to skip this step. Location can be used by event planners to incentive participation. An attractive location can move extra (i.e. not-motivated) people. On the other hand, if you manage outstanding content who actually “sells itself” you might want to sort the location within your company/organization. The room/space you will use is already there and will be running anyway, so why not taking advantage of existing premises and cut costs as well as transportation emissions and extra energy to run your sessions.

Promote locally. I have found myself involved in paranoid activities aimed at promoting my event to the whole World. I thought that making people move from London to New York for an event would be a great success. I had to think again. I think the greatest success would be to involve all the potential participants who could use local public transportation to get to the location. For the rest of them there has been a great invention called the Internet who can actually ensure presence (and payment maybe of a smaller fee) and participation. We are going to use Ustream for our next event. Easy, free, scalable, interactive and controllable.

Produce a document. I think this whole principle is not only limited to the environment. It strikes the whole concept of meetings and events from within. I am getting bored by just thinking about gatherings of hundreds of people with no tangible end results. Why are you moving the masses and not getting anything out of it? A multitude of people coming together should be addressed at producing a document outlining their interaction. Verba volant, scripta manent. Writing a participative document about the session could be a great bonding experience and facilitate networking as much as a coffee break.

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Either a bug in Wordpress or host troubles or a pseudo-hacker attack are undermining the Event Manager Blog.

We’ll survive.

In the meanwhile you won’t be able to get some pictures, but 100% of the content should be there and links should be working.

Apologies for the inconveniences.

Julius

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A new club is out on Linkedin and if you are in events you can’t miss out.

For those of you who study or work in events you are probably aware of what Linkedin is.

I’ve been using Linkedin for 2 and a half years now and I must say it is a great service. It allows to stay in touch with you colleagues, coursemates or friends. I prefer it over Facebook as it is definitely less invasive and more business focused.

Most of my contacts are on Linkedin and this is a great thing. In fact, adoption is often a problem of social networking websites. Great ideas but nobody use them.

Recently Linkedin had a substantial makeover for the better. We are now able to update our status such as on Twitter or to create Groups.

And that is what I did. I created a Group for those involved in Event Planning & Management. I was amazed to see how in not even a week we became 130 top of the industry members (update: 420 Members)

One limitation of Linkedin is that once you create a Group you just have access to members profiles. And that’s it.

So I started a group on Ning where members of the Event Planning & Management Linkedin Group could interact in a Forum or have their own Blog.

Great success, great adoption.

So what are you waiting for, just use the links and get involved!

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While my visit at Confex 2008 did not leave me with the best memory, I had an interesting meeting with my friend Rob. He participates a lot in Event-Management-Uk a great website and forum about events with an awful lot of information on events.

I could see his dedication and willingness to share information, define practices, give advice to others involved in the industry.

He made me realize how event planners tend to be very possessive with what they know and how difficult it is to share knowledge.

I have to admit it is very true. If you just think e.g. about the number of blogs about sales or PR and you compare it with events you’ll see the ratio is ridiculous.

That translates to me in a lot of people who know how to do stuff but are not eager to share content.

If you are in events, I think you should start blogging now! I am convinced we need far more blogs about events than we currently have. It’s simply not enough.

I do not think about other blogs about events as competition. The good thing about the Blogoshpere is that the more point of views, the better for everyone blogging.

To demonstrate what I state, you’ll find a list of blogs about events below. I think that the content these people create on a daily basis is magnificent and worth reading.

To present them to you in the best possible fashion I decided to select the article that I loved the most, so you can start exploring the rest of the blog. Maybe you know some of them, or maybe not, but hey give ‘em a go:

- Breastest Friends @ Ready2Spark

- Are you Ready to take the leap @ It’s a Jaime Thing

- Tips for throwing a Budget’s Kids Party @ Australia Entertains

- 3 Types of Online Events You Can Host @ IndraSurya

- Now this is worthwhile, memorable and a sure fire guerrilla stunt. This is theater. @ Steve Dennis Event Design

- Going green should not make you feel blue @ Corporate Events Thought

- Event Design tip: Think outside the Table @ SwallowSpecialEvents

- Helpful Event Planning Tools @ Bonjour Events New!

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The email I got yesterday was spam. The content of the spamming manager who sent the email was about registering for an event. He/she did not know it got to the wrong person’s Inbox…mine.

Therefore I decided to blog about it.

Now there are few things that are wrong with this kind of emails and spamming managers sending them. I’ve identified a few and please comment if you feel there are more it would be of great use for most of us.

- Permission

I know I am a bit repetitive with this but this email confirms that in this case there will never be enough repetition. Seth Godin wrote about Permission in 1999 and it has been cited in Marketing books ever since. Now the spamming manager simply did not read a Marketing book in the last 10 years, or worst she/he read it and thought that it would have been great to do the opposite. I tend to read more than 100 blog posts per day plus two online newspapers. I love to be active in things that I like. Obviously this event wasn’t among the happenings I was interested in. I heard about it and ignored it. Why do you feel that sneaking into my email would have changed my idea?

- Email

The fact that you can send instantly 2 million emails to 2 million people made the spamming manager paranoid. By cutting costs of sending brochures she/he thought that now she/he was able to convince the whole world to come to the event. I think that you should be very careful when you engage in such a megalomaniac activity. A lot of people (like me) will perceive the email as an interruption to their daily routine. An unwanted piece of information about an event the I might have liked made me perceive the whole thing as crappy, badly organized, invasive, arrogant and so forth. Spend your money on social media next time to promote and maybe you’ll engage in some useful conversation and beware of using email just to cut costs.

- Sponsors

The bulleted list that I’ve erased is a long lists of participants, sponsors included. I would be so angry with the spamming manager if I were a sponsor. As an interrupted professional who has just seen his Inbox violated I will now perceive negatively any person, organization, company associated with the spamming manager who sent this email. I think I would withdraw from the event immediately.

- Price #1

I don’t want to go too much in depth analyzing the content of the email as I think that in this case the way it was proposed was inappropriate. Nonetheless, I should emphasize that the spamming manager proposed me a discount of 150$. Early birds are great tools but proposing such a large discount does not help in the perception of the overall quality of the event.

- Price #2

Has it occurred to you that there is a new concept of conferences called BarCamps where people set up the whole conference, invite important speakers, collect the participation of huge sponsors and keep everything free and accessible? I think the invasion of my Inbox is telling me that this event is a thing of the past.

- Location

The event is in New York City. I am in Italy and unless you pay me the trip it is highly unlikely that I will travel to NYC just to attend.

- Content

I hid the content of the conference on the snapshot, but trust me it was completely unrelated to my interests.

This whole accident tell us a great story.

- Watch out who you send communication about your next event
- Ask for permission
- Inform, do not try to persuade with old style tricks
- Integrate the open approach as much as possible
- Be an event manager not a spamming manager

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Nonetheless they’re pretty different from men. Individuals are intelligent.

They can create things, they have emotions and few other things I am quite sure you are aware of.

There are few mistakes you can do when you are hosting an event, that this post should help you to avoid.

If you’re hosting a corporate event, a party with friends, a huge convention, a themed dinner, an incentive, a team building session, or lunch with your big family, you are actually managing an event.

There are common mistakes that event managers of all levels make.

These mistakes require a specific post because they are very humiliating to the participants, making them look like monkeys.

- Control

Problem: Most of the business out there requires high degrees of control. The dynamics that control could elicit, lead to low customer/participant/attendee/partaker/uncle Joe/little Tom’s satisfaction thus predicting the overall perception of your event. Control is also the most critical factor in making feel humans as monkeys. Go there, do this,do that, stand up, sit down, have a coffee, now chat with your friend, are very powerful commands that will make feel your guest inappropriate.

Solution: I am a big fan of unconferences, Barcamps and Open Space Technology. The concept behind these methods is that the attendees should decide what to do and how to do it. The event manager becomes a facilitator that helps to keep the things together but no more than that. I am also aware that The more you are able to release control the better the final result.

- Loquacity

Problem: Attendees are there for a reason. It might have been that you’ve done a great marketing or that you’ve promoted your fancy buffet very well at that cool hair styling saloon, but now you got a certain number of people gathered. They’ve decided to come to the location you’ve selected and to give you their precious time for a number of reasons. Not knowing those reasons ignites an unstoppable phenomenon called loquacity. You start talking and talking and talking and talking and talking.

There are several bad effects of such approach but I’ll list you just a couple to give you an idea. By talking you are again trying to keep control. Trust me it is likely that you’re not sure what to do now that a lot of people are together. So you start harassing every single participant with flawless speeches about God knows what.

Solution: I remember that the greatest event I’ve attended was the one were I was free to move around meeting people, but at the same time when I needed something the host would materialize in front of me with a solution. To me that is the key.

The good manager works behind the scenes at all times. She/he has not decided to run the event for her/his personal glory. If a guest wants to entertain a conversation I think it is not polite to avoid a chit chat. On the other hand, you should remember that you are there to accomplish a specific task, make people feel at ease not to become the protagonist of the night.

- Stress

Problem: I think that a great sadistic approach that would make your guests feel like monkeys would be to transfer stress to them. I think that if you cannot hold stress this is not the job for you. Moreover, pouring flawless destructive emotions on your guests will quickly give a negative picture of yourself. The bad thing about releasing the tension in such way is that it is a genius mixture of loquacity with the desire of controlling again the situation.

Solution: If you are in a particularly difficult situation I reckon it is a good practice to make the guest aware of that situation. In this way she/he will be able to understand how you manage high levels of stress.

Conclusion

My suggestion in these three scenarios is that you maybe want to get ready before the event.

This has helped me in identifying potential stressful moments. By doing so you’ll be ready when stress comes and you’ll know how to deal with it.

Loquacity could be again be killed with preparation. Knowing what to do will throw you in the right place at the right time. Trust me, you won’t have the time to share a single word.

Control is the toughest to release. By keeping control we think we are doing the right thing.

My suggestion is to look in front of you, what do you see: monkeys or smart individuals?

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