I was putting together an event at work last week and a single thought rang through my head.
“I hate putting events together.”
Now, this is a scary thought for a person who has built her life and career towards putting together events. I did an event internship in college. I have gone through certification training for events. My blog is about events!
So, I took a day, ran to the beach to work out what had gone wrong and how to fix it. The beach is one of my calm places and has very few distractions. I put my feet in the sand and worked through this.
So what has gone “wrong”. I had 4 main points that I came up with.
1.My personal life has been intense lately.
For various reasons, I had to cancel my bachelorette party. (I am sitting about 100 yards away from the house that had been rented for that weekend as I write this.) My bridal party has had some shake ups, due to no fault of the people involved but life in general. Plus, working a full-time job, running a blog, and creating an online course about trade shows that will be released in the next two months. Oh, and wedding planning (with help). It has been a lot and your personal life spills over into your work life and vis-a–versa.
2. I have been focusing on the negatives of what people say about my events.
Before my above scary thought, I was running through the litany of complaints that I was sure would be aired because they had been aired at previous events. Complaints about location, decorations, food, the choice of drink, etc. Now, none of these complaints have been stated about one single event – but about events over two and a half years. But that was all I heard in my head.
3. I have done enough events that they have started to become routine.
With over a decade of events under my belt, I have learned a ton and I am able to put together simple events with ease. I now have an instinctive knowledge of what needs to be done and no longer get excited about the company happy hour or other events that I have done dozens of times. It is the same basic items, just the minute details change. I can plan, set up, and tear down on autopilot.
4. Events are hard work.
Events often require long days with very little breaks. Often, setting up the tables and chairs is the least strenuous part of the day. If you do not enjoy the events, it just makes the days longer.
Now, how am I going to turn this around? I refuse to give up. I love events too much to walk away from them but I obviously need to refocus.
My first step was to ask myself why I love events so much? What drew me to them, even after I knew the long hours and hard work needed?
I believe that my purpose in life is to make someone’s day.
Events have always been a great vehicle for me to do this. A great party can put a light in someone’s eyes as they let the worries and cares of a crazy world fall back and enjoy the moment. That feeling of enjoyment can carry on for weeks and the memory of a great event can last forever.
This holds true with business events as well. I want to provide content that will allow the attendees to grow their business or career. Helping people to reach for the next level – or just giving them the knowledge to protect their business is what I love to do.
With this answer the next step was to find my new areas to focus on.
I need to focus on the impact I am making on 80% of the attendees at any event.
I will never make everyone happy – even if I had a candy store I couldn’t make everyone happy.
I need to focus on the outcome of the event, not the set up and tear down.
I need to focus on the details and let the routine happen.
I am grateful for the years that I have spent planning and running events. I have wonderful memories from so many events – and all of those great memories correlate with the outcome.
So, when you look up one day and realize you hate doing your passion I would suggest doing the following
Ask yourself what has gone wrong?
Ask yourself why that was your passion? What was your driving force?
Can you refocus or is it time to find a new passion?
I wish you the best of luck on all of your journeys and hope you never come to the point I did but wanted to share my story to help those who do reach that fork in the road.
There are three reasons to exhibit at a trade show. Sell your product or service, gain leads for your business and to gain brand awareness. All other reasons fall under this. I want to walk through these reasons in detail and show how to make them work for you.
Sell
Selling at trade shows works if you fall in one of the below categories
You have small items that people can impulse buy such as soaps, pillows, jewelry, clothes, etc.
You are at a show where your specific products or services are needed such as wedding shows or home and garden shows
You can give large discounts on big-ticket items or sell the “floor models”
elling at trade shows can be a hard prospect. Make sure the attendees match your target audience and that you have multiple ways to accept payment. Wifi or cellular does not always work.
Gain Leads
Leads are the main reason that service providers or large ticket item sellers go to a trade show. Leads can be gained in the form of business cards, badge scans, or written leads cards. One of the best ways to gather leads is to give something away in return. You can create a large basket to give away or have small items that people receive if they give you the proper information.
Brand Awareness
Getting your name out into the world is important for your business. Trade shows give you the opportunity to be in front of hundreds if not thousands of people in one day. Create an eye-catching booth and work on gathering leads and/or social media followers to extend your brand awareness past the show.
I would suggest picking two reasons to be at a show. Doing all three can become hectic in a 10 x 10 or 10 x 20 booth.
If you are going to sell your items, have a show special running. You can also gain brand awareness with a promotion where if they like your social media pages, they receive an extra amount off or a free product sample.
If you are going to gain leads, focus on your great giveaway (that still ties into your company’s voice and values). Do an added social media give away to encourage people to like and follow your pages.
A reason not to exhibit at a trade show is “Because my competitors are there.” Trade shows are too expensive for you to be there solely because someone else is. That will make for a miserable show. If you feel that you must attend, focus on one of the three reasons above and build your booth and show experience around that.
Your trade show giveaways should have a purpose and a strategy behind them. Walk through the 5 W’s to ensure that your giveaway will have the greatest impact.
I know the last W is why but how does have a W in it. But seriously, take a moment to think about your giveaways and think about avoiding the trick-r-treating crowd. The people that walk around shoveling all of the free items into their bag – or wagon. I will often put out candy to please this crowd and leave the other giveaways in a closet or under a table for my target attendees.
Your giveaways are a part of your booth and you whole booth should revolve around the strategy and your show goals.
Trade shows can be 15 hour days and when you string 3 or 4 of those together it can be a recipe for illness. Over the years I have found with 5 ways to stay healthy and ensure I have energy after the trade show is finished.
1. Drink a lot of Water
Water is important and you need to drink enough each day. Water helps to keep away headaches, flush the salt from the snacks that you eat on the go, and gives you an excuse to step out of the booth for a moment.
2. Snacks
Always have quick, portable snacks on me at trade shows. The snacks help replenish your energy and it keeps the hangry at bay. No show attendee wants to talk to a grumpy booth staffer. Snacks help you push your trade show goals forward.
3. Sleep
You need to find what helps you sleep; white noise machines, sleep masks, melatonin etc. Find what helps and stick to it. There is little substitute for sleep – food can help for a short time but not in the long run.
4. Comfortable Shoes
You will be standing on concrete a lot. Carpet padding can help but you still need to ensure your shoes don’t cause you pain. Also, consider different shoes for different days. Wearing the same shoes for 3 days is a recipe for blisters.
5. Mindful Minute
Take a minute or two at least once a day to just sit and breath. Find a quiet corner, put your phone away, close your eyes, and breath. Use this to center and calm myself. These quick bursts of mindfulness help you to recharge.
Trade shows are long and stressful days, find a routine that works for you to keep you healthy.
Once your booth is packed up and you are safely back home from a trade show, it feels like a huge relief. Take a deep breath, get a good nights rest, and then finish off the trade show. Here is the after show checklist that I go through.
Trade shows are about how many people you can see if a very short amount of time. You have 4 – 8 seconds for your booth design to grab people attention and make them stop to speak with you. So how do you bring people to your booth?
Trade show set up is stressful enough without running into the show floor authorities. It can be surprisingly easy to run afoul of the “floor cops” if you don’t know the rules. So here are the three main rules you need to watch out for.
Getting paid as an event planner is not easy. Below are three options on structuring your fees to get paid what you deserve.
Option 1: Packages
For special events where I know the average time that will go into them, I put together Packages. This allows my customers to choose at what level they would like me involved and at what level they would like to pay.
Now, when I was first starting out I had people ask me to put together an event proposal and a budget. I put together a lot of proposals and budgets – only to never hear from them again. I quickly realized that they were taking my idea and budget and then putting the event together themselves. I was speaking with Victoria Lewis, owner of Genesis Masters of Events and she gave a great piece of advice to combat this.
“I tell my customers that if they want me to put together an event, they have to hire me. They can see my past work and either trust what I do or can find something else.” Victoria said. “People think they are being sly, but their dishonesty shines through. I did proposals and had people walk away. I no longer do them. I do give a free hour consultation and talk about my services in the last 5 – 10 minutes.”
Now, I get my full fee upfront. I put together various packages for clients at different price points. If someone balks at the price, I offer to let them think about it and reach back out to me.
Option 2: Hourly
Business events I often charge my services by the hour. I do this for two reasons, the first is that business people are used to being charged by the hour. They equate that to their lawyer and accountant and you can get more respect. The second is, that a few times the business has canceled the event and wanted all of their money back.
Now, businesses also like to know how much they are going to be charged. I have them buy 100 hours of my time at the rate we negotiate. When I hit 80 hours of work, I let them know and ask if they would like to purchase another block of hours or if they want me to wrap up what I have done. This allows them to feel in control while also ensuring that you get paid.
Options 3: Percentages
When working with non-profits, I will often offer for them to pay me a percentage of the money that they raise. This percentage will is negotiable but 10% seems is my standard. This means that if I work 100 hours but only raise $100, I get paid $10. Make sure you make the distinction between how much money is raised vs. how much money is earned. If you go off how much money is earned, you take out all of the expenses of the event and get a percentage of that.
A word of caution, I make sure that I have 75% of the control on events like this and I can affect the money raised. If they will not cede that control to me, we move back to the package deal. I must also be able to review and audit the fundraising efforts. I also have a payment clause in the contract if the event gets canceled.
As event planners, we need to know what we are worth. Don’t let penny pinchers bully you into dropping your prices. If it is so easy and they can do it thank them for their time and wish them well on their event planning.
In-house, post-trade show surveys have given me invaluable feedback and great ideas. I ask each salesperson and booth staffer to complete my quick 5 – 6 question survey. People who were just attendees at the show to complete the survey as well. It gives a slightly different perspective from the booth staff.
I introduce the surveys in my pre-meetings. We discuss why we are going to that particular show and I ask each staffer and sales person to write down their objectives for the show. I keep copies in my event box at the show and ask them to complete the surveys as they are walking the floor.
Here are the questions I ask:
Show Name
Show Dates
Your Name
Competitors Exhibiting
Competitors Sponsoring the Show
What stood out at our competitors’ booths?
What stood out at other booths? What tactics should we adopt?
What did you like about our booth?
What would you change about our booth?
Should we attend this show next year? Why?
Did you achieve your show goals?
These questions fit front and back on a half sheet of paper and can be used for any trade show. If I am not able to attend a show, this gives me insight and I scan all of the answers into my event folder. The first thing I do when the show comes back up on my calendar is to look over the surveys again. It helps me remember if the show is worth attending and how we can improve.
The booth staffers can be wary about giving honest feedback. I have combatted this in a few ways. The first is to incorporate their advice and ideas into the shows over the years. I also give them credit for the ideas. News like that spreads fast. For new staffers, I explain how I want their point of view because they are in the trenches and have better access to information than I do. The last is that I work hard on being gracious about the negative feedback I receive.
The trade shows are my baby and hearing criticism can be hard. I continually work on listening and accepting it – and improving.
