Planning an event is more than organizing your logistics and food and beverage needs - there is the small added piece of having to make everyone happy - AKA, managing your internal stakeholders within your company. Who are the internal stakeholders? In terms of corporate events, it could be your marketing team, sales team, account managers (customer relationship management), and VPs. All teams will likely have different goals or expectations from your event and will require you to meet their needs. While there can be a lot of cooks, ultimately everyone’s end goal is a successful event (even though success may mean different things to these people!).
Event Planners are the middle man, oftentimes we are balancing being a good partner with our venue, and managing the expectations of our stakeholders - here are some tips to help you do that.
Find Out What Is Most Important To Each Stakeholder
Find out what is important to each of your stakeholders. Will sales want separate rooms to meet with potential clients? Will they require a more elevated experience? Does Marketing want the branding to have a specific message? Do your VPs want to see it done quickly and within budget? By understanding what is most important to each stakeholder you’ll be able to better deliver. You will need to take all of these pieces and fit them together in the larger picture of the event.
Be Sure To Communicate
Keep your stakeholders informed by hosting frequent (weekly, biweekly or monthly) meetings to keep all of your stakeholders up to date on progress and what is happening. Having everyone on the same page will help you to hear any concerns that come up, or mediate between stakeholders that are sharing different views. Everyone will have an opinion on how it should be done, but this is where your expertise will come in handy to meet the needs of everyone.
Manage Expectations
While it’s not the best part of our jobs, it’s one of the most important. Oftentimes we as planners are the ones who need to pitch reality as opposed to the dream. Some stakeholders may have champagne dreams on a beer budget, or even worse, may want to do things as cheaply as possible. Let your stakeholders ask for the moon, but sell them the alternative. It’s up to us as the planners to weigh out the options, make the best decision, and then convince our stakeholders to get on board. At the end of the day, you are responsible for your event is on budget and meeting goals.
What is one way to keep everyone happy? By choosing an awesome venue...find one on EventUp!
