Event Management: How To Organize A Seminar

Events have always been as a holistic experience toawareness of the upcoming event.
its participants. This is why, event management4. Collaboration with sponsors
requires a thorough planning and preparation withGetting reputable sponsors to participate in an event
most work implemented at least a few monthswill help boost the creditability of the event, as well
before the actual event. Below are some steps thatas reduce costs. Sponsors can also help with
should be considered and accomplished in order tomarketing, as they also help publicize your event to
reach the successful event.their customers.
1. Establishing the theme5. Managing People and working with speakers
Each event follows a theme and purpose which willA seminar will not be successful without the people
drive the event set-up, the target audiences or therunning it, as well as the speakers sharing their
participants, the guests and the marketing approach.knowledge to the participants. Invite speakers who
In general, a business event such as an internationalare of caliber and reputation to the event, and who
conference for a particular industry will appeal towill provide the participants with relevant information
participants conducting businesses within that industryto their work, industry or business. Prepare the
as well as sponsors who gain mileage out ofspeakers beforehand and work with them on their
publicizing their products during the event.Power point presentations as well as pre-inform them
Apart from that, the theme of the seminar will alsoof the logistics processes, timing as well as the
determine the type of marketing channels to be usedexpected audience size.
to for publicity. This also holds true for the eventEvent management process requires a good team of
management team who will need the event themepeople handling tasks on ushering, registration,
to correctly identify target participants andcustomer service as well as handling financials.
companies to sell the event to.Familiarize the team with any required event protocol
2. Selecting a venue of the eventto eliminate the possibility of confusion or error.
Venue selection is highly dependent on the scale of6. The Actual Day - registration, ushering, feedback
the event. Usually this is determined by the numberAll seminar planning and preparations, constituting
of participants, the presence of any guests of honor80% of total work involved, cascade to the actual
(such as royalty or politicians) the activities during theevent which may last only for a few hours or a few
event, or if there are additional floor space requireddays. On the day before the event, visit the venue
for exhibition purposes.to ensure that everything is in order according the
A typical seminar of about 100 - 200 can berequirements and specifications. Microphones,
comfortably implemented in a hotel seminar room,projectors, audio and video systems must be all
possibly in a theater style setting or classroomchecked to be in excellent working order.
setting. However, larger scale events with participantOn the actual day, staff should be present at the
numbers scaling between 500 - 1000 may require avenue at least 1 1/2 hours before commencement.
large hall, ballroom, auditorium or a convention center.Registrations must be made at the door to ensure
3. Event Marketing and Publicityauthorized access. Name tags, door gifts and event
Seminar marketing is by far the most critical andschedules or booklets will be given out at this point
often most challenging task in event planning, and isand ushers will show participants to their seats in the
often regarded as the most critical factor of anevent hall.
event's success. The right marketing strategy andStaff will also be responsible for providing advice or
seminar positioning must be adopted in order to drawhelp to participants during the event. Feedback forms
adequate event sign-ups.should be distributed and then collected from
Most of the time, event organizers who have largeparticipants to determine the satisfaction level on all
budgets will turn to above the line marketing such asaspects of the event experience.
newspaper and magazine advertisements as well asFinally, a turnkey event registration software will help
radio and television advertising to publicize the event.to ease and fasten the preparation stages - to
Press releases about the event may also be sent inannounce seminar theme and venue, market online,
to major newspapers, in order to create thegain registrations and receive attendees' feedbacks.