Key Challenges in Event Planning: Insights from International Experts

International Event Insights: Key Challenges in Event Planning!

Organizing an event is a daunting task that requires superhuman organizational skills and attention to detail. Whether you are planning your company's annual event or an event for a non-corporate organization (such as government or non-profit), the pressure of event organization is unavoidable. We reached out to six top international event planning experts and interviewed them. Here are their responses:

Event Expert: Oury Thomas

Oury Thomas is an entrepreneurial individual with a passion for technology. He currently serves as the General Manager for the US at ChoYou. He has over 10 years of experience in managing large-scale international events. Oury is a successful marketing executive in the tech industry with extensive experience in event production, content marketing, lead generation strategies, partner programs, and creative experiential marketing campaigns.

Q: What do you think is the biggest challenge in organizing and planning events?

A: Professional event professionals are not only asked to do more, but also to handle event planning, social media marketing, and more. Most event planners and organizers spend 80% of their time on venues and materials, and only 20% on thinking about the meaning and purpose of the event. In fact, the biggest challenge for event organizers and planners is answering two simple questions: What am I doing and why? Truly excellent event organizers and professionals should allocate their time as follows: 20% for low-value tasks (venue booking, logistics details, setup, etc.) and 80% for the real issues: strategy—that is, thinking about event goals. We should have a strategy-centric mindset for events. What is the purpose of the event? What are the objectives? How do I measure the success of an event? What strategies can I come up with to achieve the goals? How to attract more attendees? How to invite more sponsors? Currently, many technologies in the US are trying to help and support event professionals. In fact, all these apps and software focus on the non-value parts of events. The biggest challenge is finding a way to allocate more time to more important matters!

Event Expert: Katie Silva

Katie Silva is the Outreach Coordinator at JP Marketing, an advertising agency in Fresno, California. She has been organizing non-profit (NGO) and corporate events for about 7 years.

Q: What do you think is the biggest challenge in organizing and planning events?

A: A perfect event relies on vendors to ensure that the event is executed as planned. Planning an event is much like completing a jigsaw puzzle. Each vendor is a piece of the puzzle, and when any piece is missing, the entire puzzle cannot be complete. We spend countless hours planning a perfect event, but when it comes to the final execution, the result is something you cannot fully control. Perhaps a vendor had a flat tire on the way to the event, or they arrived on time but forgot a piece of equipment. This is when panic is most likely to set in. At that moment, you lose control of the overall event. So, I think professional event professionals should reserve time for Plan B or even Plan C. As event organizers, 'we need to hope for the best but plan for the worst.'

Event Expert: David Jacobson

David Jacobson is the Founder and CEO of TrivWorks.

Q: For me, the biggest challenge in planning corporate events is...

A: As someone who executes and organizes corporate events nationwide, I need to find the right talented people to work with me in organizing and planning corporate events. This means identifying what makes a good event management professional, then providing skills training, and ultimately delivering each event to event professionals I fully trust to manage. At the same time, their professionalism represents my brand and reputation in the market. Conversely, without the right talent, I cannot demonstrate the level of event management expertise to clients or provide the quality service they expect. Talent is crucial to the event industry. Sometimes your expertise determines the client's decision-making direction.

Event Expert: Chinvonne Hyppolite

Chivonne Hyppolite is an expert at an event management agency. With over ten years of professional event experience, she has planned and executed various corporate meetings, celebrations, golf tournaments, concerts, community fundraisers, and festivals for Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, startups, and non-profits. Her life motto is 'Experience life... not Google it.' She hopes to provide participants with unique event experiences through her services.

Q: What is the biggest challenge you face when planning corporate events?

A: Not receiving the final slide presentation from speakers on time. My usual way to overcome this challenge is to build rapport and communicate with speakers (or their assistants) early on. I take the time to communicate with them, telling them that the PPT is crucial to the success of their presentation. I call them to discuss the PPT submission deadline and follow up with a confirmation email to show its importance. Within two weeks before the event, if I still haven't received their presentation, my team calls their staff daily to urge and confirm.

Event Expert: Michelle Bell

Michelle Bell is the Event Director at Capture Marketing, a PR, marketing, and event agency in Pewaukee, Wisconsin. She has provided event planning services for many clients, including corporations and charities. She has organized a wide variety of events and faced various challenges.

Q: One of the most common corporate event planning challenges is?

A: One of the biggest challenges I face when managing large corporate events is getting management to approve the budget. Often my clients view the budget for an event as a large, expensive cost, but overlook its essence—building client relationship experiences.

Q: What is your solution?

A: We need to show decision-makers not only the importance of spending funds in a timely manner but also the overall goals and ultimate value of the event. For example, if the overall goal is client retention, show them how the event is engaging and how it achieves that goal. Once they understand the importance of the event, you can talk about the budget. Use graphics to show them what percentage of the budget goes to the venue, what percentage to food and beverages, etc., rather than just providing them with an Excel spreadsheet with general costs. This not only helps ensure the money is used appropriately but also helps if budget adjustments are needed.

Event Expert: Gregory P. Jenkins

Gregory P. Jenkins is a partner and co-founder of the award-winning Bravo Productions, and has earned a high reputation in the event industry. He has been in this business for over thirty years.

Q: One of the biggest challenges in organizing and planning corporate events is?

A: Organizing a national-level event requires great attention to all risk management factors. You need to know the characteristics of every attendee in advance, carefully choose interactive experiences and on-site decor elements suitable for guests, and establish a feedback system to track attendee reactions. However, if you do not have a comprehensive plan to deal with any potential threats, you could put guest safety at risk. Planning determines the likelihood of disaster. As an event planner with over 30 years of experience, I believe the biggest challenge in organizing an event is consistently considering and identifying threats, including weather factors (of course, that's an act of God), the possibility of protests (highly likely for events with government leaders), and controlling risks to guest safety. These are things I have experienced in my career and consider most important. Event planning of any scale requires thorough safety contingency plans.

Q: Why have you stayed in the event industry for over 30 years?

A: Event planning is a job that brings self-satisfaction to the planner. The value of being recognized by clients and acknowledged by participants often outweighs material satisfaction.

After reading the insights from these seven international peers, it is not hard to see that there are significant differences between the domestic and international event markets. For example, international organizers value the qualifications of event planning professionals, use professional event project management software to solve collaboration efficiency issues, and emphasize communication with vendors. It is reported that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2017 counted nearly 120,000 event planning professionals across various industries in the U.S., which also shows that freelance event planners are recognized by clients in the U.S. market and can form temporary teams with vendors to serve clients at any time.

In China, however, many event planning companies face crises easily when business declines or during off-seasons, especially with rising personnel costs, and this situation is becoming more pronounced.