3 Party Ideas for the Upcoming Holiday Season
3 Party Ideas for the Upcoming Holiday Season
I can’t believe I’m saying this but the holiday season is just around the corner. Whether you are hosting friends, family, or co-workers, I’m sharing this blog to give you some ideas to help you plan a buzz-worthy holiday party! I’ve not only attended lots of parties over the holiday seasons, but I’ve hosted lots too, and throughout my experience, there are a few that just really stand out to me!
The Bring Your Own ______ Party
The bring-your-own parties are always fun and don’t require too much of a commitment from your guests, but they can bring hours of entertainment as you check out each guest’s item. One of my favorite simple concepts is the Bring Your Own Cup party! I think I’ve seen it all, everything from watering cans, emptied condiment bottles, a rubber boot, and so much more! This is a really fun and budget-friendly way to bring everyone together.
The Dress-Up Party
The dress-up party is a classic but a favorite of many. You can put your own twist on this type of party too. Am I talking about putting on your best ball gown or 3-piece suit? Nope! I’m talking about the cheesy ways to celebrate the season, one of which is the classic Christmas Sweater Party. These parties are simple, put on your best (or ugliest) Christmas sweater and mingle with your friends, families, or co-workers. Want to make things a little competitive, think about adding in a prize for the best… I mean the ugliest sweater! Bonus points to those who handmade their sweaters.
Another holiday dress-up party that comes to mind is the Christmas Tree Party, but with a twist. In this case, each person attending must dress up as the best, or tackiest Christmas tree! It’s always great to see the effort people go to, I’ve seen everything from a cute star on top of someone’s head to glitter and mini ornaments in a man’s beard! Don’t forget to provide some inspirational photos to your guests!
The Party in Cause of Charity
The holiday season is always a great time to gather your friends, family, or co-workers and give back to those in need! Consider asking for a small food donation as your party’s “entrance fee” to donate to your local food bank, or see which items are in need at your local shelters and ask guests to bring old coats, new toiletries, or gifts for children. There are lots of options to give back and it helps spread the holiday cheer to those less fortunate.
Don’t forget, every great party needs decorations to go with it, but the holiday season can be so busy. Save yourself a trip to your local party store and consider choosing Decor Crate for your upcoming holiday party. No matter what your theme is, we can fully customize a decoration solution just for you! Not only do you not have to shop, but we offer delivery in the Edmonton and surrounding area too!
To learn more about your Edmonton decoration solution, visit the Decor Crate page.
Looking for more tips on throwing the best holiday party? Check out my 3 Christmas Party Tips to Help You Throw the Best One Yet blog.
Networking Events, Are They Worth It?
Many organizations host networking events, should yours too? Read Planit Event Inc.’s blog where we share why hosting a networking event may be beneficial for your organization.
3 Great Ways to Find Sponsors for Your Event
3 Great Ways to Find Sponsors for Your Event
What is an event sponsor? An event sponsor is a company, organization, or individual who supports an event usually by providing funds. In exchange for providing funds, the sponsor expects a return in value. This value can come from brand exposure, speaking opportunities, special mentions, discounted tickets, or data after the show. I wanted to start this blog by defining what an event sponsor is and what they expect in return as it will really help explain how you can find sponsors for your upcoming event. In today’s blog, I will share three ways to help you find sponsors for your event!
Provide Value
Ok, I know this one is obvious, but I can’t emphasize how important it is to provide value to your event sponsors. This is especially important if you have a recurring event (i.e. yearly tradeshow). If you want your sponsors to return, or even sign up in the first place you must guarantee them some sort of value that is equivalent to the monetary amount they are providing. So let’s talk a little more in-depth about the kind of value that you can provide to your sponsors and some examples of them!
Brand Exposure/Special Mentions
Brand exposure is usually one of the key reasons a company or organization chooses to sponsor an event. When done properly, sponsors can gain great brand exposure! So how do YOU go about providing it? Check out the list of examples:
- Sponsorship profile on the event website which showcases the company/organization logo, links to their website and social channels, provides an overview as to what they do, and/or provides a link to chat directly with a member of their team.
- Logo displayed on all event branding materials including brochures, website, presentations, and any other print information.
- Social media shoutouts (don’t forget to tag the company).
Speaking Opportunities
Speaking opportunities are usually included in high-level sponsorship packages (continue reading below to learn about sponsorship tiers). As the event organizer, you can choose the topic that you would like discussed or you can allow sponsors to submit abstracts that you approve prior to the event. Do you have an event theme? Think about asking your sponsor to speak on the topic.
Discounted Tickets
I think this one is a bit self-explanatory but providing your sponsor with discounted tickets for team members is a great incentive. This may not hold strong enough value on its own, but paired with another tactic can be a great bonus! Consider including a few free registrations as well!
Data
Depending on your event and your potential sponsor, some sponsors find great value in the market data that you collect from your event. This is usually data pertaining to your attendees which might include:
- Company Industry
- Company Size
- Company Location
- Job Title
Provide Different Sponsorship Tiers
Providing different sponsorship tiers with different levels of value are a great way of attracting various types and sizes of sponsors. Say your gold level sponsorship comes with substantial value, it may also come with a higher cost which some organizations may not be able to budget. In other cases, some organizations prefer to test the lower tiers first as a “trial-run” before they invest more in the coming years to ensure that your event provides enough value and is the right fit for them. Common sponsorship levels are gold, silver, and bronze. Depending on the packages you want to offer, you can choose more or fewer levels. Ensure that you are providing enough value for the sum of money you are asking for each sponsorship tier.
Find Your Prospects
Don’t leave it up for companies and organizations to find you! Go out there and get your event’s name and value out there! Especially if your event is newer and does not have a solid reputation in the industry yet, it’s important for you to approach prospective sponsors and pitch your sponsorship packages to them. Perhaps providing incentives like early bird pricing can help entice some.
I have two additional pieces of advice for you, one, start early, and two, listen to your sponsors. It’s so important to get feedback from your sponsors at the end of an event to learn about where they found value and which areas lacked so that you can improve for the next year. This will guarantee returning sponsors and larger organizations sponsoring in future years. If you have any questions or need some advice on your upcoming event please reach out to us! We have years of expertise in the corporate events world and we would love to help you create your unique and successful event!
3 of the Best Ways to Create an Events Community
3 of the Best Ways to Create an Events Community
Creating a community around your event or even your organization reaps significant benefits. Some benefits include increased brand awareness, customer/event attendance retention, increased website and social media traffic, giving your brand a personality, and so much more! It’s important to note that building a community is not easy and it will not happen overnight. Today I thought I’d share 3 ideas to help you create your events community!
Social Media Channels
Social media channels play many functions in a person’s day-to-day life, one of them is connecting with like-minded individuals. Think about the groups or pages you follow on Facebook, the groups you are a part of on LinkedIn, and the pages you follow on Instagram. These are just a few examples of communities. Social media, when brought in as one element of a community can help make your community stronger! So how do you do it?
First, it’s important to identify where your target audience spends their time. Which platforms are they interacting with most? What types of groups are they already a part of and what types of pages do they follow? Once you have figured out these questions, you will be able to find a way to portray your brand’s voice online. I recommend starting groups on various platforms and testing where you are receiving the most traffic and engagement. Once you know which platform is right for your community, you can put your major focus on it.
Host Community Events
Hosting community events is another excellent way to really build a strong sense of community and create a bond between individuals and your brand. Keep in mind, these events don’t have to be big and expensive! They can be as simple as hosting an online educational webinar where the floor is open for interaction afterward or even a small networking event at a local lounge! The possibilities are endless here, so think about what types of events your community finds valuable and fun and put the two together!
Looking for more benefits on why your brand should host an event? Check out our blog!
Listen to Feedback
I can’t emphasize this enough, but listening to your community’s feedback will play the largest role in the success of your community and initiatives. People want to feel included and they want to feel heard. It’s important to not only recognize this but see the true value it holds! Of course, you can’t accommodate every suggestion, nor can you make everyone happy, however when you are noticing a consensus of a similar opinion it may be something to investigate! Give your community lots of opportunities to give feedback, the good and the bad. It’s important to learn what you are doing well (so that you can continue) and what needs some improvement. Using these insights will bring more value than you could ever expect.
Ok, so you have a few ideas in your pocket now for building your community… but where should you start? I suggest starting with identifying who you are as a brand and then identifying who your audience is and how they typically engage. EXPERIMENT! Try things out, see what’s working and see what’s not. Don’t forget to find metrics to measure engagement so that you can identify how exactly you can build your community.
As always, Planit Events Inc. is here for you! Whether you just have a few questions or you’re looking for professional events help in the Edmonton area, send us a message and we would be happy to see how we can help out.
The Planit Events Inc. Ultimate Wedding Checklist
Planit Events Inc. shares the ultimate wedding checklist so that you can stay on top of your wedding tasks!
Courtney’s Top 5 Edmonton Event Vendors
Courtney’s Top 5 Edmonton Event Vendors
Finding vendors that you can trust can be difficult, but lucky for you I have been in the events industry for years and I’m happy to share some of the trusted vendors I have found and use on a continuous basis for all of my event planning. It’s so important to use vendors that are reliable and that you trust as their services can really make or break the event you’re planning. You don’t want all of your hard work to go to waste just because the vendor is unreliable. Keep reading this blog where I will share my top 5 vendors ranging from your AV needs to your photography needs. In addition, I will also share some tips I’ve learned over the years to help you choose a new vendor.
AV Vendors
First, let’s cover what an AV vendor is and when you might require their professional help. The AV team is responsible for all of the audio and video equipment and setup for an event. You probably won’t require an AV vendor for your daughter’s 8th birthday (hey I could be wrong), but for the conference you’re running, you definitely will! Below are my 2 recommendations for AV vendors in the Edmonton area.
invert720
invert720 is a great local AV company in Edmonton. They truly bring events to life! “invert720 Productions is not your average live event and video production company. Quality is key, and so is the invert process. It’s never ok to paint every event with the same brush. Taking a creative approach to event production has proven that audiences at our events are engaged in the event experience – not just passive participants.”
Encore Canada
I recently worked with the team at Encore in Edmonton and they were fantastic! Not only were they quick to respond to my emails (and trust me there were many) but they were great on site as well. They quickly handled any last-minute AV changes with always a yes. I highly recommend the Encore team for your AV needs.
Florist
Finding a trusted florist that can bring your vision to mind can be difficult. There are plenty of florists in the Edmonton area that are fantastic, but how do you choose the one that’s right for you and your event?
Vienna Intentional Floral and Event Design
Rene Dunger with Vienna Intentional Floral and Event Design never fails to blow my expectations out of the water. I don’t know how she does it but I think she can read my mind. I can give her the smallest amount of direction and she is always able to create floral arrangements that are jaw-dropping. I recently had her create a Mexican-inspired archway for a vow renewal and it came out exactly how I envisioned it (check out the photos below). Rene is truly a floral artist!
Cake
Cakes aren’t common for all events, but they are especially important that they are done to perfection for your wedding. Just like florists, there are many specialty bakers and bakeries all around Edmonton.
Sweet Gi’s
Have you seen those sculpted, super detail-orientated custom cakes and thought where do I get one of those? Well, look no further than Sweet Gi’s. I have used them for almost every celebration I have done, and everyone is always so impressed.
Photographer
Finding a photographer for your event can be challenging. Photographers have different styles, editing, and specialties, so it’s important to find one who suits your event and preference.
Peak and Prairie Photography
I recently met Alex and Peggy and I immediately loved their style of photography. It’s not the posed photos with them, it’s the small, intimate, no one is watching details that I love about their style of photos. If you are looking to update your branding, need family photos, or even photographers for your event or wedding, reach out to them! I recently used them at Market 192 and I LOVE the photos, so much so that they are also doing family photos for us.
Didn’t see a vendor you’re looking for on my recommended list? Use the following tips to help you ensure the vendor you’re choosing is right for your event.
- Ask for photos- this will give you a better feel for their style
- Ask for samples (where applicable)
- Check references
- Read reviews
Need help planning your upcoming event? Send us an email and we would be happy to see where we are able to lend a helping hand!
5 Easy Steps to Help Choose Your Next Event Planner
Planit Events Inc. shares 5 easy steps to follow to help you choose an event planner for your upcoming event.
The 3 Best Ways to Evaluate Your Event
The 3 Best Ways to Evaluate Your Event
In many of my blogs, I’ve shared tips and key learnings to plan an event, but I haven’t gotten the chance to go further in-depth on evaluating post-event. Evaluation is so important in many worlds, but especially in the events world. Why? Evaluation helps us understand what worked well, what did not work, what we want to do differently the next time around, and what we want to keep consistent. Over my years as an event planner in Edmonton and the surrounding area, I have found a pretty good system to help me evaluate an event that I planned and executed. I’m able to apply many of these key learnings to other events that I play a role in and I’m happy to be here today to share my learnings with you!
1. Evaluate Your Budget
This evaluation may seem like the most obvious one, but many don’t evaluate the budget unless it’s greatly exceeded. I think there is great importance in reviewing your budget post-event to see:
- What was over budget?
- What was under budget?
- Where there could have been further savings
- Where I would like to budget more for the future (i.e. on a promotional tactic that worked well)
Although this may seem tedious, go through each line item of your budget and reflect to gain a better understanding of if something could have been done differently to benefit the event more.
Not quite there yet? Check out my blog on how to set up your event budget!
2. Evaluating What Worked
This is my favorite step in the process – it’s celebrating your big wins! When you are evaluating what worked well in your event it’s important to gain insight from attendees, exhibitors (when applicable), sponsors (when applicable), special guests, or the hosting organization. These insights will help you gauge which techniques or aspects of the event helped them achieve their goal! Check out some of the questions that you can ask your different audiences below to gain insight into their successes of the event – these may not apply to all events.
Attendees:
Did you enjoy the event/conference/show?
What aspects did you enjoy the most?
What was your key takeaway from the event/conference/show?
Did you enjoy the networking?
What was unique about this event/conference/show?
Will you consider attending future events?
Exhibitors:
Did you find the event/show/conference beneficial to your business goals?
Did you gain valuable leads?
Was this the right audience for your business?
What did the event host do well for exhibitor promotion?
Were there ample networking opportunities?
Do you feel that you got or exceeded your return on investment (ROI)?
Will you consider exhibiting at future events?
Sponsors:
Did you find the event/show/conference beneficial to your business goals?
Did you gain valuable leads?
Was this the right audience for your business?
What did the event host do well for sponsor promotion?
Do you feel that you got or exceeded your return on investment (ROI)?
Will you consider sponsoring future events?
3. Evaluating What Did Not Work
This step isn’t as fun as the previous one, although it probably carries the most weight in the entire process. Finding out what did not work for your event will help you grow your event in the future. Learning about what not to do, what not to spend your budget on, and what people did not enjoy will create room for you to try new ideas in the future (check out the 2022 event trends here), or expand on what you have already implemented that is working.
I always feel like it’s beneficial to gain feedback from third parties in this situation, such as stakeholders, attendees, exhibitors, sponsors, etc. Check out what people are saying about your event through social media channels. Consider even sending a post-event survey to gain valuable insight into what your audience expects and wants to see from your event.
Planning events isn’t as easy as it may seem on the outside, so don’t be too hard on yourself if your event didn’t quite go as planned. Find those key takeaways and apply them to the next event and I can almost guarantee you will see progress. Planit Events Inc. is here for you throughout the entire event process. Feel free to reach out to us and we would be happy to help you in any way that we can!
How to Use Social Media to Promote Your Events
How to Use Social Media to Promote Your Events
Event planning and marketing go hand in hand. Without marketing, your event may not live up to its full potential. Living in 2022, the marketing world has a strong lean toward the digital side which comes with many challenges, however, once you have a grasp on using digital tools, they can come at ease and help you immensely in your event planning. As an event planner in the Edmonton and surrounding area for years, I have a few tips on using digital means to help promote your event, which I will share with you today. This blog’s focus will be on using social media to help promote your upcoming event!
Tip 1: Establish Social Media Accounts for the Event/Organization Early On
First things first, to promote on social media, you need to have social media channels. There are two ways of going about this:
- Social media channels for the organization
- Social media channels for the event
Sometimes it may be beneficial to use the social media channels for the organization as it already may be well established. By well established I mean:
- Steady growth in followers each month
- Post regularly
- Strong engagement with followers
Don’t worry, if you don’t have social media accounts set up for the event or organization it’s not too late. It’s best to set these accounts up as soon as possible so that you can start posting and gaining a social media presence among the right audience. There are four main platforms that I typically like to focus on depending on the audience and type of event which includes Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Each of these platforms provides great benefits however explore the idea of YouTube or even TikTok too if they are relevant for your event!
Need some more help deciding which platforms to use? Check out this great HubSpot article which outlines different platforms and their pros and cons!
Tip 2: Create a Social Media Plan in Advance
Ok, now that you’ve got your social media channels, the next thing to do is create a social media plan in advance. I recommend starting to post about the upcoming event months ahead, especially if you are looking for sponsors and exhibitors! Consider posting:
- Event information (who, what, where, when, why)
- Reasons to attend the event
- Attendee information
- Exhibitor information
- Sponsor information
- Highlight special guests attending or keynote speakers
- Highlight sponsors
- Registration information
- Promotion (ticket pricing etc.)
Use your social media channels to bring awareness to your event, share the benefits of attending your event, information about the event, and much more. It’s important to share information in advance, for example, if the last day to purchase tickets is May 10, ensure you give your audience plenty of notice!
What I like to do is create a calendar using a spreadsheet to help you organize your posts. Are you going or post 1x a week or 4x a week? You can track all of this information on your spreadsheet.
Tip 3: Use a Scheduling Tool
I can’t stress this enough, but using a scheduling tool will save you so much time! Scheduling tools usually come at a cost of $10+ per month depending on the capabilities you would like included. Instead of trying to remember to create your post and share it across your platforms multiple times a week, you can schedule a few hours at the beginning of each month or an hour or two a week to schedule out in advance. I prefer scheduling for a month in advance. This frees up a lot of my time so I can focus on planning and executing the event. If I ever have any last-minute announcements to make I can quickly add them in.
Using a scheduling tool not only saves you time, but it saves you the stress of forgetting to post and messing up the social media plan you made in advance.
Tip 4: Evaluate Engagement & Find Key Takeaways
Just like it’s important to evaluate your event to find out what worked and what didn’t work, it’s just as important to do this with your social media. (Keep an eye out for the next blog this month as I’ll be sharing ideas on how to evaluate your event) It’s important to try out different ideas and methods to see which creates more engagement with your audience. This way, you can put your effort into what works for your event and not waste time on what doesn’t. It’s best to test new ideas over at least the span of a month to help you really gauge engagement. So how do you measure engagement?
- How many likes is your post getting?
- Are there any comments? If so, what are they?
- Are people sharing, re-tweeting, or saving the post?
- Is your channel gaining more followers?
I’ve been in the events industry for over a decade now and each year new waves of promotion types come about. It’s important to stay on top of trends and evaluate what works best to promote your event. If you have any questions about planning your upcoming event or you need a helping hand, feel free to reach out!
Courtney’s 5 Special Event Tips
Courtney’s 5 Special Event Tips
For those of you who are returning to the Planit Blog, it’s great to see you, and for those of you who are new here, my name is Courtney and I’m the owner of Planit Events Inc. I’ve been in the events industry for many years now and I’d say that I’m just as passionate about it as the day I started. I love curating event designs and putting my client’s visions together to ensure that they have a successful event. Usually, I pick a topic to focus on for each of my blogs, but I thought I would switch things up a bit for this one. In today’s blog, I will be sharing 5 tips that I have learned throughout my experience as a professional event planner in the Edmonton and surrounding area.
Copyright Lauren Voisin Photography. All Rights Reserved 2016.
Tip 1: Plan Ahead
I apologize in advance to those who are returning, but I’ve said it once (ok, more than once) and I’ll say it again, always plan ahead! Planning your event is the core structure that your entire event relies on. Planning has the following benefits:
- Gives you time to troubleshoot when problems arise
- Allows you to potentially test out ideas
- Gives you ample time to research
So, when you are planning what things should you consider? I like to start with deciding what the event is for, who the audience is, and what my goals are. I then like to decide on a budget. This aspect can be tricky sometimes but don’t worry I’ve got you covered. Check out the Planit blog to learn how to plan out your event budget.
Once you have your budget you can start to make decisions on the details. Think about the venue and how you picture the event. Need help choosing the right venue for your event? Check out the Planit blog. Work on the details from biggest to smallest.
Tip 2: Stay Organized
Now with details, it’s important to stay organized. Planning an event can become messy, fast. But if you stay organized from the start, things will be much easier for you and your team. So how do I stay organized?
- Plan out my days (ensure to make time for yourself too!)
- Use reminders on my phone and calendar to keep me on track
- Make lists and monitor them
- Use digital tools (read more about this in the Planit blog)
Organization is different for anyone, so try a few things out and see what works for you.
Tip 3: Ask for Help
Planning an event can be super overwhelming and take up a tremendous amount of your time. Don’t forget that it’s ok to ask for help! Believe it or not, most large events aren’t just put together by one lone person. Make yourself a team of friends, family, colleagues or vendors. I know sometimes we don’t always have a team available, but you can also consider hiring an event professional to ease the burden. To learn more about how hiring an event planner can help, check out the Planit blog.
Tip 4: Don’t Be Afraid to be Creative
I think sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the latest trends or get nervous to try out something completely different, but I’m here to tell you to be elaborate and think outside of the box! The best events that I have attended have always been different than the typical event and that’s what makes it so memorable. The only tip I have to give is to make sure the idea you have fits the audience that will be attending your event. Will your creative idea help you reach one of your event goals? If the answer is yes, then give it a try! Event planning in many cases is about trial and error. I didn’t find my favorite food vendors quickly, it took years of trying different ones out.
Tip 5: Always Evaluate
Last but not least, always evaluate post-event. This tends to get overlooked but it’s important to address how well your event went. Ask yourself the following when evaluating your event:
- Overall, how did the event go?
- What went well? What did not?
- Did I meet my event goals? Why or why not?
- What would I do differently next time?
- What would I do the same?
- Which aspects can I improve on for future events?
- Did I stay within the budget? Why or why not?
- What unexpected challenges came up?
- Did I deal with the challenges well?
- How did my team perform?
Although events are a lot to plan and put together, the reward of a successful event is priceless. To learn more about the services I offer at Planit Events Inc. visit our website. If you have any questions or you want to inquire about any services please feel free to reach out.