13 key points to help you understand the entire offline event preparation process

Organizing events is a common practice in operations . Whether it is an online event or an offline event , if you have a complete set of processes in mind, preparation will be much simpler and smoother. Let’s take a look at the 13 routines for organizing events that the author has come up with based on actual experience.

Whether it is an online or offline activity; whether it is from the perspective of user acquisition and maintenance, or from the perspective of product publicity and promotion ; each operation must hold several activities every year.

There are many forms and ways to play online activities. Relatively speaking, offline activities are more routine.

I had little experience in offline activities before, but in the past month, after planning, following up, and executing an offline event, I found 13 routines for offline activities, covering the entire activity cycle.

The above picture is mainly based on the experience of the G Talk Shanghai Salon that I previously planned and executed. It is more applicable to offline salons, meetings, and sharing activities. Next, let’s talk about each detail in detail.

1. Before the event: long preparation and execution period

I call the period before the event officially starts the pre-event period, which is specifically divided into the preparation period and the execution period.

The preparation period refers to the stage of planning and conception of the event ; the execution period is to continuously advance the progress of the event after the theme of the event is determined.

1. Planning proposal

If you want to organize an event, you need to make a plan first. A complete event planning proposal should include the following points:

A planning proposal that includes these elements can help your leader understand what kind of event you are going to organize, what the purpose of the event is, and what the effect of the event will be.

Among them, the most important thing is the purpose of the activity.

The purpose of the activities is nothing more than fame and profit. After setting the purpose of the event, you need to set and judge the expected effects and risks of the event based on the event goals, which will help you better control the entire event.

2. Time schedule

If the plan you submit is approved by your superior, my advice is not to roll up your sleeves and get to work right away, but to first make a timetable for the activities.

From my communication with some event operators , many people reported that the final event results were not very ideal, and the reason was that the timing of the event was not well managed. Once the rhythm is disrupted, the activities will also be disrupted.

My experience is to make a time schedule, specify what needs to be done in each period of time and who is responsible for it. Things must be delivered before the deadline to ensure that everyone cooperates well and everything is organized. The details are as follows:

It is also very simple to implement. The person in charge makes an Excel spreadsheet (or software such as teambition that allows online collaborative office work) based on these elements and gives it to everyone, and everyone can record and report on time.

3. Investment PPT

For offline activities, it is impossible to do so without spending money. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare a PPT for investment promotion in the early stage of the event to obtain more financial support and reduce the cost of the event.

A perfect investment promotion PPT, it goes without saying that it is very beautiful. Secondly, you need to ensure the content. In short, you need to show your investment targets the following content: what is this activity, what can this activity give you, and what you need to give back to me.

"What can I give you and what can you give me" is the basis and premise of business cooperation. Any cooperation that does not match is just hooliganism.

Of course, when doing business cooperation, you don’t necessarily have to give money.

If both parties can exchange resources, they can also cooperate. For example, the other party provides you with a venue for free, and you promote the venue.

4. Venue and Guests

For offline salons, conferences, lectures and other activities, venues and guests are very important. During the preparation period, you must first determine the venue and guests, otherwise it will greatly affect the event cycle and rhythm.

When choosing a venue, I usually consider the following:

• Price: The price cost of the venue must be controlled. It would be best if it could be obtained for free in the form of resource exchange. If it is really not possible, you can also get a lower price by exchanging resources.
• Space: Choose a venue that can accommodate the expected number of people for the event
• Transportation: Convenient transportation is very important, and being near a subway is the first choice
• Equipment: Mainly depends on whether the venue can provide audio, microphone, LED screen, tables and chairs and other necessary equipment for the meeting

The final venue should be the best choice after considering the above factors.

Next are the guests. How to choose a suitable and influential person to share and attract more people to sign up for the event? This is how I usually do it:

1. Filter out well-known individuals or companies in the industry based on the activity theme
2. Use the "six degrees of separation" theory to find that person
3. Communicate with the guest and judge whether he is qualified for the role of a guest based on his business experience and personal resume

From my personal point of view, the key to finding the right guests lies in personal connections. Therefore, you can make more friends and accumulate more personal connections in your daily life.

After all the early details of the event are settled, you will enter the formal preparation stage. During this stage, you need to continue to promote your event and attract as many people as possible to sign up for the competition.

5. Event copywriting

Event copy is used to attract users to sign up. Good event copywriting can attract more people to sign up.

At present, there are two main types of popular event copywriting: one is a simple and rough version, and the other is a story introduction version.

The simple and rough version of the copywriting usually consists of a few casual chats and then starts to introduce the event. This type of campaign copy generally does not have a high readership, but it is clear and has a high conversion rate .

There is another type of copywriting that is more like soft text. It is usually introduced with an inspirational story, chicken soup for the soul, or practical information , and then unexpectedly gives you an event registration poster at the end. This type of copy is more suitable for publication on cooperative promotion platforms.

But no matter which of these two types of copywriting is used, an activity copywriting must include the following activity content:

One more thing, if you are registering on a third-party registration platform, it is recommended to post the event on the registration platform in advance. Because the platform still needs to review the event, the event registration link can only be obtained after the review.

6. Event Materials

A salon event actually requires a lot of materials. Basically, graphics and materials need to be made in every link and every period. It is roughly as follows:

I usually make deletions and expansions of materials based on the type of event and the size of the team. Event posters, on-site roll-up banners and invitations are essential.

In this area, it is recommended that operators master some skills in drawing and making graphics. When there is no designer in the team or the designer is very busy, you can also do it yourself so as not to disrupt your time rhythm.

7. Event registration and user maintenance

Once the event starts and users are accepted to register, it is time to do user maintenance. This will allow you to have a better understanding of the users who come to participate in the event, and it can also increase the attendance rate.

The more common way of user maintenance now is to add all users into the WeChat group .

But if you use the unified registration platform, even if you leave your WeChat account , there is no guarantee that all registered people will add you on WeChat. At this time, you can pull users into the group by sending text messages, making phone calls, or asking registrants to invite them (because sometimes people register in groups).

8. Event publicity and promotion

There are two most important parts in the whole activity: one is on-site execution and the other is publicity and promotion.

There are two major functions of publicity and promotion. One is to attract more people to sign up for the event, and the other is to let the industry notice that you have organized a good event and increase your visibility.

Promotion can generally be carried out from the following perspectives:

Among them, it is necessary to explain:

• External media platform promotion: This requires the event organizer and executor to contact and choose some media platforms with similar themes to their own events for promotion. For this kind of cooperation, resource exchange is the optimal form of cooperation. The same goes for promotion on event platforms. You need to take the initiative to contact them, but event platforms generally charge more.
• Promotion through industry friends: It is recommended to choose friends who have some influence and voice in the industry.
• Promotion by registered users: Generally speaking, users’ social circles are relatively consistent. If registered users are asked to help promote the event, more people who are interested in the event can be attracted. But this is best done in a preferential manner, such as reducing or waiving the registration fee.
• Industry organizations and communities : Find communities and organizations with similar themes to the event and ask them to help promote it or register collectively.
• Other methods: such as sending emails, one-on-one contact on WeChat, etc., can all be tried, and there will be some effect, but relatively speaking, the user experience is not very good.

9. Communication and docking among all parties

In fact, during the entire event preparation period, we are basically communicating and coordinating with all parties, such as guests, venues, partners, etc.

But during communication, I found that many people like to procrastinate. They clearly promised to give you something on Wednesday, but still haven’t given it to you by Friday. Such a situation will greatly slow down your progress and efficiency.

What should I do? It’s a very simple method, just keep urging. If urging is useless, ask your superior or the other party's superior to urge them. Although this method is a bit unkind, it can ensure progress.

2. During the activity: site inspection, division of labor and on-site execution

10. Preparation before the event

If the event venue is not too far away, it is generally necessary to visit the site in the morning of the event. If the event is held far away, you should go there one day in advance.

The main purpose of site inspection is to understand the site, make personnel division of labor and site layout.

When understanding the site, you need to debug audio equipment and other equipment, test PPT, test the microphone, plan the site, and understand where the restrooms are located. These details must be controlled when scouting the site so that you have a clear idea of ​​them.

The second thing is to decorate the scene. Although it is a salon event and does not need to be too fancy, it still needs to be simply decorated to ensure the atmosphere and professionalism of the scene.

Finally, there is the division of labor and execution at the event site. An event with 200 people requires a person in charge, one person responsible for guiding, one person responsible for signing in, a host, one person to control the atmosphere, one person to take photos, a stenographer, and a stand by. It seems that 8 people are needed, but if there are not enough people, 4 people will also do. Because some of the things mentioned above can be staggered, one person can be responsible for more than two things.

11. On-site execution of activities

After so much preparation, the most important thing is the day of the event.

If you do a good job in the early stages, it will be easier on the day of the event and you basically just need to pay attention to some small details. for example:

1. The order of activities is important. Offline lectures, meetings, and salon-type activities are prone to noise, which requires someone to constantly maintain order on site.
2. The atmosphere on site should be lively. Salon interaction actually requires a lot of interaction, especially after a guest finishes speaking, the users in the audience must be able to give feedback. The key to generating interaction is for the guests to be able to throw out jokes, and the other is to have a host who can liven up the atmosphere. Secondly, we should pay attention to some small details that are easy to cause mistakes or imperfections. For example, we should give instructions before the event starts so that everyone can find the venue quickly; after the previous guest finishes speaking, we should promptly call up the next guest's PPT; and we should teach guests how to use the remote control pen in advance. You may not notice these details, but everyone who can participate in the event will see them.

3. After the event: activity summary and activity briefing

The end of an event does not mean the end of your event operations. At this time, what you also need to do is to summarize and brief the activities.

12. Activity summary

The purpose of an activity summary is to summarize the experience and success or failure of the activity, so as to help you do other activities more smoothly in the future.

To summarize the activity, you can invite the on-site staff to hold a meeting to discuss the mistakes and successes of the activity. You can also consult with people who come to the event and listen to their opinions. The activity summary made in this way is relatively complete and comprehensive.

13. Activity Briefing

Who is the activity briefing for? One is for internal company leaders and colleagues to see, and the other is for sponsors and partners to see.

Therefore, the content that should be presented in the event briefing is: what this event is like, what kind of publicity this event has done, which partners are involved in this event, what is the effect of this event, etc. The briefing should be high-profile, highlighting the success of the event and satisfying all parties.

The above are some of my little experiences in organizing a successful offline event. Overall, I think the following factors must be considered when doing an event:

• Activity progress (rhythm)
• Event Promotion
• Atmosphere at the event
• Purpose and effect of the activity (such as income, influence, etc.)

By firmly grasping these four directions and combining them with the 13 tips I provide that cover the entire cycle of the event, you don’t have to worry about not being able to organize a wonderful and successful offline event.

The author of this article @善小花 is compiled and published by (Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!

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