Offline event preparation and process management

Recently, I was commissioned to help coordinate an event. In three days, I organized an offline product launch conference for dozens of people with zero foundation (personnel and material foundation). The boss of Party A said that it was barely qualified, and the content and process of various activities were basically completed smoothly. But objectively speaking, there were still many flaws in the process and the results were unsatisfactory.

Summary of thoughts after the mess: preliminary preparation and process management of offline activities .

1. Comprehensive Self-cultivation

The coordinator, or the specific person in charge and general executor of the activity, has the main responsibilities of organizing, coordinating, supervising, and guiding the work . Organize and set up an activity project team, connect colleagues and leaders from various departments of the company to assign various work tasks of the activity, supervise the implementation of various work tasks, and manage internal and external personnel and materials.

The guidance work is a great test of the communication ability and skills of the coordinator. Please note that the identity of the coordinator only serves the project team of this event and does not represent the adjustment of the job function in the company's organizational structure. In addition, when coordinating, you should avoid getting bogged down in a specific work task .

2. Preliminary preparation

When receiving an event preparation task, you should promptly confirm the event theme with the person issuing the task and discuss the event process. According to the theme and process, make a schedule of preliminary preparation tasks and activity budget and have them reviewed and approved. Only when you get the personnel and financial rights for this event can you work hard, fast and freely.

The preliminary preparation task schedule mainly includes the establishment of a preparatory committee. The overall leader must be a capable company leader or the direct boss/general manager. The coordinator, as a member of the coordinating team, is responsible for the execution. The preliminary preparation group generally includes venue rental, equipment purchase, material design and production, event promotion registration, invitation and reception of guests, host selection and writing of host scripts, invitation of guest speakers, confirmation of speech topics and PPT, invitation of news media channels, writing of official press releases and publications.

The activity budget table mainly includes the expenses required for various work tasks. If a third party is involved in providing services in this process, the details of the cooperation must be determined. That is, what Party A needs to do, what Party B can provide, the price, time nodes and precautions.

Things to note during early preparation:

1. Make an estimate of the number of attendees. The number of attendees is directly related to the venue and expenses. If there are any increases or decreases, remember to make adjustments.

2. For the selected venue, try to visit and measure it on site to obtain the dimensions of the materials needed for each location so as to facilitate the placement of promotional materials and seats for the entire event.

3. Changes in activity processes are a very normal phenomenon. We should have more discussions, more exchanges, more meetings, and make collective decisions.

4. Design materials, host scripts and activity processes are closely linked, and pay attention to changes and make timely modifications.

5. The press release can be prepared in advance based on the theme, process, and host script content, and then fine-tuned and illustrated according to the actual content of the event. This can ensure that the press release is sent out in a timely manner. It is best to send it out after the event, generally not overnight, and at the latest the next day.

6. For creative and subjective content such as pictures, texts, background music, promotional videos, etc. related to activities and meetings, please ask the relevant creators to consult, report and make revisions to their superiors or bosses more often. Coordinators should not make decisions blindly.

3. Process Management

Generally, the event will go into full swing three days before the event, by which time all preparatory work is basically completed. The theme and process of the event have been determined, the list of participants and guests has been confirmed, the promotional video, warm-up, on-stage and off-stage music, PPT, host script, etc. have all been collected and prepared, and various materials have arrived one after another.

At this time, prepare and publish the activity schedule, personnel allocation and arrangement table, and material list , and hold a mobilization meeting for all employees to mobilize everyone's enthusiasm, unify work goals, assign work tasks, explain work requirements, and guide work details.

The event schedule mainly includes the content flow of the event, the start and end time of each content and the speaker/person in charge (detailed to the minute), indicating when the relevant personnel of each content go on and off the stage, the background music during the event, and the main background of the screen behind. Please note the precautions for each content, such as the need to control the situation and pay attention to time.

The personnel allocation and arrangement table needs to include the work groups, the main responsibilities of each group, the team leader and team members. The working groups generally include: host, emergency security team, etiquette reception team, audio and PPT playback team, lighting equipment team, financial and material logistics team, news and publicity team, live broadcast photography team, etc. Clarify the work tasks of each group, the specific executors and the responsibility system of the group leader.

The material list mainly includes the names of various materials, quantities, units, sizes/purposes, and responsible persons. Before the event, pay attention to check whether all materials are in place. After the event, remember to organize and store reusable materials. Update the actual expenditures of the corresponding items in the budget table.

Process management needs to pay attention to:

1. Pay overall attention to the allocation of work tasks, confirm the executors and responsible persons for each task, ensure that each staff member knows what they should do and how to do it, check for omissions in each work content, and supervise and manage the work results.

2. When problems arise, coordinate with various groups to solve them in a timely manner. Have plans ready to deal with emergencies at any time. Report work errors in a timely manner and find ways to remedy them. What you think is a big problem may be easily solved by the leader or unimportant, but what you think is a small error or a small detail that is concealed may make the entire activity go to waste.

3. The night before the event is the decisive stage. You will find that there are always details that cannot be perfected, and you will have to work overtime, but you must not stay up all night. Don't stay up all night. Don't stay up all night. Your hair and body are your own, and only by staying healthy can you fight a protracted battle.

4. A high-quality and excellent event is reflected in every detail: inconsistent colors of the main background and incorrect theme will lower the style of the event; a typo in the design materials on display will negate the hard work of the team; the asynchronous sound effects on and off the stage, the event background music, PPT, and the playback of promotional videos will discredit the team's work ability. There is nothing special about these details except paying attention, practicing more and thinking more.

A complete event should also include a perfect cleanup after the event and the storage of materials.

Review and summarize the activities, praise outstanding people and things in the activities, review the mistakes in the activities, improve the shortcomings in the activities, make up for the omissions in the activities, and calculate various data of the activities to determine whether the purpose of the activities has been achieved.

The coordinator must remember to organize and participate in the event review and summary meeting. Only by being on the scene can you avoid taking the blame and being blamed by others, otherwise hehehe~

Author: Taiwei Notes

Source: Taiwei Notes