Getting Ready For Event Season Organizing any kind of event, especially during event season needs an immense amount of time and planning. There are a zillion things that you must keep track of when it comes to planning for a successful event. So the million dollar question is “Are you ready and prepared for event season?” Your answer will be a resounding yes if you have kept a few important things in mind. Some of the things that you must start with are:
- Starting with the prep work well in advance so you can get a large number of things out of the way rather than wait for it at the last possible minute.
- Using a single ‘platform’ – a diary or an online productivity tool that will keep you and your team updated constantly in real time of all items on the agenda.
- Defining the core message that your plans and messages will carry.
Here are a few things that you can keep in mind when it comes to getting ready for event season. Tickets and payments Thanks to the online world and the world of technology, you can use an immense number of tools and software to help you with the ticketing and payment process. So start with:
- Setting up a ‘simple to use’ online registration process.
- Secure payment portal that will help in collecting payments for your ticketed events.
- Having a system by which you can collect donations given by contributors.
This will start the process of finding out how many people are coming for your event and how many have made their payments and donations as well. Invitations During event season, there is an immense crush of people going to several different kinds of events and it is a huge task to get your event noticed isn’t it? So you have to pay a lot of attention to the invitations that you are sending out and make them:
- Highly impactful so people are simply drawn to your event and are not in a frame of mind to refuse.
- Punctual or timely – you cannot afford to send them out so early that people forget about your event. Neither can you wait for the last minute to send out your invites.
- Online and offline as well so you can build a huge degree of excitement for your event.
Hint: If you need these things designed, try putting a post out on a design site like 99designs or You should also track your invites and ensure that they have gone to all your potential attendees in time. Then, track the invites and see how many have accepted the same as well. It is also a good idea to support the invitation process with a simple online registration process that collects the right amount of data.
Track the information
Having an online registration process means that you can get people to input simple information or data about themselves. This will give you the opportunity to track commitments made by people and even the donations that they have made. If your event depends on the extent of number of people you have reached then the online registration can help you with this as well. And of course, such a database will help you for the next event you are planning as well. Donations and payments This is important if your event needs some kind of financial offering from the attendees. This could be by way of donation or payment for the ticket. Using a secure payment gateway can help in making this process extremely swift and simple and successful too. It could also help to make this payment process a part of the online registration process. The attendee can then complete all the formalities in one sitting and you have the information in real time as well. What if you decide that the attendee can make the payment or donation at the event? Then you should:
- Ensure that you have the right number of people who can help with the collecting of the money and issuing of the receipts for the same.
- Mobile credit card readers.
- Have the means by which you can collect donations in case they are being made during the event
For instance, if it is a charitable drive and donations will depend on your speech then you should have an inspirational speech ready of course. But you should also have people or staff who can circulate amidst the invitees and collect their donation as and when they make them. Integrating the systems online is also a fabulous idea. This way, you, your team and the attendee will know that their invitation has been received, accepted and payments have been accepted as well. Imagine having a notification generated the minute you receive payment from a guest and this notification reaching the mobile device of the person within a few seconds of the financial transaction going through. Thus, planning for your event can be an easier thing to execute when you have drawn up a list of attendees and deployed a smooth system of registration and payments as well.
