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FeedThe Wow Factor
It takes a great planning team to create a great event.
Imagine the planning, the detail, the total hours, the contingencies and even the $100 million in cost that went into the Olympics opening ceremony. Accomplishing a look of awe on millions of faces around the world certainly isn’t a simple or an inexpensive task. And of course, there are always the criticisms. As Omaha’s largest event planning firm, planitomaha commends China for producing a “wow” factor for their opening event.
Whether it’s a fundraiser, a corporate meeting or event, a golf tournament or the College World Series and whether the budget is small or large, planitomaha has been delivering “wow” experiences for more than 10 years. Experiencing large events is wonderful but understanding the planning, the effort and the value of hiring experts may be even more overwhelming than the event itself. Let’s break down an event to better understand what the planitomaha staff goes through to deliver “wow”.
Typically, an event starts with nothing more than an objective and a budget. Getting from there to people walking away in awe is a lengthy road that involves countless hours of collaboration and consultation. Becoming an expert requires making mistakes so if you’re selecting a planning partner, consider their depth, breadth and number of past events: You’d naturally prefer that a firm and its staff have the learning curve behind them.
Creating a detailed plan is critical. Timelines and costs associated with each minute component such as coat check and accountability assignments should be detailed on spreadsheets or planning charts. Selection of contributing vendors is critical to creating “wow”. Tables and chairs, linens, food, refreshments and audio/visual all come from different sources. Compare it to preparing your child for college. Clothing, dorm room furnishings, books, a campus parking permit and countless other details each require going to a unique source such as department stores, furniture stores, campus bookstore, school administration office, etc. Fortunately, an experienced event planner knows the best sources for each deliverable and has past pricing experience that facilitates best pricing and budget adherence.
No matter how well the event is planned, the inability to compensate immediately and effectively for contingencies can ruin an event. As an example, at an event two years ago, the entertainment - a nationally recognized band - was delayed landing in the host city due to weather. Onsite planners came up with filler entertainment for the hour and a half until the band arrived. The result was that no one attending the event realized there was a problem. No plan is a sure thing and only experience can successfully mitigate surprises.
Experience, event details, contingency plans and predicting the unpredictable all combine to deliver a unique “wow” factor for events. When planning your next event, remember that the intangible results are just as important as the tangible.
