We all want our events to be huge successes every time. to accomplish this it takes thoughtful and strategic planning. Follow our 3 tips for planning a successful event and you can't go wrong.
 

1. Determine Your purpose

No matter how seemingly simple or small the event is, all events have a purpose. Even something as simple as a dinner party has a wide variety of potential objectives. Your purpose could be anything from celebrating a person or accomplishment to entertaining a group of your friends and family. So the very first step in creating a successful event is to determine what your purpose is. Are you trying to raise money? educate? network? etc. Figuring out your purpose will allow you to build an agenda that is focused and will give your event value to both you and your audience. To begin this process, ask yourself: at the most basic level, what am I trying to accomplish? Once you answer that question you can begin to figure out what things make the most sense for you to spend your time and effort on to accomplish your goal. 
 

2. Stay Dedicated to That purpose

When planning an event it can be really easy to get bogged down in the details. What beverages should you serve? What time should your event begin? What will the color scheme be? Will you hand out gifts to speakers or attendees? If so, what should they be? etc, etc. When you become too focused on the details you risk losing sight of the primary objective of your event. So, when you are up at 1 am fretting over what color napkins to pick, ask yourself: does this decision directly help me accomplish my goal? If the answer is no (or even, I'm not sure), decide on the most simple solution and move on. You can change your mind or get your money back if things change down the line, but one thing you cannot get back is your time (and your sanity along with it). Thus, your focus should always be on the primary purpose, the rest is just noise. 
 

3. Determine Your Audience & Target It Hard

Imagine yourself at your event and it going absolutely perfect- who is there? Are you trying to raise money? Get buy-in from members of your community? Are you looking to impress potential clients? You can easily determine your audience by taking your purpose (remember, you are sticking to that purpose!) and thinking about what type of people will help you meet that objective. If you are trying to raise money for a cause, you may want to contact organizations that do work with that cause and see if they would be willing to partner with you in promotion or the actual event. Use social media to your advantage. Reach out to national or regional organizations on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and see if they will help promote your event. Synergy is key when it comes to getting buy-in on your event. These types of partnerships will widen the scope of your audience and increase your legitimacy. The more people you can get your message in front of, the better. 

Here's to your event being a great success!

-Aubrey

Have other tips and tricks? Share them in the comments section!