Event Management Philippines Blog

D.R.I.V.E Your Event Management | Event Management Philippines

In Judy Allen’s Event Planning book she mentioned a great acronym that I use in crafting and implementing my event management projects.

The acronym is not only easy to understand by a great guide for beginners and veteran event management professionals as well.

Here is the acronym she devised and you might also use as well to aid you in delivering a successful event.

She called it D.R.I.V.E. An apt word if you ask me, for event managers are drivers of the events they are producing or organizing. Event managers hold the steering wheel. In their hands, depend if the event can reach its target destination.

Often times, there will be bumps along the way, but if the driver knows how to navigate his way, no doubt that the trip will be enjoyable and the destination reachable.

I know you are excited to know it, so here it goes.

D is for Define Company and event objectives.

Everything must start in answering the question why? Why does your company exist? Why are you doing the event?

Answering the why points to the company and event objectives.

For me, it is finding your true north. It will act like a compass that will always guide you whenever you feel that you are getting lost in the middle of your event implementation.

R is for Research and develop your event vision.

If you are creating your event for the first time you might as well create a remarkable event. Create purple cow if you ask Seth Godin.

If you will not create a remarkable event, it will be invisible.

This is the reason you need to research deeply. As you become confident that you have gathered a sufficient data, you can now develop events that will stand out in the crowd.

I call it a differentiated event. Differentiation is a strategy that will allow you to be memorable to your client and outlast your competition.

I is for Innovate and create a customized experience.

According to Jerry Gregoire, former CIO of Dell, “ Customer experience is the next competitive battlefield.”

I agree with this with wholeheartedly. Customer experience has become an obsession not only among companies, but also in the event management industry.

In fact, event management companies are now called experience agencies. This goes to show you how important and precious a commodity providing a great customer experience is.

Therefore, the rule of thumb is to innovate your customer experience or die.

V is for Visualize your event step by step to capture all essential logistical event requirements and expenses.

God is in the detail. I always try to emphasize this in my staff and students. This is how we play the event management game. Checking and cross checking every detail. Trying to act like Andrew Grove of Intel’s bold statement in his famous book, which is “Only the Paranoid Survives.”

Secondly, profit is our lifeblood. We will continue to grow and survive this competitive world if we will watch carefully our cash leaks. We can make this possible by creating a cost sheet and watching carefully our expenses.

Lastly, I believe that if you can visualize it, you can execute it. The late Stephen Covey is correct when he said that there are two types of creation. First creation is the creation that takes place in the mind. Second creation is the physical creation. Just look at the building that started not when the construction began, but when the blueprint was created.

E is for Execute with detailed precision and timing.

“Art is an accurate statement of the time in which it was made”, said Robert Mapplethorpe.

Timeliness is everything. It is the exact moment where we deliver the drama, breaks the suspense and present the surprise that completely affects and influences the audience.

Timeliness is also the reason that precision is achieved. It is the walk-in music when the name of the speaker was called. It is the event card or event photo plate posted on the LED screen when the keynote speaker is about to walk in the stage and takes the podium.

In summary, D.R.I.V.E. is a very helpful acronym that you can’t resist not using. You are the master of the event. You are the event manager. You and only you will drive the event to success so hold the steering wheel tightly and keep in your heart the acronym D.R.I.V.E. because with it you will never get lost.

Wednesday, March 01, 2017
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5 E’s of Event Design of Experience | Event Management Philippines

event design of experience

“No experience has been too unimportant, and the smallest event unfolds like a fate, and fate itself is like a wonderful, wide fabric in which every thread is guided by an infinitely tender hand and laid alongside another thread and is held and supported by a hundred others.” – Rainier Maria Rilke

Event Design is the second step in Dr. Joe Goldblatt’s event management process. It is the stage where we discuss the experience we needed to impart to our audience.

Our imagination’s capacity is the only limit in our event design capacity. Of course, the budget also plays an important role in the event design.

But regardless of the budgetary constraints or the high expectations on the event design we are crafting. The event design has five E’s that must be considered in creating the powerful experience that the target audience is excitedly awaiting to be immersed in.

I like Judy Allen’s 5 E’s in Event Designing Objectives in creating an experience. Here they are:

1. Educational

We attend events to learn something. In fact, some events clearly specify the takeaways that the audience gets after attending the event.

I am a lover of learning and I am always on a lookout for events that will enhance my knowledge.

Therefore, the event must be educational, whether presenting an old idea in a new light or presenting new breakthrough ideas. Events must be educational as much as possible.

2. Enlightening

“Really, the only thing that makes sense is to strive for greater collective enlightenment.”

-Elon Musk

Sometimes, we attend events to shed light to an issue that we would like to find answers. This is the reason why when we are in the stage of event designing, we must strive hard to enlighten our audience for the reason why the event is created.

People need a spark. The best events are enlightening. When the audience is enlightened then we have provided the best experience they can have in being part of our event.

3. Engaging

Our age is the Age of Engagement. People are looking for events that will increase their participation. People are looking for events that will allow them to feel ownership.

The only way to achieve increased participation and feeling of ownership is through a carefully crafted event design that puts premium on engagement.

The more our audience is engaged, the more they become our event evangelists spreading the good word about what people can gain from attending our events.

As Benjamin Franklin puts it, “ Tell me, I forget. Teach me, I may remember. Involve me, I will learn.”

4. Energizing

Positive energy is contagious. We must always strive to design an event that will spark the positive energy from the audience.

We all go to live events to experience the energy of the crowd. This is the reason that events can never be replaced by online platforms.

The energy of live events is so powerful that it is like an addiction that most people wanted to have, sometimes the only reason why they attend events.

Therefore, creating a program or content that is energizing is a must.

In fact, people are paying high participation fees just to listen to speakers that can uplift their energy. It is also the same reason we attend sporting events or championships because the energy is so high, we wanted to bask in it.

5. Entertaining

“I don't think people are fools, and I think they deserve a good attitude and smart entertainment.” - Tatyana Tolstaya

The challenge of events is to be entertaining. Conferences and Expos are not spared on this objective.

Humans will be humans, they wanted to be entertained.

Life is already hard. Events are created not only to educate or create a business. Most of the times, events are created to entertain. We love entertainment and as an event manager, you must always keep this in mind.

There is a reason why there is edutainment - a word that comprises education and entertainment. The reason is rooted in our humanity.

In summary, event designing to provide a superb experience is a challenging task that needs hard thinking and deep understanding of the needs of the target audience.

You already have the 5 E’s. It is up to you how to strategically mix this great event design experience objectives.

Monday, February 27, 2017
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5 E’s of Event Management | Event Management Philippines

Event Management Lessons

Events are becoming more crucial as we move on to a very exciting but unpredictable time. The business landscape has tremendously changed. The digital age is upon us. However, it only made experience or events a necessary ingredient for business success.

So if your company is planning to use the event as part of your business strategy, you are in the right direction. If you are a government agency planning to achieve your goals, events are great anchor to accomplish that and broadcast loudly and effectively to the public your projects.

In order to ensure you have a successful event, here are the 5 E’s of Judy Allen that you must make sure should be present and accounted for in your events.

1. Elements

The elements are the necessary parts that your event must have. It is important to research, study and decide the elements that should be present in your event.

I always preach God is in the Details, to stay true to this dictum you must painstakingly discuss with your team or event manager the elements that must be present in order to achieve the objectives you set for.

The right elements will give you the confidence that come the actual event implementation, you will be able to deliver what you promised and conquer the objectives you set for.

2. Essentials

The resources that we have will always be limited. During brainstorming and ideation, I always recommend that we must never kill ideas. But near the implementation phase, where we will decide to include or exclude details of the event that we wanted, the essentials must never be removed.

It is up to you to determine what are the essentials of your event. The essentials are the must have and the elements that we cannot afford to lose.

3. Environment

In marketing it is called the Place in the marketing mix, we always believe that location, location, location is still the battle cry to ensure that our event will be well attended by our target visitors.

In choosing your environment, my first and foremost recommendation is the safety and security of the venue. For me, I always put premium to the safety and security of the target audience.

Besides this, the accessibility of the venue is also high in my consideration on my decision-making if I wanted to hold the event in a particular venue.

Lastly, the theme that we will create to communicate the vibe that we wanted to impart to our target audience is also important.

4. Energy

Events are made of this. We can create a great content, but it will be nothing if we do not supplement it with the energy that we wanted to catapult the experience of the target attendees.

In expo, the energy of trade or exchange of business information of the buyers and sellers, and in conference, the energy of the speakers, entertainers and other actors of the event are critical.

We attend to the event to realize the excitement that the event caused us during its pre-event promotions.

The energy we place into the expos, conferences, trade missions, B2B networking will create an indelible mark to the minds and hearts of our target visitors.

Therefore, we must think seriously how to create and transfer it effectively.

All our events must be vibrant, throbbing that it's causing a different palpitation to the hearts of our audience and titillating their bodies with something they can’t explain, compelling them to be magnetized and in love with our event.

5. Emotion

Thousand of years have passed, our brains have evolved, but the truth of the matter, our emotional brain, which is our dinosaur brain, still rules us all.

Events is the sum total of the energy and emotions we generate from the audience. We attend the event to get the emotions we need. Events are elixir of the heart.

Since events are all about experience, a bigger part of our experience is led by emotions.

As an event manager, you are tasked to create the right emotions and amplify it.

Our events cannot be just commonplace or like other events. If we create an event, it must always be something different.

The difference that we seek and create must be fundamentally linked to the energy and emotions that it can generate.

In summary, if you wanted to have a successful event, you have to include and consider the Elements, Essentials, Environment, Energy and Emotions that must be part of the event.

Only by doing this that as an event manager, you will be so confident that you will always deliver and end up successful as you navigate the exciting and risky world of event management.