The True Role of Food & Beverage in

Meetings and Events

By Social Tables

Have you ever been to a large event that had no food or beverage options? It’s unlikely! Food
and beverage is often one of the largest (if not the largest) expenses for events. Guests remember
the fare at events, especially if the event is centered around a meal.

So why are we still treating food like an afterthought?

As budgets continue to shrink and the cost of food continues to rise, it’s easy to look at food
service at events as a “have to do.” You might be tempted to scrape something together for the
lowest dollar amount.

But that rarely pays off. And that’s because food and beverage at events isn’t just about keeping
people full — it’s a part of the experience.

If serving food at events was really just about feeding people, it would probably be more cost
effective to give guests cash or vouchers to the nearest fast food restaurant.

It all goes back to the basics of hospitality

There’s a reason events fall into the greater hospitality industry. The event organizer — whether
it’s a corporation, an association, or an individual — is the host of an event. The attendees are
the host’s guests.

The idea of hospitality goes back to biblical times, when people would open their homes to
guests — even strangers — and break bread. The idea of sharing a meal led to shared
conversations, shared ideas, shared fellowship. Sounds a lot like our modern event planning
objectives or networking, right?

Why are we still treating food & beverage at events like an afterthought?
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Once you make the connection between event planning and hospitality, it’s easy to realize that
any food service is part of the hospitality package. Any by food service, we mean anything —
from continental breakfast all the way through formal plated dinners.

A meal isn’t just a meal. It’s an opportunity to make connections, to bring people together to
break bread. All of a sudden, that budget line item is actually doing double duty!

Put real thought into your food and beverage choices

If you put a little effort into the menu selection, you can help make that meal do more for your
meeting. Instead of blindly choosing the affordable buffet or the safe duet-plated entree, be
creative and take some risks! Your guest will remember and appreciat eit.

What about the budget?

Yes, you have to plan food and beverage around your budget. But who says an inventive menu
has to be expensive? You don’t have to offer lobster tail and caviar to be creative.

There are plenty of ways to mix things up without busting your budget. Here are some of my
favorite ideas:

 Go for food stations: Get rid of the plated dinner and offer specialty food stations
instead. It gets people moving around and talking — and it’s usually lower cost. Each
station can have a different theme (like regions of the world) for a conversation starter
among guests.
 DIY it: Instead of a simple sandwich display, offer a make-your-own salad line with
creative toppings. Most guests will appreciate the healthier options.
 Get interactive: Let guests get in on the action either through cooking demonstrations or
“make your own” bars.
 Go retro: Nothing gets guests talking quite like nostalgia. Think: Sloppy joes, tater tots,
or any kind of casserole.
 Serve meals family style: By literally sharing a meal from a common platter, guests will
be sure to start conversations with one another.

Keep track of all your guests’ F&B preferences

Try Our Tool

Those are just a few ideas — there are so many more! Work with your caterer to develop a menu
that truly meets the need of your event. Just don’t take the easy way out on menu selections. We
event planners can do better than that for our guests!
Want more information about food and beverage in events?
What is food and beverage operations?

F&B operations involve the purchasing, preparation, serving, maintaining inventory, and
catering services of an event venue.

How much food should I order for an event?

Assuming the event takes place over the course of a single meal, the following loose guidelines
typically work:
– 1 pound of entree dish per 3 people
– 1 pound of side dishes per 3 people

What are caterers responsible for?

Typically, the responsibilities of a caterer at an event include preparation of food, serving it,
cleaning up, staffing bars, and attending to diners. Recently, caterers services have expanded
beyond that, as agreed upon by the caterer and event host.

More creative catering ideas

5 Ways to Keep Catering Costs Down at Your Next Event

6 Innovative Hotel Food & Beverage Ideas That Grow Group Revenue
10 Event Catering Ideas to Feed Group Revenue
Why the Event Space Layout Affects Your Catering Plan

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Different Types of Food and Beverage

Services in Hotels | Restaurants
There are many different types of food and beverage service types or procedures, but the major
category of the food service is 1) Plate Service, 2) Cart Service, 3) Plater Service, 4) Buffet
Service and 5) Family style service.
Below is the list of different type of food and beverage service followed by hotel, resorts,
restaurants, fast food establishments etc.

1. Table Service / What is a Table service?

 Table service is considered as a border category of service style which consists of English
Service, American Service, Pre plated Service Etc.
 In this type of f&B service, the guest is seated at the table with laid cover and orders from
the menu.
 The guest has to be greeted with an eye contact and a warm welcome.
 The server or waiter should normally address the guest by sir or madam.
 If the server knows the guest name then they should address the guest by their Surname
and title.
 Assist the guest in seating as per the number of persons or any special requests.
 While seating the guests the least desirable areas like the tables near to side stations,
kitchen, dishwashing area etc. to be only offered is all other tables are full.
 The menu to be presented after opening to the women first, then the host and clockwise
for other guests.
 Special attention to be given to kids.
 When serving the guest orders the server or waiter should have a good understanding of
who ordered what dishes.

2. English Service / What is a English Service / Family Style

F&B Service?

 English service requires the food to be placed on large platters or in large bowls.
 These food portions are then delivered to the guest's table by waiters/servers.
  Once the host checks and approves the food the same is placed on the table.
 The guests then pass the food around the table and serve themselves.
 In some cases, the host may also ask the waiter to serve the food.
 This is a common type of F&B service style as the ease of service and waiters shouldn’t
be highly skilled.
 The Family style F&B service is easy to implement.
 The servers or waiters shouldn't be that much skilled. 
 This type of service also requires little dining area or space.There is a higher or rapid
table turnover rate with this type of service.
 One of the major disadvantages of the family style service is the difficulty to control the
portion sizes.
 This is because the last guest who gets served may not get enough item if other guest had
taken more.

3. French Service / What is a French service?

 French Service is a very detailed and highly skilled type of service.

 It is very elaborate and expensive type of service.
 The chefs demonstrate culinary skill, by preparing meals in front of the guests.
 Normally all fine dining restaurants follow this type of service.
 VIP’s and VVIP’s are also given this kind of service style.
 Plated entrees are served from the right, all other courses from the left.
 Beverages are served from the right.
 French Service style is very expensive because it involves professional waiters to the
server properly and slowly.
 The ambience and decor of the restaurant are always in high luxury.
 All diners are given the individual attention and they enjoy.

Note: Read about French Classical Menu

4. Silver Service / What is a Silver service?

 The service style is similar to the French Service and Guèridon Service. 
 The difference is an elaborate sterling silverware is used for the food and beverage
service.
  Due to the fact that silver cutlery and crockery are expensive, EPNS (Electroplated
Nickel Silver) service ware is used most commonly in hotels and restaurants.
 Only fine dining or speciality restaurants use silverware due to the high investment and
maintenance cost.
 In this kind of service, the food and beverages are served in silver cutlery and cookery.
 The table is normally set with sterling silverware.
 All food is portioned into silverware from the kitchen itself.
 The silver platters are kept is the table side station normally with hotel plates.
 During serving the waiter present the food to the host for approval and serves to the
guests.
 A service spoon and fork is used for serving.

5. American Service / What is an American / Pre-plated

service?

 One of the most common and widely accepted kinds of food and beverage service.
 The servers take guests orders in the dining area.
 The order is sent to kitchen staff via KOT (Kitchen Order Ticket).
 Food is prepared and pre-plated in the kitchen itself by the chef.
 The server or bus person bring the food to the restaurant and placed on side stands.
 Pre-plated food is then served to the guests by the server.

6. Russian Service / What is a Russian service?

 
  Similar to the French Service but faster and less expensive.
 Display and presentation are the major part of this service.
 Whole joints, poultry, game, fish etc are elaborately garnished and dressed.
 After presenting to the guest the server or waiter portions or carve them and serve to the
guests.
 Normally only one server is required per table.
 No extra space is required for the equipment like the French F&B service type.
 Ideally suited for banquet service with the fixed menu.

7. Cart Service / What is a Guèridon Service / Cart Service?

 In this type of F&B Service partially cooked food from the kitchen is brought to the
service area in a Guèridon trolley.
 The Gueridon troll has a portable heating unit for completing the cooking process.
 A wide variety of fish, meat and poultry is either cooked or flamed (flambéed) in the
trolley.
 Chef du rang is responsible for taking orders, serving drinks and preparing food at the
table.
 In a large hotel, Commis du rang assists the Chef du rang.
 Both the Chefs should know how to use a spoon and fork for serving the cooked food to
the guest.
 The prepared food should be garnished as per the standards before serving.
 This type of F&B service can be only implemented on a well planned and designed
dining room.
 The Food is always served from the right hand side of the guest.
 All the fixtures furniture, layout etc should be compatible with the elegant service style
offered.
 Gueridon Type of F&B service provides highly personalised guest service.
 High level of customer satisfaction as the dishes are prepared, carved or flamed in their
presence.
  Good merchandising device.
 The average Spending power is high.

8. Snak Bar Service / What is a Snack bar service?

 A Tall stool is placed on a counter so the guest may order and eat at the counter itself.
 A menu card is presented or the guests can choose the food directly from the display
counter.
 In some restaurants, the available items are simply displayed on a blackboard or LCD
monitor.
 This kind of service is normally followed in BAR and Pubs.

9. Self Service / What is a Self Service?

 In this type of Food and Beverage Service the guest/customer is required to help
himself/herself.
 Normally food is either kept on a counter or buffet.
 The customer picks up the required food from the buffet.
 Payment is either done prior to the food pickup or after food is picked up.
 The layout for such F&B service type should be done for free guest flow.

10. Buffet Service / What is a Buffet Service?

 Buffet service displays food in a chafing dish on counters or tables.

 Guests or customers help themselves to pick up as many and as many items, they would
like to eat.
 Plate and cutlery (fork and spoon) is kept at the starting of the buffet counter.
 There are servers behind the counter who helps the guests with serving the food from the
chafing dish to the plate.
  Buffet can be a simple food spread to very elaborate food, beverage, starters, dessert,
salad presentation.
 The staff should consistently keep the buffet containers full.
 In some kind of buffet setup like sit-down buffet serves to serve the food to the guest
sitting the table.
 There are on the spot cooking in some buffet counter eg. counters which cook the
displayed fish or meat, or counters for pasta etc.
 Guest are also allowed to replenish any item they prefer.
 Special attention and planning are required for buffet layout.
 The recommended number of guests one a buffet counter can server is 70 - 75.
 The number of buffet counter and the banquet layout to be decided as per the total min
guaranteed guests who will attend the party.
 This type of service is recommended for large gathering or party.
 The banquet staff should maintain cleanliness and order during buffet service.

11. Cafeteria Service / What is a Cafeteria Service?

 This type of service is generally used in Canteens, Industries, Staff Cafeterias etc.
 Has limited or fixed menu.
 The pricing may or may not be at a subsidised rate.
 Entry to such cafeteria may be restricted to authorised people only.
 There is limited space with basic facilities.
 Clearance of the used plates and soon is done by the guest itself.
 Narrow tables with high tables are often placed to save space.

12. Sngle Point Service / What is a Single point service?

 The guest pays for the food and beverage over the counter.
 From the same counter, he/she receive the food and beverage.
 Most of the fast food, takeaways, Kiosk, drive through etc. are examples.
 Automated vending machines are also considered as single point F&B service.
13. Room Service - What is a Room Service / In Room
Dining Service?

 This type of f&b service as per the name suggest is provided in the guest room.
 The room service menu should match with the guest needs, expectations and hotels
operations.
 Guest make food and beverage order from the room telephone, interactive television or
hotels mobile app.
 Maximum of the room service orders in a hotel is for breakfast.
 For small orders the room service tray is properly laid out is used for serving the guest.
 For large orders, a room service trolly is used for serving.

14. Take Away Service / What is a Take Away Service?

 Similar to the single point style of F&B service.

 Take away orders are received either over the counter, driveway, telephone, website or
mobile app.
 Payments are either made in advance via online payment or paid by cash at the time of
order pickup.
 All Fast food restaurant provide take away option.
 Automated Kiosk is also used for selecting and ordering takeaways.
 The automated vending machine is also used for this type of service.
15. Mobile Pantries / What is Mobile Pantries?

 These are moving food preparation pantries installed in service elevators.

 Orders taken by the order takers are passed on to the moving pantry.
 The food is then prepared and served on the appropriate floor.
 There are other types of mobile pantries where the food is prepared in the main kitchen
and then send to the floor with a mini mobile pantry.
 In-Room Dining staff picks up the food from the floor and serve to the guest room.

16. Blue Plate Service / What is a Blue Plate Service?

 Blue plate service is a type of table service commonly use for a small group of guests.
 Normally the table and dining area is small in service.
 These are pre-plated meals with meat, veggies etc.
 The serving plate might also have divided ridges.

17. What is Automatic or Conveyer Belt Service?

 Food and beverage are served to guest via a conveyer belt.

 Guest makes the order via the restaurants or hotels mobile app after selecting the table or
seat number.
 Food is then delivered via a conveyer belt to the table.
 There are restaurants with continues conveyer belt circulating around the counter, chef
places the prepared dishes on the conveyer belt. Eg: Sushi Restaurant.

18. Robotic Service / What is Robotic Service?

  

 This type of service is often found in Casino's and Luxury Cruise Liners
 Guest makes the order on an interactive touch screen after scanning their room key card.
 Selections are made from the touchscreen, which is then sent to the robotic arms
processors.
 The order is then prepared by the Robotic arm and placed on a small conveyor belt.
 Payment is automatically charged to the guest room account.
 Smartphones with the hotels or cruise liners mobile app installed are also used for
selecting the orders.
 Normally these type of Robotic arm is used to prepare cocktails and mocktails in BAR.

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Event Planning
How to Plan an Event: 10 Step Event
Planning Guide

Posted byGuidebook TeamReading Time: 14 minutes

Whether organizing a small meeting or orchestrating a large conference, event planning is a huge
task! Every event, no matter how simple or complex, requires detailed planning and
organization. From establishing an accurate budget to promoting your event, there are a number
of components you should start to consider early on to make the process as stress-free as
possible.

While no two events are the same, and every event has varying goals, budgets, and audiences;
there are several steps you can take to jump-start the planning process, keep on track, and
maximize your event’s success.

 Table of contents
1. Define goals and objectives
2. Establish a budget 
3. Build your team
4. Pick your venue and date 
5. Develop event branding
6. Plan your program
7. Confirm sponsors, exhibitors, and speakers
8. Identify and select tech tools
9. Create a marketing and promotional plan
10. Determine your measurement 

Want some more support? We’ve also put together an easy-to-use checklist that provides a
framework while planning your next event. See the full checklist.
1. Define goals and objectives

Before jumping right into the logistics like venue or speakers, you should spend time identifying
the purpose and reason for planning this event. You should answer this question:

What the ultimate goal for this event? 

This is the why that spurred you to plan an event in the first place. Are you looking to:

Drive new sales? Support a product launch? Increase brand awareness? Or maybe, you have a
combination of multiple goals? Determine what you are looking to accomplish and how this
event will help you do that. 

Next, what are the objectives?

In planning any event, you should identify a set of objectives that will support your ultimate
goal. Here are a few examples of event objectives:

 Increase registration 10% from the last event

 Increase revenue by 25% from the last event
 Receive 100 preorders for upcoming product
 Increase social media mentions/follows/reposts during the event
With your goals and objectives in place, you can create a preliminary scope of the event. Your
scope should offer key details and point to how you will achieve your outlined goals. While not
set in stone, you should lay out preliminary event details including: 

 Dates. Your time frame for the event, i.e. in 9 months.

 Attendees. Will this be a 100 person event, a 1,000 person, or 10,000 person event? You should
begin to think about size. Are your attendees coming from around the country or is this a local
event? You’ll also want to keep your attendees’ demographics in mind as you plan. 
 Location. Is your event local? Or, will it be hosted in a destination? Start to create a shortlist of
cities and venues that make sense for your event.
 Type of event. Are you driving awareness of a new product? A one-day event with keynote may
make sense. Bringing together thousands of customers? A two-day user conference may be
right for you. Hosting an internal or association meeting? A day of small sessions could be a fit. 

Building out your goals and preliminary project scope enables you to frame your event and get
buy-in from leadership. If your organization is already on board with the event, your goals and
scope help move you along into the next stages of planning. 

2. Establish an event budget 

Creating a budget is an essential early step in event planning that helps to clarify other aspects of
your plan. Additionally, establishing a budget helps to avoid unwanted surprises (like running
out of money for decor, etc.). You will be more successful if you map out your entire budget in
advance, continue to update as you finalize variables, and stay very close to the process.
Based on your high-level budget and initial scope of needs. You should begin to map out your
line item costs to gain an understanding of how your budget will be dispersed across your needs.

According to Eventbrite, “Budget is broken down by marketing and promotion (43%), speakers
and talent (32%), printed materials (29%), venues (18%).”

As your plan solidifies, you’ll have to revisit the budget. Line items will undoubtedly change,
just remember to keep an accurate budget that reflects any changes or updates you make, too.
And because you never want to exceed your budget, it’s common for planners to make
adjustments to ensure you are maintaining your budget. 

3. Build your events team

For small events, you may personally be handling many or all of the tasks discussed in this
section. However, for large events, it takes an organized team to execute the production.

If you are building a team from the ground up, it’s important to designate roles early on to ensure
accountability. All members of the team should report into a project manager who has visibility
across all of the moving pieces.

Building the ultimate event team

According to Eventbrite, only 12% of events have teams of ten or more people and the most
common number is 2 to 5 employees (45% of events), so often individuals wear multiple hats. If
you’re among the few that have 5+ team members, here’s a look at how roles are typically
distributed:

Project Manager

Oversees all of the moving pieces described below, this person is ultimately responsible for the
execution of the event. Manages the budget. Drives strategy. Makes top-level purchasing
decisions.

Venue/show floor

This person is the main contact for the venue, the vendors, the sponsors while on-site, and the
onsite volunteers and staff: security, photography and food/beverage. They remember everyone’s
name, and they know where all the outlets are.

Scheduling

This person leads agenda development, work with speakers, and makes sure the schedule is up-
to-date and communicated to the right parties. Your scheduling guy coordinates meetings at the
event, and he lives to make attendees into successful networkers.

Creative design

Creative designers put together all visual design for printed and web materials like schedules,
collateral, registration and signage, and anything needed for the mobile event app. To break it
down: they make you look good. You may want to work with an event design agency. 

Marketing and Communications

This person or team makes the right people aware of the event, create offers and timing strategy
to boost registration, oversee branding, communicate with registrants, coordinate social media
amplification and media relations, and send and measure follow-up materials. Oh, and they’re
just nuts for measurable performance.

This team makes sure a guest has everything he needs to get the most out of the event, from
maps, schedules, speaker info, and how to network. They build out and update the mobile event
app.

Registration and Check-In

These folks own registration setup, work with a software provider, produce and manage badges,
generate reports, and make sure the registration process (pre-event and during the event) is
running smoothly.
Sponsorships

This team member works to map out booth spaces, sell sponsorship opportunities, maintain
relationships with sponsors, and explore community organization relationships. They have killer
timing and great people skills. 

Keeping your team organized

With a team in place, you’re ready to create an event project plan. A project plan is more than
just a to-do list. It’s a detailed breakdown of every single action item that identifies owners,
dependencies, due dates, and completion status. You should be able to justify every action item
by mapping it to your top-level event goals. 

Event management tools 

Project management tools streamline event management and organization. Utilize these tools to
keep all of the moving pieces accounted for. With the ability to assign and monitor projects, a
project manager can maintain an accurate view of progress and timelines with these tools:

 Asana
 Trello
 Smartsheet

4. Pick your venue and date 

Choosing your venue and date for your event are two major considerations that will shape the
rest of your project plan. Start researching venues as early as possible. The event marketplace is
crowded, so finding a time when there will be venue availability is important. When deciding on
a venue, you’ll also have to consider dates for your location based on seasonal factors like travel
and costs. 
“In January it’s very challenging to find large spaces,” says Romy and events industry veteran at
PRIME, a full-service events agency in Vancouver. “January and February are heavy on sales
conferences, and it happens again in September and October.” She says that during these times
it’s tricky to find traditional locations with show floor space.

As you research and begin talking to the representatives of various venues, ask as many
questions as possible to ensure it’s a good fit. Look for budget, thematic fit, location (is it central,
easy for transportation?), facilities, on-site staff. Are there restrooms conveniently located
throughout the venue? What’s the situation with fire control and emergency response? 

Tip: Once you find the perfect venue, don’t be afraid to negotiate your rates. Half of event
planners negotiate a discount off of published rates, and of those who do, organizers most
commonly negotiate free WiFi, AV, or parking, according to EventManager. 

5. Develop event branding

From the event name and theme to the event website design and on-site look and feel – your
event’s branding sets the tone for your event. When people think of your event, you want a
strong personality to shine. Additionally, a strong event brand provides a vision and helps to
steer the direction of your event.

60% of US millennials expect consistent experiences when dealing with brands online, in person,
or by phone. (*)
When choosing your event branding, consider that an event brand should reflect your
organization’s brand but it should have a brand of its own. Additionally, think about how your
brand will come across online and in real life. Lastly, consider how you will weave your event
brand into the individual elements of your event. 

When thinking of event branding, it typically includes:

 Event name. The first crucial step, your event’s name is the first thing attendees will see, so you
want it to reflect your vision for the event.
 Theme. A name alone can’t tell the whole story. Often events will create a theme to tie the
event together. 
 Logo, colors, typography. There should be consistency across all marketing touchpoints.
 On-site decor, email, signage, and more. While every touchpoint doesn’t need to be hyper-
branded. Individual elements should come together to support the story you are telling. 

With these branding elements solidified, you should use them across all platforms including,
your event website, social media, emails, tickets and registration, and your event app. 

Want more on branding? Check out our Guide to Event Branding.

In this guide, we deep dive into the brand elements every event should consider + how to
develop these elements!

6. Plan your program

Set your agenda as early as possible! Is there a keynote speaker? Will there be an extra day or
evening planned just for your sponsors? Will there be a single “track” of workshops and talks, or
will attendees have the choice to choose between multiple sessions at a given time? As you
answer these preliminary questions, you can begin to build a high-level view of your event
program.

Don’t fret: it’s not crucial to have the schedule finalized before you start promoting the event.
You can make changes to the schedule after you have begun to market your event and
registration begins to grow. Technology makes this easy to quickly make updates to the schedule
on your website and mobile app. 

Your attendees will want to know what to expect, so it is best if you have the basic framework
confirmed as early as possible. Additionally, the schedule is an important selling point for
sponsors as well!

Other Considerations

In addition to the core event program, there are a number of other program aspects to think
about. If your event is a full day or multiple day event, you should also think about planning:

 Food and Beverage. Will you be providing lunch or snacks? 

 Ancillary events like happy hours, networking opportunities, or wellness activities?
 Entertainment. Will the event conclude in a celebration or party?

7. Confirm sponsors, exhibitors, and speakers

If you’re hosting a large scale event, you’ll most likely want to get others involved to offset costs
and showcase multiple voices from the industry. Speakers, sponsors, and exhibitors are common
ways to add value for your attendees and can offset costs. 

Speakers

If your event is session-based, you’ll need to identify speakers for each session. Here are two
ways to add speakers:

Call for session submissions

If you have an engaged community, hosting an open call for session submissions is a great way
to utilize your partners and customers as speakers. Typically an open call will require individuals
to submit a session abstract that outlines the session topic and value proposition. With this, your
team will review submitted abstracts, select speakers, and communicate with those who have
been selected and those who were not.

Personally invite speakers

Reversely, if you have individuals in mind, you can invite them to speak at your event. In
reaching out to a prospective speaker, provide a compelling snapshot of the event and audience,
and also convey your enthusiasm for them participating in the event. Keep in mind, invited
speakers often expect compensation as well as travel and lodging provided.

Managing speakers

Once your speakers are identified, don’t forget to maintain an open line of communication.
Create a speaker agreement that includes necessary information like presentation expectations,
content deadlines, available technology onsite, and compensation. Be clear about your
expectations upfront, so there are no surprises the day before the event!

Continue communicating beyond sending initial confirmation communication and speaker

agreement. Want your speakers’ presentations to align with the event theme? Make sure to
provide materials as you develop them. Requiring speakers to submit their final presentations,
send a reminder to ensure each speaker gets it to you on time. 

Sponsors

74% of event attendees say that they have a more positive opinion about the company, brand,
product or service being promoted after an event.

– EMI & Mosaic

Build a list of sponsors you want to participate in your event. Before reaching out to them,
conduct research to understand how they would benefit from participating in your event. Do they
have mutual customers? Complimentary services? You should also ensure every potential
sponsor brings value to your attendees. Take the time to create tailored proposals that highlight
those unique benefits and be sure to emphasize them when reaching out.

Additionally, before reaching out to potential sponsors, take the time to create sponsorship
packages. Your packages should offer varying levels of cost and benefit. In addition to standard
sponsor packages, don’t be afraid to get creative and offer unique sponsorships like:

 A sponsored lounge
 A wifi and phone charging station
 Event App sponsorship
 Or wellness activity sponsorship

Think about the activities and tools your attendees are eager for and bring value to the event.

Exhibitors

Another common way to bring in sponsors is with an exhibitor package. With this, you’ll
typically have space at your event dedicated to your exhibitors. Each exhibitor sponsorship
agreement comes with a specific amount of allotted space for your exhibitors to occupy, brand,
and engage with your attendees.

Tip: If you’re working with exhibitors, you want to be sure to drive attendees to connect with
your exhibitors. Schedule dedicated exhibitor time blocks to encourage attendees to walk around
and engage. 
8. Identify and select your tech tools

Technology is improving the event space for both organizers and event-goers. When mapping
out your next event, you’ll want to identify your technology needs and implementation timelines.
Certain technologies will need to be implemented far before the event, while others can hold off
until closer to the big day(s).

Registration and Ticketing

Managing attendee registration is more seamless than ever! Eventbrite and other online platforms
make it possible to start selling tickets in minutes. You’ll want to select your platform early so
you can promote registration and send your audience to the registration website.

Productivity Technology 

We covered this above, but we’re going to say it again to hammer in on how critical it is for
event organizers to utilize project management tools to stay organized. Events are complex, but
project management software helps to alleviate some of the stress. Trello can get you started on
the right foot with a number of event planning templates. 
Mobile App 

83% of event organizers use an event app.

Eventbrite, 2019

Streamline your communications and enhance the attendee experience with an event app. A
mobile app, like one you can create with Guidebook, enables attendees to access schedules, build
a custom agenda, interact with other attendees, and more. A mobile app is a valuable tool in
fostering an engaging, informed environment – whether virtually or in-person.

To see benefits from an event app, your app should be an integrated component of an event
strategy. Ensure every attendee has everything they need in the palm of their hands to have a
stellar event experience.

Did you know you can create a custom app with Guidebook?

Get started on Builder today to see how easy it is! Start building.

Live Streaming or Recording

Have a large community spread out across regions or countries? Live streaming sessions is a
great way to connect and extend the reach of your event. Recording sessions is another way to
extend your event’s reach and encourage the conversation to continue far beyond the physical
event. 

Engagement Tools 

Technology is changing the way audiences expect to be engaged and events are always evolving
to meet those expectations. If you’re looking to take your engagement a step further, think about
incorporating onsite technologies like a social media wall or digital swag bags, and event
gamification tools which encourage attendees to get involved in the event. 

9. Create a marketing and promotional plan 

How are you going to attract audiences to attend your well-planned event? 

Every successful event has a marketing and promotion plan to spread the word and drum up
excitement. But where do you start? There are many different ways to go about marketing your
event – social media and blogging to online advertising and even billboards – but whatever you
do choose, each tactic should a strategic element of your marketing plan. 

Components of an event marketing plan:

Goals and Objectives

When creating a marketing plan, it is a must to set out marketing-specific goals and objectives.
Similar to your event’s overarching goals, setting specific marketing goals is a way to ensure
every effort is working towards measurable results.

Common marketing goals include:

 Increase online registration 15% over last year

 Drive x amount of traffic to event website
 Drive x amount of event app downloads
 Increase social media engagement 20% over last year

Tactics

Your tactics are what you will use to achieve your goals. This includes everything that you will
be using for your marketing efforts such as online advertisements, video marketing, social media,
email marketing, public relations, etc.

In deciding which tactics to use, you need to have an understanding of your target audience. Is
your event geared toward young professionals? Instagram ads may be a tactic you choose. Are
you gearing your event exclusively towards a local audience, geo-targeted ads are something to
think about. 

Timeline and Cadence

As you identify tactics, you should start building out a marketing timeline that provides a view of
your marketing activities.

For example, if you decide to use email marketing, you should plot out each email you plan to
send:

Email Marketing Timeline

Date  Email topic

4.13 Save the date

5.27 Early bird pricing open

6.15 Keynote speaker announcement

6.26 Exciting session topic announcement 

7.1 Last chance for early bird pricing

8.1 Registration closing

For an in-depth look at creating a strong marketing plan for your next event, check out our Guide
to Event Marketing. 

10. Determine your measurement 

How will you measure the success of your event? You should begin to think of the ways you’ll
evaluate your event far before it takes place. A good place to start is with the goals and
objectives you identified in step one.

Data and analytics 

How many tickets did you sell, and through what sources? What was the cost per attendee? And
how many qualified leads did you gain? How many pre-orders did you sell? Once the event is
over, these are a few of the metrics you may measure.

In addition to quantifying the success of your event, you should also take a qualitative look at the
event. To understand the sentiment and attendee satisfaction, you can look at:

Event surveys

In addition to the numbers, another way to measure success in feedback from your attendees.
With surveys, you can gain an understanding of attendees’ perception of the event, which can
help you identify strong and weak points from the event. Because let’s face it, even if the event
was sold out, can you really call it a success if attendees did not find it valuable?

Social and online buzz  

Are your followers more active than usual on your company channel? Are registrants posting
about the event to their channels? Also, read the posts to know what attendees are actually
saying. Are the posts full of praise? Were there more than a few common complaints? You
should monitor before, during, and after your event to pick up trends and insights.

A comprehensive event plan 

Together, each of these elements comes together for your event masterplan. Work through each
of these to create a strong, actionable plan for your event. When planning an event, you should
begin your planning as early as possible. With many moving pieces, getting a head start means a
smooth finish. 

With a strong plan in place and the wheels in motion – the next step is to flush out your
marketing plan and put it into action. Continue on to the next guide, Guide to Planning an Event:
Marketing and Promotion, to pick up practical tips on creating a 360 event marketing plan that
increases registration and engagement. 

Event Planning

Event Branding Guide: Tips for Creating a Strong Event Brand

Heading layer

Event Planning

Questions to Ask Yourself When Creating an Event Schedule

Heading layer

Event Planning

How to Organize a Green Event: Tips for Sustainable Planning

Heading layer

Event Planning

Step-by-Step Guide to Creating an Event Budget

Heading layer
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How to organise an event?

How to organise an event?
Everyone sometimes organizes an event, festival or corporate event: an adventurous
teambuilding, an inspiring conference, the annual staff party, a smashing wedding or just a
birthday party. eventplanner.net will help you make your event, business or private, an
unforgettable one.

Organize your event yourself

If you have a limited budget or if you like organising events, organising your event yourself is
definitely an option. Discover the advantages and disadvantages of organising your company
event yourself versus outsourcing to an event agency.
With an event agency
If you choose a event agency, then you should stick to these rules for pitching event agencies.

Find an event agency

Find the perfect event venue

The event venue largely determines the appearance and atmosphere of your event. So you can
safely say that the event location can make or break an event. But also renting a tent can
certainly be an option. Do not forget to take into account practical aspects. Use these handy
checklists:

 Checklist event venues

Find event venuesFind banqueting hallRent a tent

Event catering
You don't choose an event caterer haphazardly. Also at an event, the love of the participants goes
through the stomach. Catering is therefore very important and must match the objective of your
event and the target group. We also have tips for selecting the right caterer:

 How to choose a party caterer?

  Guidelines: how much drinks and snacks to provide

Find caterersFind foodtrucksFind cocktail caterers

Music: diskjockey or band?
Would you like some music during your conference breaks? Do you provide a dance floor at
your staff event? Or are you looking for stylish background music for your reception? At
eventplanner.net you will find the best music bands, orchestras and diskjockeys for your
corporate event.

There is much more to entertainment than booking the animations, ... You also have to take into
account some practical aspects. Which permits do you need? What do you do when an artist
cancels at the last minute?

 checklist for entertainment on your event

Find DJFind bandFind light & sound

Event decoration
Event decoration largely determines the appearance of the event and the experience of your
guests. It is about the total atmosphere experience. A pleasant, beautiful location is certainly
enough, but you can also opt for a complete decoration in your own style, or you place some
special eye-catchers to create the right atmosphere.

Find event decorationFind flowers and plants

Guest list and invitations
Calendars are overflowing. The invitation to your event or party must not only arrive on time,
but also encourage the recipient to make part of his time available for your event. The first
impression, just a glance, can make all the difference between response and trash. So pay close
attention to developing a stimulating invitation. After all, inviting is the art of seduction. Send a
pre-announcement or save-the-date 10 weeks before your event.

The drawing up a guest list is a time-consuming task. However, you cannot afford to make
mistakes. Forgetting someone is unforgivable. Ask others for help when putting together the
guest list.

Don't forget to mention the dress code! In many cases, the clothing choice of your guests is free.
Does specific clothing contribute to the atmosphere of the event or is it necessary given the
(weather) conditions? Then you can appreciate a certain type of clothing (dresscode ). Discover
all the dres codes here.

Visitor registrationBezoekersregistratieCreate event website

Other
Action plan

In the action plan or script you work out the tasks and responsibilities of your team. During the
entire process, you refine the script. Organizing an event is a complex challenge that many
parties are involved in. As an organizer, you must have the necessary project management skills
to ensure that everything runs smoothly.
Budget

Drawing up a budget for events is an ongoing process. It is best to start with a global estimate.
You do that before you request quotes. This way you can immediately see whether you are
working realistically. You systematically adjust the provisional budget when you receive offers
or when you can make a more targeted estimate.

 Checklist budget for events

Event technology

The role of the technique is becoming increasingly important, but it can differ greatly from event
to event. Sometimes the technical feats literally steal the show. At other events, audiovisual
concepts are used to support presentations or performances. In any case, choose a reliable
supplier for renting audiovisual material.

Photo and video

Don't forget to hire a photographer and/or cameraman. You can send them out to capture
beautiful images of important moments, acts and audience.

 Checklist: what to look out for when hiring a photographer for your event?

Permits and insurance

Permits and event insurance are especially important to you as an organizer. If you are fine with
everything, you can save a lot of headaches and save a financial hangover.

Rent audiovisual materialEvent photographerEventfotograafVideo reportsLive video captationEvent

insurance

Event planning - HowTo

ChecklistsManualTipsBudget

Reviews

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Find event suppliers and event venues

Feestverhuur Van Rompaey

What should you pay attention to when planning an event?

It is tempting to start with the elaboration of your company event right away, but it is wiser to do
your homework thoroughly first. Once your event has started, you don't get a second chance. It
must be an instant hit. Murphy's law is constantly lurking: If something can go wrong, it will go
wrong. You can only prevent this if you prepare your event down to the last detail. If you don't
do this, you run the risk of the event overshooting its goal or costing you more time and money
than necessary. You start with the analysis of the objective (s) and you determine the target
group you want to reach.

For the practical organization of your corporate events, the checklists and manual on this page
will help you on your way!

More tips?
Read our book EVENTS with hundreds of tips, checklists, ... to make your event run smoothly.
Subscribe to our newsletter and receive the latest trends, inspiration, tips, ... directly and
completely free in your mailbox every week. Or watch our eventplanner.tv videos to brush up on
your knowledge about event management!

Find event venues and event suppliers

You can quickly find event locations and event suppliers via our search engine. Thanks to our
reviews you also know immediately which event location or supplier best suits your event. Is
your event over? Don't forget to write a review yourself.

Good luck with your event!

Tips and inspiration on eventplanner.tv

How to Organise a Festival Camping and Avoid the Pitfalls?
How to organise a festival campsite? Should you consider one at your event? And what are the
pitfalls? A question for Festicamp owner Geert Naudts.

Start Your Event in the Car by Producing a Radio Show

What if you could start the event experience for your guests before they arrive at your venue?
What if you could start involving people while they are in the car driving to your event? Lars
Sørensen cam up with a solution: a pre-event radio show.

Importance of Data for Events

Data is becoming more and more important. That also applies to events. How to gather more
relevant data and how te leverage that data for organising better events? Those are questions for
Kevin's guest Heather Odendaal.

Why and How to Organise Inclusive Events

Kevin talks with Hanan Challouki about why it's important as an event planner to organise
inclusive events and how to reach a diverse audience.

More TV

Tips and inspiration

How to Create a Minute-by-Minute Guide for Your Online

Events
It’s no secret that online events are in some way easier to run than running physical ones. After
all, you don’t have to set up a venue, ...

17 Unusual Light Bulbs to Decorate Your Event Venue

Details always make the difference between average and great events. From the way you’ve
arranged the badges on the registration desk to the gifts you offer your attendees.

How to Design a Friendly Event Agenda

Creating an event program can be trickier than you think. It doesn’t matter if you prepared
awesome surprises for your guests or invited incredible speakers. Your event agenda...

How to Choose the Best Event Suppliers Post Covid

Organizing online events is fun and exciting, but it's great to be able to organize 'live events'
again. We give you tips to select the best event venues and suppliers for post-corona events.

More tips & trends

Start to event
EVENTS is the reference for every organizer of events and parties. This renewed edition is
thicker than ever, deepened and contains completely new topics that you cannot miss as an
organizer!

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