Corporate Event Planning|Event Management|Event Planner

Wedding is a special event that needs attention in decorating the party hall, wedding centerpieces, designing invitations, ordering cakes and much more. There are lots of event management companies that perform these activities for a nominal cost. You can choose the help of these services either to take up one service or all the services that are offered by them. The cost of the event planning service is based on the type of services you opt.

If you are planning to save cost on your wedding, then you have to organize the wedding in an efficient way. You have to pay close attention even to intricate details. Doing so will save you time and cost. Many individuals don't have enough time to organize a large wedding. So they often take the services of event management companies to plan the wedding event.

The flower centerpieces play a important decorative part in an wedding. Choosing the right set of flowers will give an elegant look to the wedding hall. There are certain things you have to consider while deciding on the flowers for the wedding centerpieces. Decide on a budget that you can afford for the flowers. If you are having an event planner, tell them well in hand about the budget that you can afford for flower centerpieces. It is always better to use flowers that are sold out in the current season. If you try to import flowers that are off season, it will cost you heavily.

If you are planning to have your wedding in a different locality, then you got to buy the flowers in that locality rather than having it transferred from your place. This way you will be able to save on the flower transporting cost. Invest in unique containers or vases that will intensify the beauty of the flowers. If you are running short of money, then you could rather choose to buy artificial flowers than buying real flowers. You can buy artificial flowers from any crafts store. When you buy flowers, choose a color combination that goes well with the theme of your wedding.

If you are very good at organizing events, then you can better pursue a career in wedding plans. The career of a wedding planner is lucrative. However, you need the essential skills to become a wedding planner. You can search online to find courses on wedding management. Some companies require you to plan for several wedding events simultaneously.

You have to be very organized and efficient to do your best as a wedding planner. You have to talk to the wedding couples and organize events according to their interests. You should be prompt in responding to the wedding couples at the time of need. You should possess strong multi tasking and follow up skills in order to plan a wedding efficiently. As a wedding planner, you may be asked to perform a variety of services like arranging for catering and concierge services, travel reservations for guests, decorating cakes, wedding centerpieces and much more.

A career in event planning is something that can be considered as a new profession. It has been little more than a decade since the event planner's work was officially recognized as a management profession.

If you are interested in a career in event planning, you must be prepared to learn a variety of duties. The event planner must select a suitable location for the event. He or she must see to arrangements for travel, accommodation and food. The event planner must oversee registrations and plan programs.

The event planner is also called a convention planner, a conference coordinator, a meeting manager or a special event coordinator. The logistics of company meetings have become much more complicated as corporations have expanded and grown globally. A person must now train for a career in event planning in order to competently carry out all of the jobs involved in such an undertaking. Professionalism is absolutely necessary for this complex service.

For a career in event planning, you will be trained to negotiate, plan and coordinate meetings and conventions from the local municipal level to the international level. You might have to organize a small meeting for inner-office personnel, or you might have to organize a major convention attended by thousands of people from all over the world.

Some people who choose a career in event planning have their own companies. They are hired by organizations and corporations to plan and coordinate big events. Some even hire out their services for events like weddings, school reunions, family reunions and birthday parties. Many large corporations employ event planners as part of the management staff. Some people who have trained for a career in event planning are employed by large hotels or big convention centers.

Young people interested in a career in event planning should take business courses. A Bachelor's degree is the minimum requirement, and it would be a very good idea for the student to look into professional organizations that offer certification programs for a career in event planning.

This line of work requires excellent English and communication skills. It would also be to the student's benefit to learn a foreign language. This is a position that calls for leadership qualities and strong management skills. People who are successful in this field are very strong in public relations and have good sales and marketing skills.

This is certainly a profession in which it pays to be a "people" person. A career in event planning means you will at times be working with hundreds of people performing many different jobs, and that can mean an infinite number of potential problems.

The event planner must be able to think fast and find solutions; in short, be a reliable trouble-shooter.

You are very excited to be starting your event organisation courses. But as time goes on, you will need to get more specific about your plans for the future. Here are some examples of careers to which your training may lead.

1. After event planning courses, you can become a...wedding planner

In your event planner program, you will learn how to plan all kinds of events. But after graduation, you may choose to specialize in blushing brides- and grooms-to-be.

Graduates of event planner courses who are considering a career as a wedding planner should:

• enjoy working irregular hours


• be prepared to work very long days


• have good people skills (assertive, but polite)


• be adaptable (a lot of last minute issues can arise with weddings)


• be good at managing your own time (and that of others)


• have a calm, reassuring demeanour


• have a good sense of fashion and style


• be a skilled negotiator, able to get the best prices, for example, from service providers


• love weddings

2. After event planning courses, you can become a... professional conference organizer (PCO).

Your event planner program will also prepare you for a career as a PCO, which is a kind of consultant who helps clients - often from university or other professional-level organizations - plan conferences.

As taught in event planner courses, PCOs help clients with:

• logistics


• audiovisuals


• entertainment


• venue choice


• organizing speakers


• finding funding


• setting up information booths


• managing the budget

3. After event planning courses, you can become a... government event planner.

Your event planning courses may prepare you for a job in the public service, planning events for government departments and agencies.

You may even be asked to apply the knowledge gleaned from your event organisation program to the creation of an official government event organisation guide.

4. After event planning courses, you can become a... hotel event planner.

Perhaps a career in the travel and tourism industry is what you have in mind for after graduation from your event planner courses.

Hotels often make a lot of their business by attracting groups. They need graduates of event planning programs to help guests organize conferences, with all that that entails, including:

• determining a budget


• choosing venues


• establishing a schedule


• communicating with attendees and presenters

All skills that you will have learned in your event planning program!

5. After event planning courses, you can become an... event delivery manager.

An event delivery manager is the first person on the scene the day of an event, overseeing the staff that is setting up the food tables and coffee machines. This is a management position, where event planner courses are sometimes a requirement.

Happy choosing!

Marketing and promotion of an event is extremely fundamental to its success. Hence, event organizers, worldwide work on various pre-event and post-event marketing strategies to promote events to a large-scale audience. However, pre-event marketing tactics are extremely crucial in order to increase event attendance and simultaneously converting the majority of your potential leads into confirmed attendees.

However, for successful affairs, organizers must focus on activities that can help them to get the word out. There are numerous pre-event marketing strategies and all of them can be used in different ways. As an program organizer, you need to figure out, which one is going to work out best for your event. We have come up with some exciting ideas to help you to create innovative marketing campaigns for your events.

Announce your event in the local newspaper - Although newspaper ads are losing popularity in this digital era, experts believe that there is still a margin of effectiveness in this strategy. Newspapers have a volume reach out to the local audience.. There are a variety of sections where you can advertise your event, like community news, city events, etc. What you can do is send out a news release a week before highlighting the special aspects of the event and get the local newspaper to publish it.

Create an Event Blog - An event blog is a great way to approach your potential attendees in the shortest possible time. Readers will be more interested in getting access to important information about your affairss from the blog. It is likely to keep them engaged. A great way is to write interesting articles about the event and some original aspects that will take place on the day. You can research about the event and your target audience. It will help you to highlight the best bits that may be of interest to your target audience. By doing this, you can build a connection with your event attendees and thus inspire them to be present at the occasion.

Email Marketing- Email marketing is a proven method that assists in a significant rise in attendee numbers. By doing this, you can not only stay in touch with your prospective parties but at the same time deliver updates about your event on a regular basis. It is likely to help you develop a cordial relationship with your program attendees. You can increase the frequency of email marketing when you deem necessary.

Experts believe that the pre event marketing activities is directly responsible towards a great turn out. An effective marketing strategy enables you to get the word out, but you need to know how to work on these tactics to make your event a great success.

Mobile app marketing has practically changed the way organizations connect and share their event or class-related information with the target audience. The conventional marketing strategies of advertising on newspapers and business magazines or distributing pamphlets have been taken over by more advanced set of promotional tools, such as the internet and various mobile devices. At present, a good number of organizations are using the Smartphone to promote and publicize their activities on a wider scale.

How Does This System Work?

This mobile phone application allows event or class planners easily send text messages (SMSs) as well as their website links on their potential customer's Smartphone. It lets you inform your target audience about the features of your conference and training programs and the advantages of attending them. Besides, the app also lets any interested individual sign up for the seminar or fundraiser by easily accessing the event registration portal and online ticketing site on his or her handset.

Allow me to share with you the advantages of using a mobile phone application to market your events and classes.

Go Viral

Mobile marketing increases the chances of sharing the news and information about your occasion with maximum number of people. There are over 95.8 million Smartphone users in the US at present, which means the chances for your organizational activities to be recognized are also as much.

Easy Accessibility of Your Event News

You can allow your target audience to easily access all your seminar or fundraiser news and information via their Smartphone.

Immediate Sharing of Information

Unlike advertising on print media, sharing information on handsets of millions of people hardly takes any time. Hence, the chance of receiving immediate response via Smartphone is also extremely high.

Adds Versatility

Marketing your products and solutions over mobile phones can help you take your business to the next level. It opens up a new channel to reach out to those of your target audience who use mobile phones more and is less computer-savvy.

Add a Wow Factor to Your Classes and Events!

Mobile apps are trendy and hence, popular among the new generation. Resorting to this type of marketing strategy will help you quickly share your new product or events information with millions of Smartphone users, not only in US, but also across the whole world. It takes only a few seconds for an advertisement or any of your website links to get successfully delivered on your potential customers or event attendees' handset.

Event planners know that there are several keys to a successful event, whether it's a corporate event or one being hosted for a social occasion. That key is organization and planning. They know that one of the keys is if nobody notices all the hard work that you put into the event, then it's truly a successful event. The more time put into the event organizing it and communicating with all the parties involved in providing the service at the event and in preparation, the less work that the planner will have to do during the day.

Communication with the client is another key to making your day special for the client and his guests. Meeting with the client in person and going over their needs and desires adds that special touch. This shows that you are dedicated to making the day a success and want to meet the client's needs. Speaking in person also allows for an opportunity to pick up on non-verbal clues during the conversation. These along with the direct instructions from the client will help the planner determine the priorities of the client. The priorities of the client are the priorities for the planner to make the event a memorable event.

The event planner must serve as the quarterback for the event. He is the coordinator for all of the services during that event, and in the end is the one that must answer to the client. He should remain in constant contact with the companies providing services at the event. This can range from decorators to the crew cleaning up after the event. If food is being served at the event, the event planner should be communicated with the caterer so they are aware of the schedule for the food service. If the schedule changes, it's up to the event planner to inform the caterer. If the caterer is running behind, a successful event is ensured by the event planner handling it so they guests don't even notice the delay.

In the end, organizing an event takes precision planning. The coordination skills of planners are the most important skills. They must be able to communicate with people with different personalities and priorities. It is the planner's responsibility to make sure all of the pieces work together as one cohesive team. The event planner cannot judge the day until the very end. If the client is happy, the planner can feel proud that they organised a memorable event.

Most of the individuals plan outdoor events in the United States, but only few of them are successful in planning and organizing a complete outdoor event. Organizing an outdoor event is sometimes a tough job. Event planner has to look after each and every aspect of the event. In this confusion, the majority of the event planners forget to think about the visitors sanitary needs.

Every outdoor event needs one or more portable restrooms for visitors to meet their sanitary needs in hygienic condition. Event visitors may get annoyed when they don't find temporary or permanent restrooms for their sanitary needs. It is sure that you can always construct restrooms wherever you plan an event. It will sure cost very high for building a permanent restroom. Here, there is a solution for the entire event organizer. They are "Portable Restrooms".

Portable restrooms are easily and affordable for everyone to install them in any of your events like parties, social events, get-together, wedding, outdoor weddings, and celebration. Portable restrooms can be easily installed, removed, and shifted from one location to the other. There are many verities in porta potties. Few of them are listed below:
1) Standard portable restroom
2) Deluxe restroom flushing
3) ADA complaint portable restroom
4) VIP self-contained portable restroom
5) Mobile restroom shower and
6) Mobile shower trailer

One can select any of these restrooms according to their type of event, number of visitors, and budget. Budget is very important in choosing the right one. The price of these restrooms depends on the amenities that are enclosed in the restroom. A standard portable restroom wouldn't cost much and it includes few basic amenities like tissue paper, holding tank, and towel. This restroom perfectly suitable for large outdoor events where huge crowed visits the event.

Depending up on your outdoor event, you can also go for ADA complaint portable loo and VIP self-contained restroom. ADA complaint movable loo is specially designed to accommodate small children, old age people, and physically challenged individuals. It is enclosed with a tissue paper, holding tank, towel, and a seat cover that help in comfort seating.

VIP-self-contained movable loos are specially designed to accommodate special guests and VIP's for your event. This restroom costs more than standard movable loo. VIP self-contained movable toilet is enclosed with some luxurious amenities like tissue paper, holding tank, towel, washing station, mirror, flowers, and deodorizer. Few of them also have music system inside the restroom.

Choosing the right restroom for an outdoor event will help the visitors to meet their sanitary needs comfortably in hygienic condition. Cost of these restrooms varies from vendor to vendor. It is suggested choose the right company before renting a restroom.

Invitations: When deciding on a guest list, be sure to invite the couples' friends, family members and neighbors. Get as many member of their wedding party to attend as possible, and in the invitation, ask guests to bring photos to share with the couple. The invitations may also be an ideal time to reveal the theme of the party, as well as the dress code. You'll probably want some silver in the invitation (for their silver anniversary) and, if possible, you may wish to include the same colors that the couple used in their wedding invitations. Or, for modern design ideas, including invitations with pictures, visit the WeddingPaperDivas website. If you intend to have food at the party, be sure to ask everyone to RSVP in enough time to allow you to plan accordingly.

Decorations: A couple's 25th anniversary is known as their silver anniversary, so keep this in mind while choosing decorations. You may want to hang silver stars from the ceiling as part of a "romantic starry night" theme. You may purchase them in different shapes, sizes, and designs at StumpsParty website. Silver balloons, which can be personalized with the couples' names and date of their anniversary, as well as silver confetti, are also available at orientaltrading.com. Votive candles, especially in silver and navy blue, may be set around the room and lit when the couple enters.

Food: First, decide if you will be having a full meal or hors d'oeuvres. If you plan on serving appetizers only, accent tables with personalized silver napkins and cutlery. For a list of delicious and elegant recipes, look at foodandwine.com/articles/10-simple-hors-doeuvres. You may choose wine and other beverages to accompany each snack. Consider having small tables, each with a snack and wine pairing, so that guests know which flavors go best together. This will also encourage people to walk around the room and mingle with one another. You may also want to include a dessert table, with individualized anniversary cupcakes and other small sweets, such as heart-shaped chocolates.

Party Favors: For a unique and special treat, order chocolate dipped oreos with the couple's photo and wedding date on it. These are available in white, milk, or dark chocolate, and will be a memorable and tasty gift for each guest. Champagne gel candles or champagne candy jar favors are also a fun way to commemorate the celebration. Guests can then take these favors with them and display them in their homes. Finally, if the couple is particularly eco-friendly, consider sending guests home with plantable bookmarks, complete with the couples' name and anniversary date, as well as a unique or inspirational phrase that they enjoy.

Diva Entertains, Copyright 2010

New York is the most important center for trade and commerce in the world. It is the home to some of the biggest organizations and firms in the world. A large number of meetings, corporate events, product launches, trade shows, promotion parties, retirement party, annual office picnic, a sales meeting and other events are held in New York. Businessmen from all over the world travel to this part of the world in the hope to expand their business. They attend meetings, corporate events in the hope to meet the right people.

Corporate events can be a very small time affair or it may be on a large scale, it may be informal of formal, and be private or open to general public. These corporate events are organized in order to attain a broad range of objectives. The event can have a severe effect on the business prospects of the organizing firm. These events are meant to meet the key players in the field and establish good relationships with them. This is very vital for the business. Also such events are a great way to commemorate the company's success, encourage team building among workers and guarantee a great and memorable evening for the guests.

Without good planning and management, the chances of success for the event are very bleak. Proper planning is the key to success of any corporate event. Planning for the event should start as early as possible. It's better to have a few days extra rather than do the last minute arrangement. Planning such corporate events requires a lot of time, planning and dedication. It is associated with a lot of tension and frustration. A good manager in the firm may not necessarily be a good event organizer as well. Therefore it is very important to ensure that the right people do the event planning work for you.

A professional or an Event Planning firm is the best people to plan your corporate event. These firms employ the services of some of the most well known event planning experts who would take care even the minute of details that is associated with an event. They would ensure that the event is a success and is organized within the budgets. They have the experience and contacts to make the best of arrangements for all the attributes of a corporate events including the venue, entertainment and catering among others. These professionals take all your tensions, frustrations and problems that you might have faced in the event of you organizing the event.

Corporate events are very important for any corporate firm. They can have a great impact on the future prospects of an organization. Hence it is very important to ensure that the corporate event is remembered in the corporate circle. This is only possible with the help of the professionals and corporate event planners.

There are many ways to generate reports on the completion of an event. One such way is the online reporting system. Many big and small corporate firms are using this method to simultaneously produce reports on multiple areas, post-event. The rising popularity of the online reporting system can be attributed to its nature of cost effective operations and user-friendly interface.

Let's have a look at the main benefits of implementing an online reporting system.

Easy Accessibility

You can access the reporting portal anytime you wish to, via any web enabled device such as Smartphones, laptops, etc. This easy accessibility of the Cloud-based reporting module on a 24/7 basis is a primary reason behind the popularity of this platform amongst the new generation corporate honchos.

Creation of Numerous Reports

You can generate an endless number of customized reports over the internet. This means you don't have to indulge in the age old time consuming process of manually entering data on multiple spreadsheets. Rather, you can retrieve the data in minutes directly from the registration forms submitted by the participants.

Additionally, you can produce multiple reports at the same time like sales, revenue, registration, payment, and so on. Moreover, whether you have organized a single event or multi-location events on the same day, generating reports will no longer be an issue once you start using the Cloud-based reporting app.

Real-time Feedback

You can generate reports almost instantly just after the end of a meeting or a conference. Since the module is available online, so anyone from the event management side can log onto the dashboard to complete the reports creation process in real-time.

Automatic Data Capture

Cloud-based reporting systems often come with the facility of online data capture. Tradeshows and similar other event organizers capture data using apps such as bar code scanning, mobile computing, voice and RFID recording. Now, data captured via multiple apps can be uploaded on to PCs and this information can then be provided via the same reporting portal.

Easy Storage of Reports

Once the reports have being created, one can easily store such reports either in his/her PC or on the company's centralized database to allow it be accessed anytime by anyone. In case, you want to restrict the access of some reports, you can do that easily by making selected reports password protected.

Cost Saving Method

Through the usage of such an online system, you can eliminate manual data collection, data review, and re-entry of information. This saves on significant labor costs as well as productivity time for generating reports in whichever format you wish to.

There are a ton of positive things that life has to offer, and celebrating something that is significant to you is one of them. The only thing that most people are hesitant about when it comes to hosting a party is having to deal with arranging all of the plans for the occasion on their own. This is where party catering services can help you.

Party catering is available in many towns and cities all around the world. People choose to hold functions for many different reasons, and in most cases a lot of the planning, food preparation and decorating is left for the host of the party to do. Being a party host should not have to be a difficult task, and with the assistance of catering it no longer has to be.

By choosing to hire party caterers, the only thing that you as the host will have to do is make several individual choices about what you want at your party, and set a budget for the event that you are organizing. You will work side by side with the service that you decide to employ to ensure that the event that you are holding will be successful in all attributes. Once you have made all of the crucial decisions about what you want to have at your party, you will be able to sit back and actually enjoy the event when the big day comes.

While you are enjoying the time that you are having with your guests, the party catering service that you employed will be doing all of the work for you, ensuring that all of your wishes are met. There are many different types of parties that party catering services can assist with. The parties can be anything from a basic birthday celebration, weddings, and even corporate events.

A lot of the party catering services have different services that party organizers can pick between. You can choose to add on additional services, such as music, balloons, or even bubble shows. There are some party catering services, that offer themed parties upon request. Regardless if you choose to have a theme for your party or not, you will be able to speak with an event organizer that will help you plan the best party that you have ever thrown.

The event planner can help you make excellent choices when it comes to choosing the services that you would like to have at your party. The event planners will make recommendations that you may want to include at the event as well. The main intent of the party catering service is to ensure that the host of the party and the guests that are attending the party have an outstanding time while at the event.

If you will be hosting a party in the near future, do not hesitate to contact party catering services to assist you with the plans for the party, the entertainment, and of course the food. Research various companies to try to locate a company that is going to adhere to your budget demands and your party demands.

There is no greater cause in the world than the cause of humanity. To be able to do that or simply pray for that, renders ample peace of mind and brings happiness that we keep looking for, in our everyday busy lives. Attending a church or an event organized by the same gives you that opportunity. However, it may not always happen so that a fundraiser is being organized alongside a church event, though inclusion of one definitely adds a different dimension to it. So, it is very important to include a social cause driven fundraiser while organizing a church event.

Church event management by itself is an extensive task. A lot of groundwork in terms of involving paperwork is needed to promote the main event, expand membership by facilitating easy registrations, and ensure maximum participation in order to rope in more sponsors or donors. When this entire suite of action is added to another associated fundraiser management then it becomes quite a lot to take on at once for an organizer to get them all done at a time. A fundraiser should be promoted on a wider scale so that its cause gets heard by a larger audience resulting in bringing in contributions in the form of donations. So, what is the best way to synchronize a fundraiser with an actual church event and guarantee success for both? All that needs to be done is to opt for an online church event management solution, of course.

Online church event management software boasts of a wide range of facilities. It streamlines all the day-to-day church related operations and collection of donations in addition to facilitating attendee registrations, payment processing, promotions via email and social media channels, and networking through private communities. There is no need to install separate software for each category of the jobs described, or bother about its further maintenance and timely upgrades. Availing the church and fundraising management solution cuts down on time and money thereby allowing church authorities to focus more on the cause and making decisive changes in the lives of the people around.

Arranging a fundraiser under the banner of the church does not mean that its promotions should be kept muted. The more a cause gets publicity the better, because only then there will be a steady flow of donors and the fundraiser will be successful. The built-in marketing tools within the system help to publicize the fundraiser in a very streamlined and effective manner. It takes it to the social media platform and goes in for widespread campaigning so that there is no stone left unturned. Same applies for email marketing as well. The comprehensive email marketing engine integrated with this platform works proactively to send out invites, reminders, and RSVPs, so that the maximum number of sponsors join the league.

Online church event management solution is very useful in terms of being an eco-friendly option that negates the usage of paper within a lot of administrative work processes. It makes every church event a resounding success. So, if you are a devoted church-goer and come to know that there is an event to be held in your church soon, then do ask your pastor or the church authority to opt for this solution and be a part of a great event.

As an event organizer, your primary aim is to secure the maximum number of registrations for your events, because it directly impacts your ROI. However, to secure registrations, you have to convince event participants that attending your even will be the best utilization of their time and resources. Even if your event is free and intended for fun, you have to convince your attendees that attending your event is the best possible idea rather than doing anything else.

Many a times, event organizers make use of mailers, emails, in order to communicate the value of an event to their prospective attendees. However, getting a lot of attendees for event registration is a difficult task. Here, we have come up with simple tips to assist in sell out events long before the scheduled date.

State the benefits of attending an event

Let people know how they will benefit by attending your event. It is the best way to encourage people to register. In order to make people aware of your event, write descriptive benefit statements, which can be easily comprehended by your prospective attendees. Take the following as examples:

1. "Explore ten new strategies for motivating your staff that will result in fewer employee turnovers."

2. "Learn what makes software A better than software B for your business. Take the right decision for your business today. Avoid a product that will cost you time and money and deliver no results."

Write a good and catchy title for your event

Try out an event title, which can instantly grab the viewer's attention. Event titles like, "2012 Annual Convention" sounds a little drab and are likely to frustrate your prospective attendees. Such titles will tell you what the event is all about but not actually catch your attention. Instead you should look for words that will catch the reader's attention and at the same time tell people what the event is all about. In this way, you can keep your audience engaged. For example, you can try out "2012 Annual Convention -Explore new technology that will keep you competitive in the market".

Be transparent about the registration fee

You should be transparent and lenient about the fee structure of attending your event. You may introduce different fee structure for different group of attendees. Let people know what benefits they will be getting against registration fee.

Talk about the food

Any event is incomplete without food and other sorts of refreshments. So in order to keep your attendees interested about the event, you can give them a detailed list of meal and dinner options. Instead of listing the meals as "Monday Lunch" or "Dinner and Awards Banquet" create something interesting around it. For example, you can tell people what is for dessert, how fresh the ingredients will be, and so on.

Use testimonials

Testimonials from previous events can be a powerful motivator for your prospective attendees. However, the testimonials should be descriptive and clearly communicate how the attendees were benefited by attending your past events.

As a non-profit you may have access to a limited budget and resources to fulfill your set goals and missions. However, limited resources don't mean limited opportunities when creating a pre-event and a post-event buzz. Thus, you can make good use of a number of simple yet highly effective strategies to market your non-profit fundraiser to people beyond your territory and time zone.

Consider the Convenience of Your Targeted Audience

Before you finalize a date to host a fundraiser or a charity concert, it's important you look at the convenience of the audience you wish to invite. Imagine you trying to host a morning charity walk on the first Sunday of June. However, you discover that most of your would be guests are busy on that particular date. In that case, planning the event on that specific date will be a sheer wastage of time and money. Try and conduct a pre-event survey to find out the audiences' preferred date and time suitable for them to attend your event.

Act According to Your Set Goals

Be clear on what you and your guest hope to accomplish from an event. You must have legitimate answers to these 2 questions before you organize a fundraising campaign or other similar programs. For example, you should aim to get maximum attendance in your charity show. However, what will the guests gain by coming to your event. You should offer them incentives (such as 'Early Bird' pricing, etc.) to attract more individuals and increase your event ticket sales.

Send Emails and Online Invitations

It is better to send emails and online invitations at least 2 weeks before the event date to enable visitors to adjust their work schedules accordingly. Write a brief email stating the major benefits of attending your show. Ensure you provide the online registration link or online ticketing page link on the bottom of each mail to let interested people quickly click on the link and book their seats.

Use Social Media Websites

Regardless of the fact if you are hosting a single day fundraiser or a multiple day event, it is always good to regularly post about your events on Facebook, Twitter, and such other popular social media web platforms. Your fans and followers will get to see what you have to offer and may share the details with their group of friends and families. In this way, social media websites can help you to market your non-profit functions easily and quickly, expanding your network of followers in minutes.

If you're starting to feel the stress of planning for your big event, celebration, or wedding, it may be time to start considering a professional event planner or wedding planner. These experts specialize in making your event go off perfectly, and they have the resources and know-how to make sure every single detail is just right.

Many people have said that even after an amazing event, they wish they would have saved themselves the stress and hired an event planner. Sometimes the person in charge of a wedding or celebration is so busy taking care of all the details that they never get to actually enjoy the party! Working with an event planner or wedding planner takes all the stress off your shoulders so that you can enjoy the perfect celebration without any of the frustration.

If your event has more than a handful of guests, it's a good time to think about whether or not you should hire a professional planner. There are countless reasons to work with an expert, and the biggest reason can often be that it completely removes the stress you have to go through to create the perfect celebration. Another popular reason why people hire an event planner or wedding planner is budget. These experts know where to find a good deal and how to make your celebration look like a million bucks no matter what your budget is. Because event and wedding planners work with many suppliers and stock rooms in the area, they have access to a huge variety of decorations, foods, furniture, service professionals, and entertainment options. When you work with an expert, you're getting access to a vast wealth of options to make your special day something to remember.

People often ask 'should you hire an event planner for a small to medium size event?' The answer is always yes! An event with just a dozen people can cause you so much stress that you'd almost rather return your RSVP! When you work with an event planner or wedding planner, you simply tell them what you want and let them handle every important detail. Your professional event planner can take care of everything from d矇cor and entertainment to catering and event staff. They can customize every single part of your special day to make sure it's a perfect event for you and for all of your guests.

Now you might think you don't want to spend the extra money it takes to hire a planner but in the long run it will save you costly mistakes you may make as well as reliving you of the stress it takes to plan and produce a great event.

Working with an event planner or wedding planner is the best way to celebrate in style without any of the stress. Your guests will be impressed from beginning to end, and you'll actually get to enjoy the special day! Now is a great time to find out all of the reasons you should hire a planner, and learn more about what they can do to make your special day a complete success.

To keep your guests entertained and engaged at your New Year eve party, you have to plan a bunch of games and activities apart from some finger-licking food. Planning some age-appropriate games will keep your party rolling along with keeping them excited for the midnight. Here are some New Year Party Ideas that will keep your guests in the party mood.

Games for Kids:

Happy New Year banner decorations

Why not let the little ones make a banner for the much anticipated New Year? Make some 'Happy New Year' banners using white card-stock and ask the little ones to decorate the banners as they want. Give them all the required supplies such as crayons, glitter glue, ribbons, etc. and let them try their artistic skills while you entertain the adults.

Pin the hat on Santa

This traditional variation of 'pin the tail on the donkey' is sure to be enjoyed by your little guests. Download a picture of Santa and use an image editing program to remove Santa's hat. Take a printout of this edited image, paste it on a wall, give your guests some hat shaped cutouts, and ask them to pin it at its exact place. Instead of pins, you can use Velcro. You can buy this game from any store that sells New Year Party Supplies.

Activities for adults:

Dancing couple

While the kids are busy making the banner, you can have this funniest party game for adults. Ask your guests to pair themselves, spread some newspaper on the floor, make the couples stand on the newspaper, and let them dance on it. After every minute, fold the paper and let the couples dance on the folded paper. The couple that falls off the paper will be out of the game. Continue this process until you are left with just one couple who will be the winner.

Merry Cherry

This is a messy game but that's what your New Year Party Idea is! Get some bowls and place one cherry in each bowl. Fill the bowls with whipped cream and ask the participants to eat the cherry without using their hands. Your guests are sure to have a hard time finding the cherry. Make sure you click some interesting snaps of your guests with their faces covered with cream.

These party games will help you to bring in the New Year with lots of excitement and noise.

Event promoters, and event planners, sometimes make mistakes without thinking about it.

Have you ever been to an event where the doors get locked at lunchtime every day? You might think that's okay, because from a security perspective, you are keeping everything in the room safe while everyone is gone. But here's the problem. There are a lot of sales going on at events in the back sales area, there are speakers, event promoters, and sometimes outside speakers the attendees would like a chance to talk to, ask questions of and maybe even take a picture with.

• What happens when you lock the doors to your meeting room during the lunch break?


• What happens when they are locked in the morning until the last-minute before you officially start?


• What happens when everybody has just enough time to come in and sit down, and you literally start 5 minutes later?


• What happens when your attendees leave at lunch and can't get back in the room?


• What's the problem, anyway?

Here's the issue. If you open the doors even as little as 30 minutes before your event starts in the morning, it gives your attendees a chance to network and it gives them a chance to go to the back sales area and ask your staff, your event promoter or event planner, or whoever is working the back area, questions about things that have been sold, and questions about your products and services. If they're asking questions, it usually means there's a very good chance they're going to invest in something you have to offer.

If they're asking questions and are showing interest in things, they're probably going to invest more money.

You want to teach people to go to that back sales table. Even if they're just asking a basic question like where's the restroom, they've gone to that back sales table. The back table now becomes the area of focus in your room, which is exactly what you want.

The same thing happens as people come back from lunch. When they come back from lunch early, and the doors are open, they can walk to the back and look at the things in your bookstore, they can look at your products, and they might pick up an order form. They have a chance to ask questions about the speaker who was there before lunch.

Everybody has to eat, but a good philosophy when you're running your own events is, you can eat and sleep later, the first priority is to take care of your attendees, be available to answer questions and to help them in any way possible.

A good rule of thumb is that somebody from your staff or your team has to be in the room at all times.

So, during the lunch breaks, there are people at the back sales table. The back sales area should never be empty. There should always be somebody there that can answer questions and who can make a sale. Because not having your back table properly staffed costs you, the event promoter, money in the long run - and usually it costs you a lot of money.

It may seem like a little thing, but it could make a big, big difference.

So, at lunchtime, have somebody back there, leave the doors open. Tell people they can leave their belongings if you're comfortable with that.

You always want to lock the meeting room doors at night, always double-check and you and your staff as well as hotel security will want to go to great lengths to secure the room when you're done for the day with the event.

The point is, you want to do everything you can to maximize sales, and that means you want to give people a chance to visit the sales area, and network with the speakers.

Not everybody is a quick decision maker that jumps up and runs to the back, invests their money and they're done. Some people have to weigh things over, they want to think about things a little bit. They have questions that come up about the product and whether or not it's the right investment for their business.

Attendees have questions and you want to make that sales area as available as possible to maximize your investment, and get your marketing money, and all of the effort back that you've already put into that amazing live event you're putting on.

Throwing a party or hosting an event may sound like an easy job but careful planning is required to ensure that your event is a success. Business owners especially need to maximize their dollars when hosting an event. It is advised that you consider hiring the professional services of an event planner. An event planner has expertise and knowledge in event planning and management and often can negotiate on your behalf with vendors such as caterers, photographers and florists to obtain a less expensive price since they have established relationships with the vendors.

You may think that hiring an event planner is an added expense but consider this: an event planner can relieve the stress of event planning by handling everything from the event conception to the execution. Imagine what you could do with the time you save in making phone calls, freeing up your staff, researching prices, picking up items, faxing information, setting up tables, greeting guests, etc.

Since your company's reputation may be at stake, it is critical that you select an event planner you can trust. Ask for references or ask to see photos from their event portfolio.

If you decide to take on this heavy task yourself, first identify the purpose of the event and align it with a specific marketing objective. You should have a "crystal clear" vision of the event in your head. The next step is to define your target audience. Consider what their interests are when selecting music, food, themes and invitations and be mindful of special dietary requirements or seating accommodations.

Take full advantage of your event by utilizing signage, press releases, photos, guest books or advertising to promote your event. Be sure and invite as many customers as possible and be prepared for extra guests who failed to RSVP. If you have a limited budget, you may want to partner with another business or ask for donations from area businesses.

Remember, your image should be conveyed at each step in the event planning process. Special events offer potential for future business, contracts and publicity. Understanding what you want to gain and how your event can help your objective will help determine the frequency of your events and the budget you should allot to such events. Events can double as a marketing tool if executed correctly.

Last but not least, have fun! Your tone and attitude will set the mood for the entire event.

Do you really need to go out and buy an all inclusive meeting planning guide? The answer depends upon your situation. Yes, it would be nice to have something to reference that will give you all or most of the answers. But, do you have time to read a three or four hundred page manual before that first meeting?

Most first time or novice planners do not need in depth training. What they need are meeting planning basics. Where do I start? Who do I call? What space do I need? What questions will I be asked from the hotel side? How do I negotiate and how will I know if I got a good deal?

So, what is needed is a quick overview to get a feel of the land. Get a primer, or as in school, get a quick study guide for meeting planning. It will get you going and give you the overview needed to get comfortable with the process.

Primers will answer the questions you have, so you can move quickly through the planning process. They are usually light, easy to read, informative and they speed up the learning curve.

Checklists guide you through the planning process, budget spreadsheets make record keeping simple and you are able to save time, effort, stress and money.

Some meeting planning guides even have cartoons that will help you understand how the communication process works. See how the characters react to questions asked by planners and hotel staff in cartoons portraying real situations. Find out what the hotel sales staff is really thinking when you start the negotiation process.

Now, the original question was about an all inclusive meeting planning guide. Yes, this will be useful at some point because planners can never learn enough. So, get a meeting planning primer to start your learning process and add an all inclusive event planning guide to your list later, when you need to answer more detailed questions or when you want to study for the Certified Meeting Planner (CMP) exam.

Make your New Year eve party an interesting affair for the kids by organizing some fun New Year party games. Let the kids make some noise and play till they get exhausted. If you don't keep them busy they are more likely to do mischief and spoil the fun for the adults. Keep them occupied till midnight so that everyone at your New Year eve party can have a gala time. Here are some suggestions for keeping your little guests happy.

Party hat decoration contest

As soon as your guests arrive, give them some plain party hats, glitters, ribbons, stickers, faux jewels, etc. to decorate their own party hat. Set up a craft area for them and let them use their skills to design a creative and festive New Year party hat. This activity will keep them busy for quite some time so that the adults can do some chit chat session.

Balloon pop game

Apart from using these inexpensive party supplies for decoration, use them to play the balloon pop game. Arrange some prizes for the kids and write the name of each prize on a small sheet of paper. Roll these papers to make tubes and insert them into deflated balloons. Blow them up along with many other balloons and let them float on the floor. This will be a great New Year party decoration. Later, as the midnight approaches, ask the kids to blow-up the balloons by sitting on them. Ask them to collect the prize sheets and once this New Year party game is over, you can give away the prizes.

2012 review games

To play this game, make a list of some trivia questions and their answers in advance. The questions can be anything that happened in 2012 including a kids' movie release to a major development that happened in the world. Either divide the kids into teams or let them play individually. Appoint one volunteer to ask trivia questions and award the team or individual who gives maximum answers. This educational New Year party game is sure to keep the kids busy for a long time.

Apart from these structured games, create a play area for the kids so that they can have fun in their own way. Have a lot of toys, fun games, mind games, etc. and let them play independently. You can have this activity after they are done with their party hat decoration. Once they get bored playing these games, move on to the above mentioned structured New Year party games.