ePly Event Planning Blog

Planning a successful event takes a lot of forethought. It all starts with nailing down your goals for hosting the event, whether it be to drive a specific number of registrations, fundraise a certain amount, or simply provide an experience for your audience.

You want to kick off any event planning process by thinking about your event from the top down — starting with that goal and then everything you’ll do to accomplish it — so that you can set up your online event registration form and reporting to help you in the long run.

How? 

Speakers are a BIG part of many events — especially conferences. They play into why people register and what attendees will ultimately take back to implement. (A pretty big responsibility.)

That said, you want to leverage your speakers to the best of your ability in order to attract your audience and drive registration rates. To do that, it’s important to ask your speakers for a few key marketing materials. Particularly…

Engaging young professionals can be tough, especially when it comes to events. Throw the word ‘networking’ out there, and people seem to run for the hills.

But you know what makes networking a lot less intimidating and a lot more appealing? When there’s an activity to break the ice. (And no, nothing cheesy.) Remember, young professionals want to connect — but you’ll be much more successful at engaging them if you can help them do so in a way that’s going to be fun.

The next time you are planning an event or event activity for young professionals, keep these ideas in mind:

Event planners represent their event and their organization — to vendors, their audience, sponsors, etc. — so whether you’re a beginner or seasoned, in-house or agency, professional development should still be top of mind.

One thing that all event planners should have on hand is a quick bio. You never know when it’ll be needed! If you’re trying to figure out where to start, we’ve got you covered: check out this basic template to follow so you can knock out a professional biography in ten minutes or less. 

What can grab an eight-second attention span? That’s the question you’re really going to have to ask yourself if you want to bring Generation Z to your next event. Speaking as a member of Gen Z myself, I know we are a tough crowd to please.

Between personal insight and some industry research, I’ve compiled three main tips that will give you a little glance into the minds of Gen Z-ers:

When it comes down to it, event planning is a game of details. That’s because there are SO many to keep track of. Between your multiple audiences (attendees, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, staff) and their various needs, plus all of the typical logistics...it’s enough to make any event planner’s head spin!

So, what details in particular tend to trip event planners up the most when onsite prepping for an event or the day-of? Here are seven to keep in mind, whether you are a veteran or are planning your very first event:

If you’re trying to find some simple ways to make a great impression with your event sponsors, look no further! Check out how you can say thank you (without much effort) and keep your sponsors coming back year after year.

There’s a lot to juggle with event planning and sometimes, you just need a refresher. So we have asked a few fellow event planners — what are some of your MUST-KNOW tips and hacks for planning events?

Check them out:

If you’re wondering what an online event registration form is meant to do beyond collecting registration data, you’re overlooking some seriously strategic setup opportunities! Used wisely, your registration form can be your biggest weapon in driving registrations and putting on a memorable event for everyone involved.

From our experience, there are eight things all online event registration forms should be doing in addition to collecting data:

We’ve all heard the old phrase “two heads are better than one”! And it still rings true today. Planning a large conference or company event is a huge task to take on and will almost always need more than one person planning. So, how do you manage it in an organized way?

Introducing…..committees. Committees are appointed for a specific function and can help your daunting task list become more segmented and task-specific. Planning an event goes much more smoothly with a proper team in place and this basic framework can be applied to any kind of event, no matter the size or budget.