You're torn between team members on event budget allocation. How do you navigate conflicting opinions?

I would call a meeting with all the team members to have an open discussion which creates transparency. At that meeting each team member will get the opportunity to share their views and reasoning behind it. Focusing on the common goal, being the success of the event, we would work to find compromises between members. If a compromise cannot be reached on certain aspects, I would make a final decision drawing on my experience and explain my decision to the members so everyone understands my reasoning.

Il est tout à fait pertinent de souligner l’importance de la communication avant de prendre des décisions budgétaires. En engageant des discussions ouvertes avec chaque département, on crée un climat de confiance et de collaboration qui permet à chacun de se sentir valorisé et entendu. Cela ne permet pas seulement de mieux comprendre les besoins spécifiques de chaque équipe, mais aussi d’apprécier l’impact que leurs contributions auront sur le succès global de l'événement. En reconnaissant ces aspects, on est mieux préparé à faire des choix budgétaires qui équilibrent les ressources disponibles avec les besoins réels, tout en renfor?ant la cohésion et l’engagement de l’équipe.

Team input is vital no only in gathering good and best ideas but in getting and keeping buy-in and high motivation. That being said, trade shows are, at the end of the day, about gathering leads to make money. Therefore, all ideas need to be measured from the perspective- will this attract buyers?

The 80/20 rule applies in event production. 80% of the impact of the event will come from 20% of the elements. Digging into the event outcomes and defining the things that are REALLY going to make a difference is crucial. What is nice to have vs. what is really going to make a difference in the hearts and minds of the audience. Fireworks at the end of the night might be very cool and memorable, but adding interactive elements into presentations will ultimately have more bang for your buck, for instance.

Figuring out what is important to your audience--what their priorities are, what they want to get out of the event experience, etc.--can be very useful as datapoints in allocating budget. This can either be parsed through past attendee surveys or this data can be collected surveying prospective or confirmed attendees. Then, shift accordingly. Maybe you don't need the big keynote if they say the most important thing about the event is peer-to-peer collaboration. Maybe you DO need a big keynote if their event need is motivation and inspiration. Whatever their needs end up being, looking to the audience can be critical in helping make allocation decisions.