4 Common Event Planning Mistakes to Avoid

Whether you’re trying to boost your brand’s visibility, or you want to build your list, summits are the way to go. I know summits can be challenging to organize if you’re new or inexperienced. There Are multiple event planning mistakes waiting to catch you unawares.

Here’re four common event planning mistakes and how to avoid them.

Not giving yourself enough time

Time is one of those things you absolutely have to account for when planning a summit. It’s one of the greatest event planning mistakes I see, even among seasoned professionals.

If you're not taking enough time to plan, you're going to experience some undesirable results.

If you happen to be someone who struggles with anxiety or with the feeling of being overwhelmed, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Giving yourself a narrow window such as ninety days to plan a summit won’t be good for your well-being.

On the other hand, we have the opposite of too little time. Giving yourself too much is just as dangerous. If you give yourself nine months to plan a summit, it’s very likely you might not get anything done.

Too little and too much time are both not good. Which one do you lean more toward? If you’re somewhere in the middle, that’s great.

My sweet spot is 120 days. I tend to add an additional three to four weeks if the period overlaps with holidays like Christmas and New Year.

Not researching your experts

I once came across someone claiming they spend 20 to 30 hours per week planning a summit. As someone who has planned close to 300 summits for me as well as for my clients, that’s too much.

I have a business to run. I have other clients to take care of. There’s absolutely no way I’m spending 20 hours a week on a single summit.

Now I know it’s easy for people to be consumed by the rabbit hole that is research. If that’s you, try using a timer. Only give yourself 15 minutes to research an expert. Maybe a little more. But definitely not hours and hours on one expert.

When researching experts, look at who they’re connecting with on their business and social pages. How do people respond to their posts?

If an expert has 20000 followers, but only an average of six engage with each post, that’s a red flag.

I also encourage you to signup for their mailing list using a throwaway email address. Take note of how they interact with subscribers.

Not creating enough touchpoints to create a transfer of credibility

The main goal of your summit is to build your list. That said, a secondary purpose is building your credibility.

Credibility should be transferred from your experts to you as an expert in your own right. The only way that you can do that is by interacting with them during the summit.

You do a summit where let’s say 1500 people sign up. Their only point of contact with you is a daily email and to see you occasionally nod your head in an interview. They're not going to build that know, like, and trust factor with you.

For those who don’t know, the know, like, trust factor is a marketing principle that states before purchasing from you, people must:

• Know you exist.
• Like you and what you offer.
• Trust you and your brand.

After the summit's over, it's going to take you six to eight weeks to connect with your registrants and get them to be on board with you. You could actually cut that down by creating touchpoints.

The touchpoints you can create on a summit are nightly panels, daily Facebook Lives, videos that you send to them, gamification, etc.

Not communicating enough with experts

You just started planning your summit that’s 120 days away. You manage to snag an expert within the first week of planning. Well done.

What you need to keep in mind is there’re seventeen more weeks to go. That’s one-third of a year, and it is really a long time.

Unless you and the expert are friends, they’ll likely forget about you. That’s why you need to continuously connect with them. Like their social media posts. Send them regular emails to make sure they’re getting stuff done.

You can also create social media groups just for your experts. The main aim here is for you to stay in their minds.

People are more likely to promote you if they are constantly thinking of you.

Stay away from event planning mistakes and host a successful summit

Organizing a summit is not easy. There’re so many event planning mistakes that can trip you up.

By avoiding the four mistakes I just spoke about, you can spare yourself a lot of headaches.

I’ve organized well over 300 summits. If you’re struggling, book a free call with me today.