4 Ways to Botch the Initial Planning Meeting for Events

Organizing an internal event with a committee of volunteers takes savvy and purpose from day one.

In working with a diverse group of non-event professionals by trade, the initial kickoff meeting is the most important. It sets the tone, the energy, expectations, and the confidence to pull off an incredible experience for the event attendees.  Here are the top 4 pitfalls to avoid when conducting an initial planning meeting.

Brush Over Event Objectives

When kicking off your initial planning meeting, how much time do you spend digging into each objective to ensure every single team member understands every aspect to each goal? As a recent example, at the beginning of a kickoff meeting I read each objective individually, paused, and asked if everyone understood the item. One of the objectives referred to “distributing information.” A team member asked if by the word “distribute” meant to announce information or to contain information. For example, was this the place where we first announce communication or will this link to something else where the content can be found? This altered the way this person approached our website communications.  

Negate to Write Down Roles, Responsibilities and Resources

              Most of my time prepping for the first meeting is spent here. At the first meeting, I have a room full of supportive colleagues, who are not event professionals by trade, but ready to contribute. Properly harnessing this energy and clearly writing out job descriptions for each individual is essential so they are held accountable for all the normal responsibilities a planner associates with “sponsorship chair.” This could mean the difference between your sponsorship being full one year but not the following year because your sponsor chair did not understand the definition of sponsor fulfillment.

No Published Milestones and Timelines

              Milestones and timelines are two very different but key items to running a successful committee. Milestones are definitive objectives. For example, “achieve 500 registrants by January 3rd”. Timelines articulate the “how” you are going to achieve the 500 registrants by January 3rd. For example, this would include detailed social media schedules for each week leading up to January 3rd noting specific dates and content for email blasts, webinars, app notifications etc.  Create a milestone and timeline template to be shared and discussed at all meetings. With a well published timeline, it helps measure the success of the milestones and keeps people accountable.

Failure to Discuss Risks to the Plan

              Risks to the plan should be outlined in the event kickoff meeting and addressed each meeting thereafter.  For internal planners, a common risk to the plan is available resources from the planning team. With a team of volunteers, they sometimes do not understand how much time is required for their responsibilities. It is important to chat with their manager, outline the roles and responsibilities and the time associated with the tasks.

Addressing these 4 tips can all be achieved through thoughtful, advanced planning, that is prescriptive, well published to your team and easy to understand. Having these tools in your back pocket will help streamline communication among your team and will create a better experience for the planning process and ultimately the event.