The Perfect Event

Does the perfect event exist? In my experience I can say yes! The event where everything goes smooth from the beginning to the end, where no major complains pop up during or afterwards, where the ROI and budget exceed expectations is a very very very rare event, but yes, it exists. I have experienced it once and of course I’m perfectly aware that it will never happen to me again! Nonetheless, I often reflect on what happened, and ask myself why it went so well and which are the learning I can bring with me for the future.

Just to give a bit of background, it was a corporate night-party for 300 people, with buffet dinner, entertainment and disco until late night. I will always remember it as the only event where I could enjoy the evening as if I were an invitee and not the organizer!

Reflecting on why this happened, I honestly think a good 50% was due to Luck, and I think there is nothing shameful with it. Luck is component of life and, since it doesn’t show that often, when it knocks on my door I just welcome it in! I heard once a story about Napoleon which really impressed me. When he was suggested some Officers for a promotion to General he used to ask: “I know I know, he’s a good Officer. But: is he also lucky?”

Thinking of the other 50%, I can nonetheless track down some key-factors that I can bring with me, and share, as good practice.#

• I started early enough

I started working on this project months before the due date and this gave me the time to reflect on all aspects, select the potential locations, collect and negotiate different offers. When I presented the 3 finalists to the CEO and he took his decision, I knew I had enough time left to carefully define all the details. Of course, it is not always possible to start the planning phase so much in advance; however when I can, I don’t postpone.

• I supported the supplier I felt more reliable

When I presented the 3 finalists to the CEO, I already had a clear opinion and gut feeling on each of them. I had met them during the site inspections, discussed technical, practical and economic aspects of the event. If I had been the decision maker, I knew which one I would choose: a location with a proven track of corporate events, whose manager sounded very competent and comfortable working with multinational companies. Being the organizer I could nonetheless influence and finally we went for my first choice. Here the gut feeling really paid back: during the event I never had the need to step in for some issues and participants were generally very happy.

• I didn’t choke my supplier

My supplier’s offer was within the budget from the beginning. I made some adjustments but also took a conscious decision: I could have negotiated even harder but at what price? My goal was to have a top quality service staying within budget boundaries. I didn’t want to put my supplier in the condition of shaving here and there to keep his margins at the desired level. The final result was a win-win situation where he was happy and gave me what I wanted.

• I kept a transparent attitude with my supplier

If I wasn’t so tough in negotiating, I definitely was in making my expectations clear from the beginning: among others, I wanted good food and in big quantity (we’re in Italy after all!), I wanted clean toilets all night long and a friendly staff. Believe me when I say that these are aspects that cannot be underestimated when working with Milan’s clubs! On the other hand, I was very transparent with payment times and procedures, which in multinational corporations are usually quite complex and not easily understandable by small suppliers. In general, I was present, but not stalking. I always kept a respectful and supportive attitude, which paid me back with one of the most successful events in my career.