 1. Select the right venue. Pick a venue that is going to work for you. Take into consideration how much time you have to organise your event, the location and size of the venue, expertise of the staff, reputation and flexibility of the venue.
2. Decide on a theme. Choosing the right theme for your event is vital. Determine first what type of event you want to hold – whether it’s a cocktail function, dinner, or all-day meeting. If you have the budget for it, consider hiring a professional theming company to decorate the venue for you.
3. Consider who your audience is. Think about the kind of people who will be attending your event, and what type of event would suit them best. Consider what results you are trying to achieve by holding your event.
4. Communicate with your chosen venue. Ensure you keep the communication lines open from the start when dealing with the representative from your chosen venue. Clarify all costs and find out at the beginning what’s included and what’s not, especially if you’ve got a tight budget.
5. Choose the right caterer. Food is an integral part of any event so choose your caterer wisely. Some venues may have their own caterer that you are required to use, (it’s best to clarify this at the time of booking the venue). If you can, do some research and check references.
 1. Remember holding an event is essentially a communications exercise. Clearly define your objectives for the event and the key messages you wish your guests to take away.
2. Establish a realistic budget to meet your objectives.
3. Decide on the appropriate style of event (look, feel, venue, entertainment, etc) to deliver your key messages. Remember that events are multi-sensory opportunities to imprint your messages – sight, sound, taste even smell can be used to engage your guests on an emotional level. Even if people don’t remember the messages, which they should if your event is successful, they will remember how they felt.
4. The event messages should be seamless from first contact with your guests (usually an invitation) to last (perhaps a follow-up thank-you). Put yourself in the guest’s shoes to ensure this and walk through the entire experience to ensure guest comfort and the clarity of the messages.
5. Debrief the event afterwards and learn from both good and bad so next time it’s even better!
 1. Result. The most important element when choosing your event is knowing what you want the final outcome to be i.e. promote or sell a product, gather a database, reward staff members, have a sell-out concert, raise money for charity, etc.
2. Budget. Once the outcome is established, the next step is to ascertain your budget. This will determine all other phases.
3. Venue. Once clear on your budget you need to choose your venue. Think about accessibility, location, hire costs, catering costs, theming etc.
4. Invitation list. A great deal of consideration needs to be placed on your invitation list. Refer back to your expected outcomes when creating this list, for example if you are selling a product, invite potential buyers with large networks and contacts.
5. Marketing and promoting the event is essential in ensuring event success. Create a marketing plan for each event, make sure you have enough budget set aside. If your budget does not allow for a great deal of promotion, think outside of the square, partner up with local / national media to gain sponsorship and free press opportunities and investigate ways where you can affiliate your event to your customers.
 1. Timeline incorporating budget & checklists - These are essential to making every event a success. Plan ahead, make up a timeline and stick to it. Calculate your costs, prepare an accurate budget and again - stick to it!
2. Event purpose – Decide on the purpose of your event. Do you want a conference, awards night, team-building, gala dinner, product launch, incentive?
3. Reason, goals and intentions for the event - Set a clear objective and ask yourself what kind of outcome you want from your event. Do you want the audience to be entertained and have fun, or walk away with product knowledge or a key message?
4. Scale of the event, audience & speakers - Find out what kind of audience you want to target. What are the demographics of the audience? Is it a small scale or large scale event? How many delegates? If you want a speaker for the event make sure he/she can relate to the audience (background, etc.).
5. Date selection – When choosing the date make sure your event doesn’t interfere with major public holidays or large-scale events. Consider the time of year and keep in mind that venue and accommodation prices can go up in peak months.
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