Event Planning Tips & Tricks

Like most of you, when planning events I have the challenge of staying within a tight budget without looking cheap. One of the biggest hurdles is usually deciding on a menu and where to order from. For small simple events you can check with a local pizzeria to see if they have a banquet menu. I have been pleasantly surprised with the quality, taste and presentation of the food offered by pizzerias. They have choices that will please any audience and allow you to have an impressive menu on a pizza budget. 

ConventionPlanit.com is a great resource for other great tips and tricks from the event planning community! Check out their Stellar Tip Contest, where you can find hundreds of amazing ideas and suggestions from experienced event planners. 

Online Events: Web Conferencing vs. Webcasting

Companies are constantly trying to reduce costs, better communicate and go global. This wonderful thing called the Internet has made this more possible now than ever before. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean it's done right. I found a white paper from Frost & Sullivan that clearly explains the correct ways to use web conferencing and webcasting. 

Web conferencing is for smaller audiences, is less formal and limited in video function and quality. They're usually conducted over the web and through a phone line. Webcasting is for larger audiences with a lot of features, like surveys and polls, and allows for instant participation. They're usually more structured and broadcast live, similar to UStream.

Companies that offer online event services base their cost on the same premise as traditional in-person events. The cost depends on how many participants are included, the length of time needed, features ordered, etc. They are still cheaper than trying to get hundreds of people together from around the world for a convention. 

Web Conferencing vs. Webcasting - Source: Frost & Sullivan 

Planning a Career Fair

When planning a career fair there are many factors and details to take into account. The employers and attendees both need to feel satisfied at the end of the day, yet it's impossible to make everyone happy. In my opinion, smaller scale career fairs that are focused on a trade skill or specific industry are going to be more successful. The employers will receive resumes specifically from professionally experienced and/or educated candidates in their field, which makes it easier for them to fill their open positions. Attendees will not waste time going from booth to booth hoping that there is a company or job that they are interested in and qualified for. You can also market to specific audiences and geographic regions much easier. Just because a career fair promises over 100 employers or thousands of candidates it doesn't mean that goals will be reached. Keep the amount of employers under 50 and amount of attendees under 500 to get better results. The experience will be more valuable all around.