Converting your event idea into a reality can be a daunting task, especially if you’re unsure where to begin. It’s a complex undertaking, but having a well-thought-out strategy and leveraging the right resources can significantly ease the event planning process.

The Five Stages of Event Planning

There are intricate steps involved in planning an event. We’ve broken down five stages to consider when beginning your event planning journey.

Step One: Brainstorming

Before you can start implementing your plans, it’s crucial to gather your team for a brainstorming session. This collaborative effort will help define the purpose of your event and identify your target audience, laying a solid foundation for your planning and execution.

• Audience – First, ask your team to define the purpose of your onsite event and identify the target audience. Discussing who your attendee persona is will help you decide on the type of event you’ll be hosting. Is this attendee a member of an association who would like to reconnect with other members? If so, you may want to create an environment where attendees can network and easily mingle throughout a room. Perhaps you are looking to promote a product or bring other businesses together to gain leads. For this purpose, you’ll want to include an exhibitor hall as part of your plan.
• Types of Venue – After you understand your event’s purpose and who your attendee persona is, look for a venue. You will need to evaluate what works best for your audience. Although keep in mind that your venue must be appropriate for the expected attendees and staff size. You may consider hosting your event at a hotel, field, restaurant, club, museum, stadium, or garden. Furthermore, factor in the weather, time of year and location before locking in your venue. Select a few sites to consider, then request proposals from them.
• Budget – It is essential to establish a budget. The costliest items that event planners have seen their budget go towards are food and beverage, venue, audiovisual (AV) equipment, event staff, and decor. Since event planning is a complex process, factor in other expenses that may come up later. In addition, you can offset your budget by including exhibitors and sponsors.

Step Two: Building Your Team and Your To-Do List

Once you’ve gone through your brainstorming stage, understand the types of staff that will help carry out your event. To prepare everyone, create an event planning checklist to help you and your team know what needs to be accomplished. This might include roles such as event manager, marketing coordinator, venue coordinator, exhibitor liaison, and on-site operations manager.

• Internal Staff – After you have decided on a purpose, venue, and budget, have your team start creating an online event website. Once that is completed, establish an agenda of scheduled times for sessions, exhibitors, networking, or entertainment to be listed on your event website, enabling your audience to better understand your event. To effectively promote your event, you’ll need your internal team to start marketing to your target audience. Therefore, it’s essential to ensure they are aware of the budget and resources available to them. While you’re still in the planning phase, ensure your internal team follows up with speakers and sponsors.
• Exhibitor Staff – Contract with an on-site event company that can help set up your venue. If you have exhibitors, consider using a company to design and build their booths and ship all their items. Additionally, you can utilize an on-site event company to provide furniture and, potentially, AV equipment that your venue may not have.
• Venue Staff – To ensure a seamless event, it’s essential to have enough staff on-site during your event. This includes staff to clean high-touch areas and manage parking. Knowing that these aspects are taken care of will give you and your team peace of mind during the event.

Step Three: Implementing Your Onsite Procedures

Before and during your event, there are a few procedures that you will need to put in place to ensure everything runs smoothly.

• Online Registration – If you don’t have access to a web development team, partner with an event registration company. Create a custom website that matches the branding of your event. Then create a page where visitors can easily purchase tickets or sign up. Furthermore, set up email communications to provide your event tickets and stay connected with your attendees. Include a barcode or QR code in your confirmation email to facilitate easy check-in for attendees later.
• Marketing – Once your online registration website is fully functional, have your team start implementing your marketing strategy. One of the easiest ways to get started is by sharing your registration page on social media. Every week, create posts to get your followers excited about your upcoming event. Share what you believe will be your most popular session topic or your most extensive entertainment. If you have an advertising budget, consider running paid social ads or placing an advertisement in a newsletter your audience persona might read.
• Expo Management Software – Utilize expo management software to create a digital floor plan, communicate with exhibitors, and enable lead retrieval. Create an interactive floor plan, manage exhibitor directory listings and automatically assign exhibitors to booths during registration. Use the mobile app to help attendees navigate the exhibit hall. Additionally, utilize the software’s ability to communicate and sell other sponsorship features available within it. Remind your exhibitors how they can use your lead retrieval services to increase their return on investment (ROI) from your event. Let your exhibitors in on this tool’s tips and tricks to take advantage of all the app or device features. You will want this tool to benefit them, so your exhibitors will be more likely to purchase the lead retrieval again.

Step Four: Ensuring a Smooth On-Site Experience

On the day of your event, your goal is to create the ultimate attendee experience. You want your attendees to be not only satisfied, but delighted when they arrive and throughout the event. This should be your inspiration and motivation when planning and executing your event.

• Check-in – One part of your event that attendees may not look forward to is the check-in process. Change your attendees’ minds by reducing the time it takes to get their welcome materials. Utilize an on-demand badge printer that integrates with a scanner to expedite this process. Thus, this will enable an attendee’s information to be instantly accessed and printed. The whole process will take seconds! As a result, your attendees can say goodbye to long lines.
• Crowd Control – To help prevent your sessions from overcrowding or keep general attendees out of a particular session, use attendee tracking. Ensure your attendees feel comfortable in the session room by setting a suitable capacity size. Thus, you can ensure that everyone in the room has sufficient space to maintain social distancing. Moreover, if you have a private session or networking event, you can make sure the right attendees are admitted by scanning their badges with the attendee tracking app.
• Gamification – If you run an exhibitor hall, your sponsors will only gain sales leads if there is constant attendee traffic. One way to attract more attendees is to use gamification methods. Gamification can be simple and easily accomplished via social media. Have your attendees fill out a survey that is accessible at your exhibitors’ booths or on their social media pages. Ultimately, exhibitors can view their survey results and award a prize to one lucky winner. This helps exhibitors collect attendee information and spread awareness about their company.

Step Five: Debriefing With Your Team and Your Attendees

After your event is over, you’ll want to meet with your team to review your attendee data and share your takeaways.

• Measure Your Success – After your event, decide how you will measure your event’s success. For example, you can determine your success based on ticket sales, product sales or the number of education credits awarded.
• Provide ROI to Your Stakeholders – Use the attendee tracking dashboard to review your attendee metrics from the app after completing your event. You can report this data back to your internal team to see which sessions attendees liked most. This will help you plan for the next event. If your exhibitors utilized lead retrieval, ensure they have their logins to access their lead retrieval portal. The faster an exhibitor can contact an attendee, the more likely they are to gain a lead.
• Thank Your Attendees – Most importantly, don’t forget to thank all your attendees, vendors, exhibitors and sponsors. For instance, show them your appreciation by sending them a custom email created in your expo management software. Additionally, you may want to include a link to a survey to gather their feedback. This will aid you when designing future events.

Turning your event vision into reality doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By following the five stages—brainstorming, building your team and task list, implementing onsite procedures, ensuring a smooth on‑site experience, and debriefing—you’ll maintain clarity and control from concept to close.

With thoughtful preparation, the right people in place, and powerful event technology at your side, you can streamline every detail, delight your attendees, and deliver measurable returns for your stakeholders.