How to Staff an Amazing Events Team
As the event host, you’ll play a major role in planning and managing the event, and you’ll have your hands in every aspect of operations from beginning to end. That said, no one is an island, and you can’t expect to pull off a truly spectacular meeting or convention without a bit of assistance.
You’re going to need a reliable team of experts to manage the various facets of transforming your vision into a successful event. You need coverage for areas where you have no expertise. Even if you’re organized and you have a big-picture mentality, you might not know a lot about logistics, technology, décor, customer service, or other integral aspects of making your event a success.
This is where an amazing events team comes into play. With the right staff on hand to pick up the slack, you can delegate essential tasks to professionals who can handle them, leaving you free to focus on the aspects of planning and managing an event that fall in your wheelhouse. Here are just a few of the key positions you’ll want to populate with qualified individuals.
Convention Planner
Even though you have the ultimate say in how planning progresses as the host of the event, a professional convention planner can help you to get all of your ducks in a row. Those who specialize in meeting and event services can help you nail down the details for every aspect of event planning, from branding and promotion, to attendee recruitment and registration, to presentations and technologies, to vendor discovery and contract negotiation, to overall management and follow-up.
Says Tessa Cameron VP of Strategic Sourcing at AMI, “Think of your convention planner as the foundation for a successful event, the base that all the other pieces of your team are built on top of. This is the first person you’ll want to bring on board when you’re planning an event. This is the person who can help you put together all the pieces.”
You’ll also need administrators to head up different areas of the event planning and management process. These professionals will report to you and your event organizer and take some duties off your plate.
Creative Coordinator
Your convention planning team will consist not only of people who handle logistics, but also those who come up with innovative design ideas suitable for your brand and your event. The creative team will be involved with marketing and promotions for your event, brand imaging at every level (website and social media, as well as print materials at the event), media for presentations, and design and décor for your event.
Everything from event maps, to logos, to banners and kiosks could fall to the creative coordinator and his/her team to create. Although you’re likely to have some ideas about the design process and your event organizer will probably have suggestions, as well, you really need a creative team in place to bring your vision to life.
Tech Director
There’s no denying the importance of technology in modern day events. Event the simplest meetings and presentations will benefit from audio/visual elements, and you can use technology in ever-increasing ways to improve logistics, engage your audience, and add convenience to every facet of your event.
Your technical director can help you not only determine which technologies are suitable for your event, but also how to implement upgrades and even find partners in creating custom software or apps for your events. Whether you want to set up kiosks with tablets featuring interactive displays or you plan to provide all event info and an easy means of event registration via app, you’re going to need a professional that understands the benefits and challenges of working technology into your events.
Head of Security
You might not necessarily have to hire this important team member – many venues that host big events already have their own security staff in place or they outsource to a local provider for security details. If you happen to have an experienced security professional on staff that you trust, he/she can act as a liaison with on-site security personnel to create a plan than ensures safety for event attendees. Your convention planner can also help you to find security experts as needed.
Event Organizer Recommendations
If you’re relatively new to event planning or you’re hosting an event overseas (where laws and expectations are different), you might not even know what types of people you’re going to need to pull off your event. The good news is that an expert event organizer has the knowledge to guide you through and a network of contacts to tap into for assistance or advice.
