Events managers should make contingency plans —Idowu

June 8, 2015 :

Miss Yemi Idowu

The Event Manager, D’Chillers Concept, Miss Yemi Idowu, in this interview with IFE ADEDAPO, speaks about best practices in events management, among other issues

Why is it important for every corporate event to have a theme?

A theme enhances the effectiveness of a corporate event and it has a way of helping the company achieve the purpose for which the event was planned, besides adding fun to the event.

Themed corporate events are memorable and they build strong connection between the organisation and the attendees. Using themes at conventions and seminars pulls together a common party thread that leads to the success of the event.

Appropriately selected and executed themes have a lot of effect on the success of an event, though it could be complex at the planning stage.

Also in a situation where the organisation intends to cut down on menu thereby saving cost, a themed event can help in achieving that. For instance, take a theme that says ‘let’s go green,’ with this, you have been able to channel the menu to fruits only, thereby cutting off the cost of meat, fish and other menus that can be quite pricey .

What kind of disappointment do you encounter when planning events?

I will say every industry faces its own disappointment, of course the event management industry is not an exception. The fact that there is a disappointment during an event does not mean the event has failed or will fail. In fact, your ability to salvage the situation is what makes you an event manager. Your services would probably not have been needed if the event was meant to be hitch-free. In this industry, I will say the disappointment we face mostly comes from vendors. Vendors see themselves as superhuman, always seeing the possibility of juggling events on the same day, sometimes at the same time. So if not properly followed up, vendors can be a pain in your neck.

Sometimes, inability of the client to make prompt commitment (financially) could lead to disappointment. Take for instance, your venue search exercise is completed and the client has approved of a particular venue, you have taken your hall decorator to the venue and you already have a perfect picture of what your outcome is. If quick financial commitment is not made towards securing the venue and when you think you are ready, the venue may not be available again, you can imagine the stress of having to start all over again.

How do you manage disappointments?

You are meant to experience some measure of disappointments. The role of an event planner is to properly manage them. If they are not well managed, it will improve your expertise and this will determine your delivery. For vendors, irrespective of how long I have been working with them, I follow up to the last minute. We have a culture of having a last hour rehearsal before the major event and it’s usually fixed a day before the major event. A vendor’s absence at this rehearsal is simply taken as a major signal that the person will disappoint, except an alternative arrangement has been made by the vendor. Besides, we try to have a backup for each services and we also have internal control measures to keep vendors in check.

How do you manage a small budget?

No matter how much cash people have in their coffers, looking for ways to save money makes sense to everyone. Our ideal practice at D’Chillers is actually not to propose budget to our clients but rather work with the budget our client proposes. From the inception, we arrange for a meeting with our client where we discuss details of the event like the number of guests he /she is expecting, the type of party, choice of venue, menu, drinks and others. After having these, we give our client a list detailing different services such as venue rental, menu, drinks, ushers etc. All these services are categorised according to grade, we then leave our clients to work out his budget by himself, though giving our professional advice can be necessary.

What are the common mistakes event planners make?

One of the major mistakes on the part of an event planner, I will say, is not having a contingency plan. This is a major error on the part of planners and it is always due to the eagerness of getting the project from the client at any cost. This can go as far as affecting almost all aspects of the services you provide, the menu and quality of vendors. The best approach is to confront the client, let them know your budget needs to be adjusted. The best practice is to always give allowance for unexpected occurrences.

Another is the communication gap between an event manager and a client and sometimes between the event manager and the vendors. Assumptions are not permitted when sealing an event deal. I will suggest that the client should be invited to few of your briefs with vendors so that all form of misunderstanding can be addressed and you have all parties on the same page.

How can a strong brand be built in a highly competitive market?

The essence of branding is to ensure that a good or service is able to set a niche above the competitor so that the target market can differentiate it from others in the same market hence leading to increase in sales.

The main objective of branding is to deliver a clear message about a certain good or service and how it is more credible as compared to others in the same market. The work of brand acceptance starts with the manufacturer, because the manufacturer must be able to come up with a product that is desired by the intended target audience. After this has been achieved, efforts must be made to pry into competitor’s brand so as to produce a brand that has corrected the lapses experienced in competitor’s brand. These form the unique selling points for the brand.

A logo and colour scheme should be adopted for easy identification. Branding message should be consistently marketed for solid brand to be realised. After putting all these in place, it is necessary to identify an online store with large online visitors. Strategies such as having frequent display of brand per second [a pop} to draw visitors’ attention , discount offer, raffle draw, incentive offer would draw to the brand. The more interest one is able to generate, the more the sales prospect.

How does distributor management work?

After a product has been launched, there is a need to make it available to the market. One of the ways of achieving this is via distributor recruitment. Distributor recruitment is that act of recruiting existing reputable distributors to distribute your brand while distributor management is managing relationship between manufacturers and dealers so as to continually meet customers’ need, hence increasing sales.

What income-earning potential or business opportunity does distributor management hold for young people?

I would say the distributor management business is a lucrative one. Opportunities abound right from the marketing of brand to distributors, preparation of questionnaire, listing of distributors, interview session with distributors, selection process, agreement documentation, product distribution, relationship management and many more. These are areas where young people from different fields of study can function.