Hello Everyone! I hope you had a wonderful week. My week has been pretty busy due to a fundraiser I am hosting tonight. Yes, I plan all types of events from professional, fundraisers, community service, and social events such as a wedding. So far I have 150 people signed up on the guestlist. This is actually one of the smaller scale events I have organized. The largest event I organized was a professional event called Business Fest 2012 at George Mason University. It was a networking/job fair for students by students. It had 500 people in attendance.
Tonight, I am hosting a party at Ozio’s to help raise money for the #1 coed business organization at George Mason University called Delta Sigma Pi. As I have planned many successful events, one of the most common question I am asked is how do you do it? What is your secret? Let me be honest with you. When I first started planning events, I had no idea what I was doing at all. Event planning requires one to be a jack of all trades. The way you become a jack of all trades is by practice. When you first start planning an event, you will make mistakes and you will have moments where you will feel flustered, stressed and not know what is the right decision. What you have to do is keep going. You ask people who have past experience for advice, you google, you ask friends and family, and ultimately make a decision for better or worse. This is why I always plan ahead of time. If an event requires one week of planning, I start two weeks ahead. This way if unexpected circumstances come up, I have time to fix it or have the flexibility to change the entire direction of the event. The one thing for sure is when it comes to event planning everything you expect to go wrong will go wrong. Communication is also key to a successful event. Make sure all stakeholders involved in your event are informed and up to date on what is happening with the planning process. Notice I said stakeholders and that means everyone who is involved in the process not just people who might be in your immediate team. When people know what is happening, good or bad, they can provide you feedback that can essentially make or break your event. Do not be afraid to ask for help or say I have no idea how to do a certain task required of you. You ask for help, you learn and move on. You must always keep the end goal in mind which is you want this event to be the best event you have ever put on. The way you do it is to put your heart, soul, and effort into it. Action is key! Keep working and going on with the planning process for your event. Yes it will require work and many hours. Sometimes, it requires many, many hours. However, as my coed business organization Delta Sigma Pi taught me, “He who serves best, profits most” and if you hope to be successful in event planning and in life, you have to be willing to work hard, manage your time well, and communicate effectively with all stakeholders to execute an event that will leave people saying “WoW.”
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