Business Planning
The organisation of events as well as the implementation and follow-up of events are something like the supreme discipline of office management and organisation within the company. The success of a trade fair may determine the launch of a new product, the programme of a congress may determine the reputation of the company as a whole.
If your secretarial duties include organising events from start to finish, you know that this is a very demanding and small task. At the same time, it can be a lot of fun. The activities of the event organisation begin with the question: “What exactly do we want to do?” and do not end with the farewell of the last guest.
The event organisation is often in the hands of the secretary
You can read which other typical tasks occur in a secretary’s office in our Office Organisation section. The various events which can be on a company’s agenda and which all want to be planned range from trade fair appearances to field service conferences and team-building measures to the annual Christmas party. The requirements you will have to meet can be very different. At an external event, you take care of a suitable hotel and book catering.
An internal celebration for the employees may be more about the question of which office you can safely set up a playroom for the participating children of your colleagues in. If you are planning to participate in a trade fair, the date of the event will be given to you from the outside. If you are planning a congress yourself, you will have to keep an eye on other events in the immediate vicinity, and so on. Each event must be planned and prepared individually, but the basic steps in event management are often similar. Often the event organisation is done in a team, especially at big events. Then exact arrangements are indispensable.
From preparation to follow-up: organising perfect events
Every event costs money. Make sure that you use the budget sensibly through good preparation. This ensures that your company actually achieves the goals it aims to achieve with the event. These are a few of the most important keywords in the preparation and implementation of events: Event organisation is all about defining goals, framework conditions and financing.
The be-all and end-all of your event organisation: preparation
It is crucial that you start work on an event at an early stage. The more time goes by, the more difficult it will be to find a suitable hotel at a reasonable price or to book the desired speakers of your boss. When it comes to event organisation, you often have to think in very long terms. In addition, your invitation should not be received too late by your desired guests, so that their diary is not too full yet.
When preparing your event or event, be guided by the following questions:
What exactly do we want to do?
What is the aim of the event?
Who should participate?
When should our event take place?
Where should it take place?
Who is responsible for what?
These are, of course, only the overriding questions, the answers to which entail many further questions and work steps. On sekretaria.de numerous texts on the most different aspects of the event organization have appeared. You may also work together with event agencies – then communication usually takes place from your desk.
Tips for the smooth running of your event
After many weeks of preparation the time has come! The day of the event is dawning. That means a lot of stress. Your guests arrive, have to be cared for and are excited about what awaits them. Keynote speakers and speakers want to discuss final details for their presentations with you. The caterer needs a signature from you, the event technology has a drop-out and so on. But at a certain point you realize: it’s on! At the latest now a good preparation pays off for you.
No matter how good your event organisation was in advance, you will have to intervene again and again. At some point it always gets stuck. Get an overview of possible problem areas around your event in time to avoid unpleasant surprises. With the contributions and working aids on sekretaria.de you can arm yourself in advance.
The follow-up of your event
Once all the guests have left, the materials and documents have been collected and the hall and meeting rooms have been cleared, the first thing to do is to celebrate the success of the event as a team and enjoy the praising words. If everything has gone as planned, if all participants from your boss to the last participant are happy and satisfied and if you have achieved your goals, you can be proud of yourself and your event organisation.
Reduce the cost of meetings and events
However, it would be wrong to rest on our laurels. The next event will definitely come and it should also go smoothly. After a while it makes sense to take a more critical look at the past event and its organisation: Where else was there a problem? The following texts will help you to discover weak points and become even better.
Preparing, carrying out and reworking trade fairs
Trade fairs are a special form of event – and particularly important for many companies. As a secretary, you are often intensively involved in the preparation together with the clerks. Or you may even be scheduled as an employee to attend to your stand at trade fairs on site. This is especially true if you work as an assistant in a sales or marketing department.
As an assistant at the trade fair stand
Participation in a major international trade fair requires thorough preparation. Trade fair appearances are expensive: the more important the trade fair, the higher the costs. And that doesn’t just apply to the trade fair stand itself. Rates in hotels in the surrounding area and further afield rise sharply as soon as a trade fair opens its doors.
Cheap tickets for train journeys or flights are also no longer available and those who do not book trade fair service providers in time may pay rush surcharges. Start planning and preparing your trade fair appearance in good time.
Small Talk at the Christmas Party
In addition to external events such as customer events or trade fairs, almost every company also has its own internal events. You should not underestimate the importance of summer festivals or Christmas parties for employees. Nor should you underestimate the effort involved in organising events.
Employees expect the employer to come up with something at least at the end of the year to show his appreciation. The activities that you have to plan and prepare range from a simple dinner together in a fine restaurant at the expense of the boss to a major event with its own show and large buffet in the festively decorated company canteen.
