Organising a business or corporate event is never an easy task especially if you are going for the wow factor and want to really impress the boss! It requires a lot of hard work and an ever growing to do list on top of your usual daily business chores as well. Just some of the items that will need to be addresses for the event is choosing a venue, making a guest list and sending out the invites, hiring the caterers, the band, decorations and a theme, seating plans, and much more. A great option that encompasses the x factor and ticks off a few items on your list is to use a marquee hire for your event.

Marquee hire is a fabulous way of celebrating your business party. The marquee hire company will take care of all of your needs. All that is required of you is to tell them your requirements including party size, preference of dance floor or space for the band for example and they will show you the perfect marquee for your occasion. Marquees are very versatile in the way they can be decorated as well for it is a blank canvas that can be coloured and dressed up any way you choose. The marquee can actually be set in the grounds of the company if appropriate such as in the car park or if there is space around the building. You do not even have to erect the marquee yourself or hire anyone else to do it, the marquee hire company can take care all of that for you. They will arrive at the chosen location, erect the marquee quickly and easily, and then the day after they will come and take the marquee down and take it away, itâ??s that easy.

Hiring a marquee for your business event leaves you time to concentrate on all the other areas that needs your attention. Marquee companies work closely with related companies that you will need and so they can recommend local companies for you for example furniture hire and entertainment. Be a little different this year and host your business event in a marquee, you will certainly be the talk of the party being the organizer and itâ??s so simple and easy to organise. Â

For millions of people, the current state of the economy is a source of concern and fear. Small businesses and large corporations alike have begun implementing aggressive cost-cutting measures in an effort to survive. For event organizers, the economic crisis presents an unsettling challenge. As businesses in every sector take steps to control their spending, casualties on the chopping block include lavish meetings, conferences, and other events.

Over the past year, tax authority Deloitte, AIG, and Wachovia have canceled hundreds of affairs that had been planned for the coming year. AIG alone has cut over 160 conferences. And they are but a microcosm of a widespread trend.

Below, we’ll explore how the economic climate is affecting event planners. I’ll also describe a few ways in which experienced, savvy organizers are coping with the challenge and planning their future success.

The Importance Of Customer Service

It has never been more important to cater to your customers’ needs. Not only does that mean being responsive to their requests, but it can also involve fulfilling a consultant’s role. Remember, the businesses for whom you plan events are looking for solutions. While their objective may be to organize a trade show, conference, or meeting, their true aim is to have a package delivered to them that perfectly suits their preferences. If you can fill that role, lowering your costs in the process, your clients will be more likely to move forward, despite the troubled economy.

Increasing Registration And Attendance

Even as businesses are cutting back, event planners must direct more of their attention toward increasing the number of registrations and attendees at their affairs. Start with advertising channels that won’t require a significant investment. For example, create a system that markets your conferences, meetings, and seminars through an automated email campaign. People often need constant reminders before responding. Sending a number of weekly, personalized emails that encourage attendance will prompt a higher level of response.

Also, keep in mind that you can suggest that your clients take a lower-cost approach to an event rather than simply canceling it. For example, if a large client usually holds their annual conference at a luxurious hotel in another state, recommend that they change the venue to a regional alternative. It’s less expensive and provides your client with a feasible option that makes canceling the affair unnecessary.

Reducing Your Cost Structure

Planners should also be taking cost-cutting measures themselves. That may include negotiating more aggressively with caterers and venue operators. But, it can also involve small changes, such as replacing disposable cups and plates with china, or making handouts available online before a meeting or conference. Also, if you’re organizing a conference that spans several days, consider shortening the sessions. That may allow you to cut the number of days while delivering the majority of the content. By using several strategies to reduce your costs, you can enjoy a substantial aggregate effect.

Moving Forward In Uncertain Times

Your job as a planning professional requires the ability to juggle and manage a myriad of small details. That’s one of the reasons why your clients are depending upon you. However, in a difficult economic environment, you need to expand your value. That means focusing on the level of support you provide your clients, including the development of packages that suit their needs.

Remind them that planning events is still important to their businesses. Top salespeople need to be recognized and rewarded; opportunities to network with customers and leads need to be created; and employee team-building retreats can still yield immense long-lasting value. The savvy event planner who uses this approach in order to increase their registrations while lowering their cost structure will be well-prepared for the softening economy.

To be among the best event planners, there are many hints and ideas that one can use. However, it is essential that a really good event planner pays attention to all the finer aspects of the event process and is able to offer the best possible event setup that the client could expect. This could cause a lot of disruption to your regular activity schedule, but as a good event planner it is essential that such sacrifices are made.

1. The first and foremost thing that an event planner should do is getting to know the best local suppliers. It is good to keep good contact with as many suppliers as possible so as to offer several options to your clients. Note that, when you have suppliers who are the best, it will give an edge to your reputation.

2. Always give many options to your clients. They should be able to choose from at least a dozen vendors whom you work with regularly so that your clients can choose based on their needs. Giving clients some options makes them feel more involved.

3. You have to give some thought about the kind of events that will be planning for. They can range from small dinner parties to extravagant wedding affairs and you have to develop creative ideas so as to bring some life into the event. There are many trends and specific signature styles coming up each day, but continuous research will keep you with terms on what is the latest.

4. In the event of a multicultural wedding, you should understand both the cultures that shall be presented at the wedding. You will be able to better understand the traditions to be honored.

5. The location of your office is a major issue. It has to give the impression of good business and also enhance the comfort of your clients. Good office space is a sure shot way to improve your cliental.

6. Effective communication is of utmost importance for an event planner. You have to understand the acceptable standards with regular review with your clients. Keep in mind that the party is about the client and that his needs are more important than your thought.

7. A good way of enhancing your reputation is by keeping ties with satisfied previous clients. Refer them to your benefit but always ask before doing so. This way will give your clients a much better idea of your services.

8. You may request your client if you could capture some snap shots of the event so that you could give future clients a better idea of your capabilities. This will surely enhance the chance of you getting hired on the spot.

9. Discuss with your client on the details of a suitable budget before contacting suppliers. This will lead to more effective communication between you and you suppliers and clients. It is possible to offer the best solutions to suit any budget. If you can plan an event to very good standards within a really small budget, you will surely be recommended to many other people. In an event, the most important factors are cost and design.

10. Finally, create a personality that is comfortable to everyone. They should be able to interact freely with you and tell you exactly what they want. You should be able to handle things collectively and make the whole process fun filled for your clients. The way you handle the process and your overall attitude will make a huge difference in your growth as a successful event planner.

I’m a recent Hurricane Rita evacuee and survived the evacuation and the ensuing hurricane. Running from a hurricane isn’t something I’ve ever had to do before, nor is it something I’d ever like to do again. However, as a solo business owner, I’m quite thankful that I have a virtual business. The fact that I’m virtual and can operate from anywhere that there’s electricity and phone service was of great help to me in this disaster and helped me reopen my business a scant 4 days after the landfall of Hurricane Rita.

As a solopreneur, what can you do to make your business disaster-proof? It seems that we have an increasing number of hurricanes making landfall in the coastal states, and add to that an increased number of other types of natural disasters like tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires, mud slides, ice storms, blizzards, etc. makes me think that there is no ideal location in which to operate a business. Now accepting that natural disasters are here to stay, here’s what I learned from my hurricane evacuation that helped me get my business back up and running quickly:

1. Know the location of your vital papers. You should be able to quickly put into a folder the following for you and your family: your marriage license, birth certificate, social security card, driver’s license or state ID card, car title/mortgage info and insurance contact info, house deed/mortgage info and insurance contact info, employee ID card, and apartment lease or copy of a utility bill. In a disaster, you’ll be asked to prove where you live and that you are who you claim you are, especially when applying for disaster assistance.

2. Have an online backup of all of your computer data. I back up my computer in two ways–to an external portable hard drive as well as to an online backup service. I use both because my files are my livelihood — I would be dead in the water without them — so I want to leave absolutely no room to lose my data. For my external backup, I use a 30 GB portable drive made by Iomega, www.iomega.com, and for my online backup, I have 10 GB of space that I pay for at XDrive, www.xdrive.com.

3. Create an file with vital contact information. I copied a file with all of my usernames and passcodes for websites, bank accounts, etc. to my USB flash drive (a key chain-like device with 512 MB or 1 GB of memory — I use one from Lexar, www.lexar.com) as well as the physical and email addresses and all phone numbers of friends, clients and family members — anyone I needed to contact during the evacuation period. You’ll also want to take along your children’s school contact info to be able to check on the current operating status of your child’s school, as well as local media website info. My lifeline in getting current information about my home city was through the websites of Beaumont’s newspapers and television and radio stations. If you keep your contact info in Outlook and have a Yahoo account, Yahoo offers a synchronization feature in which you can synchronize all of your info in Outlook to your Yahoo account. Find out more here: http://help.yahoo.com/help/intsync. All you need to access your info in Yahoo is a computer and to know your username and password.

4. Know the primary office/computer equipment that will be required to get your business up and running. I had operated with a minimal amount of my office equipment recently due to my being a house sitter for a friend for 2 months. So, upon receiving the mandatory evacuation order, I knew in relatively short order that to run my business, I needed my desktop PC, flat panel monitor, wireless mouse and keyboard, speakers, modem and associated cords, backup portable external hard drive, office telephone and associated cords, laptop computer, printer, box of software, and scanner. It sounds like a great deal of equipment, but I packed it all into 2 boxes from UHaul (1 small and 1 medium box). I knew I could work for at least 2 months comfortably with just this equipment.

5. Primary paper files for your clients/business. I have 2 sets of files — ones for the immediate short-term that I use frequently and my lateral file drawer files that are primarily reference files. I grabbed the contents of the two drawers of my 2-drawer file cabinet (which hold my immediate short-term files), all of which fit into one small UHaul box.

6. A backup telephone plan. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do for phone service for my business, as all of my clients are scattered across the US and in Canada. Just to be safe, I upgraded my cell phone plan, and had a prepaid calling card (purchased an AT&T calling card at Sam’s, www.samsclub.com) at my disposal if I needed it. As luck would have it, my hotel offered an unlimited Internet access/long distance plan for an additional $1.88 per day, so I happily signed up for that, saving myself a fortune in phone calls and Internet service fees.

7. A backup Internet access plan. Since power restoration to my home was estimated at 2-8 weeks, I had to find temporary lodgings. I looked for a hotel that offered high speed Internet access and was able to use their system for my Internet access. However, once I found the hotel, I also called the tech support of my DSL ISP and found the local dial-up numbers for the area in which the hotel is located. I never had to use the dial-up service, but it was good info to have. If you have cable or DSL Internet service, now is the time to discover alternate Internet access plans to be able to get online should your DSL or cable access be out-of-service. You should also know how to access your email online through your ISP if you don’t have access to your computer. If your ISP doesn’t offer a version of webmail, you can use this service free-of-charge, www.mail2web.com.

8. Adequate office supplies for a month. I threw in pens, pencils, post-it notes, a calculator, stamps, envelopes, tape, stapler, paper clips, note pads, etc. that would last me at least a month while I was out of my office. I used a portable plastic file case in which to carry these items.

9. Outline of your office procedures to help you operate independently or be able to delegate tasks. I carry much of my info in my head to run my office, or have what I need stored in various files across my computer. What makes more sense for the future is to document all of my office procedures, as well as computer and client info, so that everything I need is in one document. I can then upload this doc to my Yahoo account, my backup files, or carry it with my on my USB flash drive. My colleague, Jean Hanson, has designed a great template that asks you to note and record everything someone would need to know to get your business back up and running. It’s the Home Office Procedures Manual, available for purchase here: http://tinyurl.com/bagxs

10. Digital camera to record the event and/or record damages to personal property. I wish I’d had a digital camera to record all that I witnessed during my evacuation from Hurricane Rita. My sister took tons of pics, but I would’ve loved to have had the same opportunity. More importantly, however, is the need for a digital camera to record damage to your home and property. In a wide-spread disaster, it can be at least a month before your insurance adjuster will be able to assess damages to your property. In the meantime, however, you need to start repairs, like placing a tarp on your roof, boarding up broken windows, removing downed trees from your house or yard, or cleaning your refrigerator of spoiled food. In many cases, your insurance will cover the repairs or food replacement, but you need to carefully document the “before” scenario in order to receive compensation for your loss.

Don’t let a natural disaster destroy your business. Take some time now to prepare your disaster-readiness plan, and get back into business as soon as you can!