Jeff Porter |
Whether you’re managing sports events or tournaments, trade shows, corporate conferences, or music festivals, knowing the ins and outs of event production is key to running a successful event.
This blog post serves as a guide for event production professionals who want to level up their skills in this ever-changing field. We’ll review the latest techniques, tools and best practices that define the core of successful event production. You'll discover key insights into creating immersive environments, leveraging cutting-edge technology and ensuring your events are inclusive, sustainable and memorable.
Let’s begin!
What is Event Production?
Event production is the process of bringing an event to life, from the first concept to the post-event analysis. It blends creative vision and practical logistics, requiring creativity, organization and a keen eye for detail.
Let’s break it down a bit more:
Event Production vs. Event Management vs. Event Planning
When discussing events, the terms "event production," "event management" and "event planning" are often used interchangeably, but they refer to different aspects of event creation and execution. While event planning is the initial stage where the framework and details of an event are put together, event management takes care of the logistics and smooth operation during the event. Finally, event production is the overarching process of bringing the event to life.
Event planning is conceptualizing and organizing an event from the ground up. Planners work with clients to identify the purpose and goals of the event, establish the target audience and develop a theme or concept.
Event management involves overseeing the actual running of the event. Event managers ensure that the event operates smoothly from start to finish, promptly and effectively dealing with any challenges that arise during the event.
While event production can sometimes refer to managing technical aspects of events, this post will look at event production as the complete formulation of the event experience.
At the end of the day, event production balances the creativity required in event planning with the logistical aspects of event management to produce successful tournaments, sporting events, presentations, conferences and other events.
Types of Events
Event production is diverse, catering to various types of gatherings with unique requirements.
Sports Tournaments
Whether you're planning a local youth soccer tournament or a high-profile golf championship, the logistical demands of sports tournament event production can be immense. Securing venues, obtaining permits, coordinating with vendors for food and supplies and ensuring safety measures are in place – every detail matters.
By staying ahead of the game with proper staffing, technology use and sponsor activations, event producers can create an electrifying atmosphere that resonates with participants and spectators alike.
Need some help here? EventPipe is at your service. EventPipe’s end-to-end event housing management software has completely modernized tournament housing for sports teams. With EventPipe’s simple yet comprehensive platform, you get access to:
- Tournament housing support: Access tens of thousands of hotels with multiple filters to find the best fit for your teams, coaches and families.
- Customizable booking sites: Build an event in less than 10 minutes. Craft a branded site that displays your logo and imagery–no coding required.
- Group block management: Simplify room block management, choose multiple hotels and room types, designate a group block manager, view live inventory and provide attendees with booking instructions and a unique booking link.
- Easy Request for Proposal (RFP) process: Users can request desired nights, room types, concessions and complimentary rooms through an easy-to-use interface. You can select which hotels receive RFPs and even negotiate and accept proposals right from your account.
- New revenue streams: Create additional revenue streams on your branded site through advertisements and optional items like extra amenities.
- Simplified booking: Attendees can easily view, manage and track their reservations on a mobile-friendly website. They can also get on a waitlist for sold-out hotels.
- Reporting and analytics: The EventPipe Report Center allows users to analyze and track the financial performance and pick-up rates for all their events. Additionally, users can monitor hotel cut-off dates and reservation confirmation statuses.
Corporate Events
Corporate events include a wide range of events, such as conferences, trade shows, team-building exercises and product launches. These events are typically held to foster team camaraderie, increase brand visibility and attract new customers.
For an event production company, it's important to work closely with clients to identify the specific objectives of each event. They can use their professional experience to tackle challenges like keeping audiences engaged and maintaining employee interest.
(P.S. EventPipe can help out here too. Learn more about EventPipe.)
Association Events
Associations are groups of professionals or enthusiasts who share common goals, interests, or fields of expertise. Association events play a crucial role in fostering connections, knowledge sharing, and professional development within specific industries or interest groups.
Event production for association events requires a unique understanding of the community's dynamics and objectives. It requires a thoughtful and strategic approach to deliver events that add value to the association community and fulfill its mission.
If your association event requires attendee accommodations, consider partnering up with EventPipe to manage your housing needs.
Music Festivals
Music festivals are celebrations of art and culture, attracting audiences for the experience of live music and community. These events require a different kind of production expertise—a tremendous amount of creativity while keeping logistical management in mind.
The production of a music festival involves coordinating several moving parts, from booking artists and setting up stages with advanced audiovisual setups to ensuring there are enough food, safety and transportation facilities.
You guessed it: EventPipe can help with music festival housing management too!
Event Production Checklist: From Pre-Production Prep to Post-Production Analysis
This checklist will take you through the important stages of event production, from initial planning to post-event assessment.
1. Make a Budget
Creating a budget is one of the first steps in event production. Your budget should cover all parts of your event, including venue rental, technical equipment, catering, talent fees and more. It's also important to assign funds realistically and have a backup plan for unexpected expenses.
It’s just as important to track your spending in real-time as it is to plan it, so consider using event management software or budgeting apps to monitor your expenditure against your initial budget. This proactive approach helps you avoid overspending and enables you to allocate resources wisely, ensuring every aspect of your event is high-quality and cost-effective.
Plus, by providing accurate estimates and keeping finances transparent, you can create a trustworthy reputation with clients and stakeholders, paving the way for successful and sustainable event production.
2. Build out an Event Production Team
Put together a skilled event production team based on the size and scope of your event. When building out your team, make sure to:
- Identify key roles and responsibilities
- Recruit both creative and technical talent (look for professionals with event production experience)
- Consider interpersonal skills for team dynamics
- Ensure diversity in expertise and perspectives
- Allocate a team leader or project manager
- Provide training on specific event tech and software
- Establish clear goals and expectations for each team member
- Encourage a culture of innovation and adaptability
- Plan regular team meetings for updates and brainstorming
- Set up a system for feedback and continuous improvement
Strong communication and collaboration among team members ensure that every aspect of the event is coordinated seamlessly.
3. Create Your Tech Stack
Your tech stack is the main support of your event. The technology you use should help you effortlessly plan your event and make sure your audiences have a positive experience.
This event production tech stack should include tools that support event marketing, event housing management, project management, registration and payments, RSVP tracking and budgeting.
4. Book Venues & Vendors
The venue should align with your event's theme and capacity, while vendors should be reliable and fit within your budget. Establishing good relationships with these partners is key since they play a significant role in the success of your event.
5. Event Housing Management
Event housing management is an important part of any event production that needs to provide lodging for its attendees. Event housing management includes:
Hotel Selection and Negotiation: This involves carefully choosing hotels that meet the specific needs of the event, such as location, amenities and pricing. Negotiating rates and terms with these hotels ensures affordability and value for attendees.
Room Block Management: This aspect covers the allocation and management of a set number of hotel rooms reserved for event attendees. It requires monitoring pick-up rates, adjusting block sizes as needed and ensuring there are enough rooms to accommodate all participants.
Easy Booking: This is where attendees select and reserve their hotel rooms. It should be streamlined and user-friendly and often involve online platforms like EventPipe where attendees can view options, compare prices and book their stay.
Attendee Support: Providing support to attendees throughout the booking process is important. This includes answering questions, assisting with special requests and providing solutions for issues that may arise with their accommodation.
Post-Event Analysis and Accounting: After the event is over, you’ll need to take stock of how the event went. This includes looking at how many rooms were filled and thinking about the financial parts, like any special discounts or refunds. It's also smart to ask people how they felt about their stay so you can make things better for next time.
Sounds like a lot, right? EventPipe can help. The EventPipe platform does all of this–and more–in a completely modern, streamlined way. The platform helps you create a branded housing site in minutes, organize hotel rooms, manage group blocks, streamline the hotel RFP process and access the reporting you need to determine event ROI.
You can monitor which hotel reservations are confirmed, keep track of hotel cut-off dates and analyze the financial and economic impact of your events.
Easy group block management with EventPipe.
6. Event Set Up & On-site Logistics
Effective event production relies on perfect event setup and on-site logistics management. This includes a range of tasks—from setting up stages and sound systems to organizing catering services and seating arrangements.
Coordination among various vendors and teams is important for every element to be carefully planned and implemented. Making sure the necessary equipment is distributed correctly and staff are well-informed will prevent interruptions during the event.
7. Keep Things Fun!
Maintaining a fun and engaging atmosphere will help create a memorable event experience for everyone–even if you’re at a corporate event or tradeshow. Consider involving creative ideas like interactive booths, live entertainment, raffles, or surveys that encourage attendees to participate and engage.
This can help encourage networking and enjoyment and leave a great lasting impression.
8. Troubleshooting Problems
Event producers should have the mindset that “anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” While ideally, nothing will go wrong, it’s always important to be prepared!
This could mean having backup plans for possible technical failures, addressing unexpected weather changes for outdoor events, or managing last-minute changes in the schedule. Having a skilled troubleshooting team ensures that issues are handled efficiently to reduce their negative impact on the attendees’ experience.
9. Assessing Your Event Success
One of the most important parts of event production comes down to ROI. This is where your strategic planning pays off by establishing clear metrics for success beforehand, be it through attendee satisfaction, number of participants or direct revenue generated.
By tracking these metrics, not only can you justify the event's ROI to stakeholders and investors, but you can also gather invaluable insights for future events. Additionally, analyzing local economic indicators such as hotel occupancy rates, spending at nearby businesses and tax revenue can highlight your event's contribution to the local economy.
Closely reviewing this data allows for a comprehensive understanding of your event's footprint and informs better decision-making for subsequent projects–ensuring that every event you produce is more impactful than the last!
With EventPipe's Report Center, gathering detailed analytics and insights that prove your event success is easy. You can analyze the financial performance of your events, rebates and commissions, monitor hotel cut-off dates and keep track of the confirmation status of your event’s reservations.
EventPipe’s Report Center
Improve Your Event Production Management
The success of event production depends on how well it was planned and produced. Mastering event production involves not just a keen eye for detail but also using the right tools to make complex processes simple and easy. This is where EventPipe becomes a must-have software platform, particularly in the domain of event housing management.
EventPipe simplifies the hard task of managing attendee accommodations–a necessary aspect for all in-person events. The intuitive platform transforms the typically tedious process of hotel selection, room block management, booking and attendee support into a streamlined, hassle-free experience. Post-event analysis and accounting also become more manageable, enabling you to assess and refine your strategies for future events.
By adding EventPipe to your event production management toolkit, you're not just ensuring smooth operations; you're elevating the entire attendee experience. Secure your next event’s efficiency and attendee satisfaction with EventPipe—where every detail of event housing management is meticulously managed for you.
Ready to level up your event housing management in 2024?
Chat with our team today.