Miss Nicole Jensen

We’ve all done them. You’re hosting a little shindig at home when you’ve realised you don’t have Fred’s new phone number and that you’ll probably just get Julie’s answering machine for the next few days again. What do you do? Facebook it.

Sure the effort of doing so isn’t a lot, but how effective are they in actually gaining a successful guest list? In my experience, you could always assume the social network addicts would sign up first, if not immediately, then slowly the numbers creep up until you’ve got the record player set to Hottest 100 Party Tracks as guests shyly arrive.

Well, anyway, I asked fellow Twitter addicts how they use Facebook events. Next week, I might ask the neighbours, but they’ll just look at me strangely and offer a cup of sugar instead.

“I think they are fantastic, except not everyone is on FB. Good marketing ploy of theirs though” – @kirstywrites

Attendance

Clearly diminishes 20% on average. Due to lack of interaction with the host? Possibly. As Facebook ages, less people are taking their RSVPs on the website seriously.

Personal Touch

The main argument many people I speak to have against Facebook is the lack of face-to-face communication. No Twitter respondants actually mentioned this!

Time frame

Clearly you’re unable to post a Facebook event for the same day. A week might suffice depending on the size and nature of your event, also on how active your guests are on the social network which can be quite a lot of assuming. Four weeks or even more for a major celebration or fundraiser is ideal if you have this time frame available.

Then there is the “Maybe” RSVP option. Dreaded by event hosts, loved by attendees:

“I can reply ‘maybe’ to events & they still show up in my timeline, so I can decide to go closer to the time.” – @scarlettjen

Diary Management

@ccake, like @iusebiro and @brentoe, syncs FB events with other calculators and also chooses to have e-mail notifications turned on for when the invitations come in, much like @kissability does.

“I do use Facebook events and I have email notifications turned on for invitations. I find it very useful in my busy schedule!” – @kissability

“Handy for knowing about harder to find things (house show parties, gallery openings) new facebook keeps it more hidden though.” – @vivzilla

“[I] check my requests (incl event invites) daily, a bit spammy but still quite useful.” – @djackmanson

“Events is my primary use of Facebook- I use it constantly as my social calendar. Find it incredibly useful.” – @glittertrash

“I use it all the time, both as an attendee and organiser. Very handy.” – @sleepydumpling

“I rely heavily on my Facebook events. I’m very forgetful, so having them display in ‘coming up’ on my homepage really helps.” - @hellyeahkate

Authenticity

Having only a Facebook event for an invitation, do people trust these or seek verbal confirmation of the event? @brentoe doesn’t seem to think so, but @erikveland has other ideas:

“I rely on it to track my events. Unfortunately event spam has made them useless as a source to send out REAL invitations…Because of event spam, most people will just ignore invitations altogether unless you specifically bring attention to them.” – @erikveland

“I use them and so do nearly all of my friends. Event isn’t “official” until it’s on FB” – @brentoe

Suggestions for Facebook

Option to lose the ‘Maybe’ RSVP. That would be my main suggestion. What do you think?

“The “no chance” ones can be annoying. It’s OK to be invited once, but multiple times?! We need ”never invite me” op” - @divabat

“If FB used microformats for events it would be a great improvement. Otherwise I rarely check events” – @zuzu

In closing…

I’m having a house party next weekend, which I’m very excited about, and the Facebook event went up a week or so ago. Let’s see how many make it, but in the meantime, what are your views on Facebook events usage?

This has been a blog post in the making for a number of weeks and even surprised me when it came up in a recent job interview I attended last week. Not to worry that I was prepared!

Please leave your thoughts and comments; I’d love to hear your own event management lessons learned.

Age 5: Lolly bags are great. Exceed expectations.

We all know to keep the client happy. This is your number one priority when contracted to run an event. Once you’ve maintained their satisfaction, keep at it! If everything else is taken care of there is no sense in stopping now, offer more than just the party. Giveaways and extra goodies not only keep your guests peeking into their bags days after your event has finished, it ensures that sponsors are willing to help you financially in order to get their fridge magnets and brochures into the hands of attendees. It shocks me how many events miss out on the benefits of creating new business relationships because they misunderstand the concept of sponsorship, a fantastic way of adding on the extra frills for your event.

Also keep your business satisfied internally. More capital means you’re able to serve clients on an even higher level so it is important for constant review of policies and procedures. Exceed the expectations of your employer by making suggestions for that new marketing campaign you think would be a success. They should appreciate your extra thoughts on the matter and will realize you’re keeping your eyes open.

Essentially, events management is all about service, not just striding around enjoying the glory of being the party planner. Actively seek how you can improve the event for everyone involved and you cannot go wrong. You events angel, you!

Age 10: Multi-focal points.

Keep everyone entertained. This means not just having the one aspect of your event; not relying on the music or food to create the entertainment at your event. If you want to create a winning conference, why not shake it up with team-building activities every two hours or so? You’ll keep everyone refreshed and amused, which means they’ll clearly be able to focus on that killer gala dinner budget you’re proposing to them.

Age 14: The media is your friend.

Don’t be shy, go on radio and TV (you’d be surprised what makes the news these days)! Blog like your little heart depends on it all about what’s happening. Be transparent in planning for the event, short of describing errors that arise. A good, and wise, host never discloses mistakes or challenges that arise.

Despite this, do your homework before approaching the media. Have a well-prepared press release and notes to refer to during radio or podcast interviews. There is nothing worse than a person in charge of a large event who does not appear to know what time the doors open, or for heaven’s sake, the major sponsors!

Age 16: Students are lazy. Motivate them!

‘Scuse my language here, but students ain’t going to do shit for you unless there is something in it for them. Now, before the few student readers I have jump up in arms over this generalisation, let me explain. I took many cultural and community initiatives during my high school and college years in regards to events. It was always so difficult to get students supporting my causes because students will always have their garage bands, dance classes, car racing, sports, movies and what-not to attend to. Adults seem to have less of these extra-curricular activities and hence are more willing to support those who do take on initiatives of their own. Maybe it is also that Generation Y has perhaps grown up more connected to global issues and charity adventures. Maybe they’re tired of all of this? Sounds like another blog for another day, but for simplicity’s sake I’d like to argue that students have a lot on their plate these days and hence do not wish to take on more than they can fit in one mouthful.

Age 18: Follow up, follow up, follow up.

Don’t be lazy. Check everything twice. Three times even! I find a week’s check and a 48-hour prior check is fantastic, but it greatly depends on the size of your event. This step includes not just checking your own facts, but keeping everyone on board informed on what you do know. Run sheets, room layout maps, contingency plans, cues and directions… the more information you can give to those involved the better problem-solving capacity you will end up with. You cannot succeed without a road map!

Age 21: Use your networks!

Resources are best maintained of course. I have a good friend of mine from high school, Chloe Tully, I do not hesitate to recommend for musical entertainment and I am still dying to use her for my next event. (On the matter of online networks and event management, I shall write more on this in the coming weeks as we all know these are of great value these days.)

Also, don’t be afraid to reach out. You’ll love having that extra bit of rapport on board (pardon me!) when the shit hits the fan and the client will think you are a super human! My all-time favourite experience of this is Twitter. During my diploma in event management I ran a series of four conferences and a networking function over five weeks. On three occasions did guest speakers cancel within days of their booked date to appear and I was left stranded. But the Internet can hear you scream, and within minutes of these desperate pleas I had made some new connections in the form of kick-arse public speakers Tim Longhurst who flew from Sydney to my rescue, Des Walsh who I now treasure as a mentor and role model, and Micheal Axelsen who I also name as a mentor. These gentlemen were only a short 140 characters away online and I will never underestimate the power of online communications in any format again thanks to this one experience.