Are you wasting money on events?

Have you ever been to a conference and come away wondering why you went?

I’ve spoken at conferences like that myself and been to quite a few. They are the ones where there seems to be a vast budget, lots of ‘goodies’ that get handed to you, but no clear idea what the purpose of the event is.

They are not so frequent now, but they still happen.

One of our clients told me about a discussion with one of his clients recently. They wanted him to make a film for this event. When he asked them what the objective of the film was, they had no idea – but they were planning to spend thousands on it.

The cost of events

Events cost a fortune to organise and to carry out. But that’s not the only cost. There is also the cost of the people attending the event. For in-company events, this can be huge, but it’s rarely considered.

How to avoid extra costs and make events worthwhile

You need to have clear objectives.

Try asking yourself these questions:

• What do I want to be different at the end of this event?
• What do I want people to do differently?
• What do I want them to say when they leave?
• What do I want them to say about the event when they get back to the office?

And, most importantly:

• Why are we holding this event?
• How would we know that it was successful?