9 Questions You Need to Ask Yourself Before Organizing an Event

The following text is meant to point you in the right direction. It describes all of the most important steps in event organization and contains links to articles expanding upon particular topics. It is a knowledge base that will help you fully comprehend the workflow of organizing events!

But where to start? First of all, you need to answer a set of questions about the event you want to organize. If you categorize all the aspects and approach the task step-by-step, everything will become much easier. Let us begin!

1. What event are you organizing?

Do not let yourself be led astray by the simplicity of this question. It entails a number of vital aspects that you need to consider before even starting to organize the event.

Is it a one-time event or is it going to be cyclical? National or international? Is there a fee for participation? The answers to these questions dictate how you should start preparations.

An example: there is a fee for participation and it is an international event. In this case, you need to consider payments in foreign currencies. You will find more information about this in our other article: What Payment Methods Should You Use to Sell Event Tickets? Conversely, if you want to enable both paid and free registration, you will find useful the tips in the article: Simultaneous Free and Paid Registration.

2. When do you plan the registration to start?

Do you know when you want to start and close the registration process? Have you planned a few days to test the event management system (eg. CONREGO), the event website, and social media profiles?

Notice! At this step, we encourage you to familiarize yourself with the article How to Encourage Event Attendees to Register Early?
The registration process that was handled correctly and quickly will enable you to move on to next tasks.

3. How do you plan to store the data entrusted to you?

Do not forget the law that binds you to protect personal details and undertake proper measures to do so. In the registration process, you should place terms and conditions to be accepted by all attendees, together with personal data processing consent, including the purpose and methods of processing.

How to draft terms and conditions? You will learn all this from our article we prepared to help you meet the requirements of the GDPR:

4. How do you want to promote the event?

The event will not sell itself - you need to lend it a hand. To do so, you should employ some techniques that will effectively encourage the target group to register. To make things a little easier to you, we have prepared some essential advice. You can find it by clicking the links below:

• 9 Techniques of Event Promotion That Increase Ticket Sales
• How to Create a Perfect Event Website?
• Why Do You Need a Responsive Event Website?

We have now reached the moment your event begins.

5. How will you handle guests at the event

If you want to handle the reception desk using a web application, you need to ensure stable Internet connection. The single best piece of advice is: test the network on site, regardless of whether you are organizing an event in the open air or in a modern conference venue. You will find more useful information in the article: How to Check Network Connection at the Conference Venue?

6. Have you already decided how many reception desks you want to set up?

If you are considering the traditional approach of ticking names on pre-printed lists, you need to estimate how much time on average it will take to mark a single attendee as present and how much time you can spare for the reception desk to serve all guests. Details regarding this issue are presented in the article: How to Ensure Efficient Event Check-in?

7. Do you plan to issue conference badges?

The topic of badges is exceptionally complex. There are multiple options and the most effective are:

• paper badges printed before the event,
• plastic badges printed before the event,
• plastic wristbands,
• entry passes printed by attendees as badges,
• self-adhesive labels printed during check-in.

All the most important options are described in the article: Comparison of 5 Event Badge Printing Techiques.

We at CONREGO have designed a method whereby you deliver an entry pass (PDF file of A4 format) to the attendee via email. It was designed to be folded into A6 format. This way, after printing it out, you get a two-side event badge that presents both information about the attendee and their personalized agenda. Read more in the entry: How to Minimize Costs of Conference Badges?

8. What reception desk equipment have you got at your disposal?

If you want the reception desk to take advantage of barcode and QR code readers, you need to consider smartphones or computers with code readers. What equipment is the best? Read more on the recommended equipment in our article: What Equipment Should You Choose to Handle Check-In and Access Control?

9. Are you sure that everything is tied up?

To avoid any doubts like this, make yourself familiar with the full version of our guide available below. There, you will find previously unpublished details and tips. We also invite you to visit our blog from time to time, where you can find new content and reliable advice.

Now you know the theory. All that is left is to apply it in practice. Good luck!

Tomasz Chrościechowski