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Tips for you as the planner.  People like to feel like they are part of a big crowd.  You want to have people close together..bumper- to- bumper so to speak.  For my last event, I had a champagne and chocolate bar for VIPs in a little area outside of the main room and the hosted bar.  Well good grief,  it was ridiculous how people just crammed into that little space.  But I do have to say, it looked fun because of all the people and the fun and excitement it created. 

So, if you plan for 500, set your area inside for 75 less and put your tables and chairs close together to create intimacy.  People like to know they are having a "happening" time.  The other thing, make sure the room is not too cold..not too warm...not too bright...not too dark.  I like to think back to my college days when we would go to parties.  We rated those parties that looked like lots of people were there very high.  You want to go where "everyone" goes... Now why is that?

Go Figure
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I heard a great event idea--Man Up.  Let's face it, most galas and events are designed with a woman in mind, and in fact, by many women planners.  Not to offend you men, but there are more women planners than men.  But this event was designed by a man, lot's of men to be exact.  Men get to do all those things they like to do, drink expensive whiskey, smoke expensive cigars, tell crass stories, wear cool clothes, eat REAL men food like a big porterhouse steak, and mostly, not have their woman around...well for the most part. 

Yeah, have some really cool auction items, way expensive trips and such,  that they can buy for their significant other to get out of trouble after staying out late, smelling like smoke and drink etc,...until the credit card bill comes in.  OOPS.  Oh, SNAP!  Anyway, I thought it was a great idea to raise money for a nonprofit.  Why not spoil our men?  Make them look good and feel good and special...all for a great cause. Whatever that might be  (I mean for a non profit).  Man UP, Men's Night, whatever you wish to call it could be a really cool, cool event.  Think how you might do it...Whisky Tasting, men's fashion show, limo's, lots of imported beers, cigar tasting, rock music,  neat stuff.

I'll tell you how our Man UP event will turn out at another post date.  Thanks VERTICAL.  You ROCK!

Later...HEADS UP

Okay, my new interest is CUPCAKES!  I really can't get enough of watching The Food Network Cupcake Challenge.. and now I am trying all those decadent cupcake recipes.  Which brings me to today's entry for creating a "friend-raising" event---Cupcakes & Cocktails.

My first event for a non-profit, I decided to host a friend-raising event in a really cute little place with lots of glass and lots of class!  So hosting some champagne cocktails with some cupcakes was my foray into non-profit event planning.  Now that I am all into the cupcake thing, I am fantasizing about cocktails IN the cupcake.  I found some really cool recipes that I am dying to try out on a group.  Right now, my group is my family. 

I am currently planning  my own version of Cupcake Challenge as another  friend-raiser for a non-profit.  I am matching celebrity baking assistants with real bakers and using celebrity judges.  Of course, taste is a big factor.  Best use of theme and display are the other criteria for judging the bakers.  The theme would be the next event~ Starry Starry Night.  The baker that best represents the overall theme of Starry Starry, will be the baker that will cater at that party and provide their creative display and yummy cupcakes.  Heaven.

Enjoy!
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How can you put on the glitz without spending a fortune? You want your even to look really cool and stunning with that wow factor. It's just, you don't have a fortune to do it like a David Tutera would. Recruit some very creative people, i.e., artists, interior designers, video and lighting techs, university students in theater, etc.. to help you.

I had some very fab volunteers that were UBER creative!!!!!!  Find your local University Hospitality Club...go figure??

Champagne Bar- why not try a champagne bar for  your next reception?  Try some mixers that would go with champagne and let your guests decide what they would like to try.  Some of my favs are cranberry, OJ and pineapple juices,  Chambord, Midori, or Peach Schnapps.  

Also popular, are appetizers  in shot glasses.  I had crab claws in shot glasses this weekend.  They were very elegant. My friend Shelly with the Event Group once said that warm chocolate chip cookies with milk shots were a favorite item among late night snack stations.  Yum is all I can say.  How about having some sliders and some sweet potato fries wrapped in wax paper?

Candy bars are always a favorite, especially among the very young.   I really like passed hors d'oeuvres personally.  I think they give such a look of elegance. And not to mention, it really saves on the budget. Most people will not load up on food when it is passed among the guests.  Reception tables just encourage people to load up...and more so when it is the good appetizers that are being served. And we all know, the good stuff cost more.

HeadsUP.  Happy receptions! 

Party with a Purpose this is a great idea that was coined by a local group of womenade.  It is really pretty creative.  It should be a blast!  This fundraiser benefits women in shelters who need help and this one is to help collect donations of new bras.

This will be an evening with lots of glitz, glamour, and giggles.  Attendees are encourage to go crazy and decorate a bra.  Judging of the bras will be done by local celebs and the winners will be selected for some really cool categories!

Breast in Show
Udderly Fantastic
Must Uplifting
Greek Goddenss and
the SAG award--supporting all girls

HEADSUP

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CATERING FOR NEWBIES


Food is a critical part of any event.  Keeping the cost down  is one of the biggest challenges. You don't want to look cheap but you also don't want to use up all your budget on feeding your guests.  Most hotels require that you use their catering; and, they usually require a firm head count at least two weeks before the event. Well, we all know,  you really don't know for sure what  your headcount will be until almost the day before, and many times it may be  the day of your event that you have a firm number.

Not knowing the number to give because your participants or potential attendees don't bother to RSVP is one of my very biggest peeves. Whether it is a mother whose child has been invited to a birthday party, or a drop-in RSVP planned activity, or any other event where you have to plan the food count in advance.  UGGGG.  This drives me crazy!!

If it is a planned event, and you have sponsors who receive so many tickets to attend based upon their sponsorship, I usually deduct about 20% off my estimated count.  Most of the time, these sponsors do not show (another pet peeve of mine) and you are left with an empty table and the food that goes with it.  So, rather than have an empty table and food going to waste, I will either deduct 20% off the total of projected attendees, or I give some extra tickets out at no charge to select people  and have them sit at the sponsor table.

I found a wonderful document to help you with planning your catering.  It is from UCLA Special Events and Protocol and I have attached it.  Worksheets can be wonderful, especially if you are just starting out in event planning.  There are so many things to think about when planning an event that it is easy to forget something.  And if you are like me..I have SO Many things I am juggling, it is really easy for me to forget at times.

Do you have a pet peeve on catering?

 HeadsUP!

Catering Worksheet

This article is brought to with permission from the leading Entertainment Expert, Entrepreneur, TV Personality, Coach, Author and Sought After Speaker, Marley Majcher, CEO of The Party Goddess! and publisher of thee magazine,  "How To Be A Party Goddess".  If you are ready to take your career or business to the next level, make more money and just be happier with your work life, then get your free tips on how to be a rockin' event planner at www.howtobeapartygoddess.com

What is Event Sponsorship? First of all, when you’re going for event sponsorship and remember event sponsorship means different things to different people. So event sponsorship can be anything from money, which of course is the golden ticket, we all want cash with no strings attached.These days with the economy and I hate to fall back on that but that’s not happening very often. It will happen later but it takes a little while.

The next form of sponsorship is in kind sponsorship where you get products, etc or you get someone’s service which would be considered sponsorship. So when you go out looking for money because she doesn’t say Angela what of event you’re looking for sponsors for but remember that there is more than one way to skin a cat. I know the first time I went out looking for event sponsorship I was like hi okay can you please give me $1,000, $5,000 or $10,000? These companies looked at me like I was smoking crack because (a) they have no relationship with me in that way and (b) they’re not exactly sure what they are getting for their money.

Explore the Possibilities. It depends on what kind of event, etc. But you want to instead of getting the money say hey listen we’re going to put on this event and we need a venue, food, beverages and all these other things. What I would do is brainstorm a list of all the different components of the particular event and literally brainstorm all those different components and then instead of…of course try to get money but the second thing is instead of going after the company and let’s say it is an event for 500 people and you want to say I want to serve dinner for500 people, you’re probably not going to get that.

But what you might get is hord’ouerves for 100. So go ask 5 companies for 100. I know when we do stuff for swag bags, if we needed 1,000 swag bags in the beginning when we would do it but don’t make this mistake, in the beginning when we would do it is we would go after companies and say hi we need 1,000 ofyour products. Well companies would freak out, they couldn’t give you1,000 of their product.

So we started saying we’re filling 1,000 swag bags and, of course, we would love 1,000 of something but don’t be shy we would love to take even 100 of that items. Then you can fill your swag bag with some great stuff but youjust fill them with 10 items of 100. It is a little more work for you.

Master The Approach -The other thing to do is have a sponsorship deck.  Have 1 or 2 sheets of sponsorship levels and I’m making this up but $5,000, $2,000, $500and you want to be able to tell them what they get. Do they get exposure on your website, Twitter, blog and then what kind of followers, what kind of traction are they going to get? Are you running ads in magazines and will they get to be part of that? Will you have a link on your website? Are you going to send out weekly e zines? All those things.

So for “x” amount of in kind sponsorship they will get Y and then make sure you’re very clear about what the event does and who the target audience is. Sponsors really want to know who you’re target audience is and how you’re reaching them because they want to align themselves with a target audience they’re already looking to be in front of and then they’ll decide.

Remember, again if you have no connection to a vendor it is going to be a lot more difficult to get money or product or anything out of them because they’re going to say what have you done for me lately. So in that case you go with one of my golden rules which is do unto others before they do unto you. Meaning do something and make sure you start with vendors who you already have a relationship with, you’re already friends with them, you give them alot of business and that kind of thing. Then start small and work up.

But you’re going to need to create a sponsorship deck and you can probably Google that. Find some great examples of sponsorship decks. I think like 2 pages is perfectly sufficient for most events.  I would start with a phone call and see if they are interested and get the name of the person to whom you should send it and go ahead and send it over in the body of an email as well as in an attachment because a lot of people will never open attachment at all. Then follow up, follow up, follow up and if you send an email and they don’t call you back, remember this is a whole sales thing so just keep following up.

Ask For Referrals- The other thing is you ask them, let’s say you get a bite and they say yes I will donate to your swag bag or provide “x” number of hord’ouerves then what you want to do is say, listen do you know anybody else who might be interested in doing this or this would be a great audience? But you want to keep selling them benefits. I can’t emphasize this enough. Don’t tell them they will have exposure but say it as a benefit. They will have access to XYZ target audience and you will give them the list of names after the event. What are they going to get?Even if it is just product for them they need something.

But definitely a sponsorship deck, definitely relationship and I like the call and email thing. but whatever you do the second they give you something you better follow up with a thank you note and plugging them and mentioning them anywhere you can on Twitter, blogs, etc. because that makes a big difference.

Much Success!

Marley

There is an art to getting sponsorships I have found!  By trial and error, I have learned to create the right document for our market.  The right document may be different depending on  your clientele or market area.  Google is our FRIEND!!  I have found some great ideas and have checked what other pricing breaks are in others sponsorship packets. 

One of my first events early on as an event planner, I thought, no problem.  I'll ask for a $100,000 sponsorship because my organization provided a great service to the community.  Well, one, I had not established a relationship with this corporate group, and two, Benefits???  Well, the money benefits us, what else??   Okay I then GOT IT!  You mean for YOU the funder?  You may have the best cause in America, but let's face it, WIIFM (what's in it for me)  rules on the corporate side.  I have also learned that many funders want to have all the upcoming events laid out together for them to see what's coming up.  This year, I tried to present the information that if the funder sponsors all three they can actually get a discount.  Sponsoring events separately would cost them more money.  And, of course, I pumped up the BENEFITS FOR THEM!  I was so surprised to get two vying for the top sponsorship level.  These were two sponsors who had never sponsored before (of course with one of them..I did alot, ALOT of relationship building throughout the year).   And, I did have the smaller sponsors pick and choose what interested them.  It really worked.  Try it and let me know how it goes for you!

Happy Sponsorships!

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