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Event Planning - that’s not my role! Part Two

Answering frequently asked event questions ‘What can I do myself’ and ‘What do I outsource?’ Part two of our blog post.

To recap on part one of this two-part blog:

In part one we shared how not all companies have dedicated in-house resources with expertise in event planning. We also questioned if other tasks such as sales or accounting get handed to other departments/roles and why event planning shouldn’t be any different.

We suggested elements of event planning to handle yourself and covered why other key aspects should be managed by an events management company. This blog continues the theme of what to do yourself and what to outsource to the experts.

Production & Media

Event production expertise includes designing and delivering both the creative vision and the technical specification for the best possible delivery.

Delivering the right content in the best way requires time and planning. LZ always recommend that unless you have an in-house media department, the media programme is outsourced to experts to work closely with clients in all aspects of event pre-production.

Having a creative plan and resources to capture, edit and produce content in relevant formats is not usually something that can be picked up by non-experts. Our media team recommend that if you are planning an event, brainstorm the ways you could use content to promote the event and use it after the event to create engagement.

LemonZest has a state of the art media department using the most up-to-date technology to produce high-impact and professional films and media ... but it is the vision and flair of the media team that breathes life into our projects and keep our clients returning for all of their media production requirements: video, photography, interviews, vox pops, short social media reels, animations and staff testimonials and insights.

The downside of doing any element of media and audio visual yourself is the time to create and the skills and equipment required. It’s time intensive on the day and you will be under pressure should there be audio quality issues, technical hitches, internet outages and handling the audio and visual cues.

The Prep

Where you can help is facilitating with the relevant audience before the day, getting the right people briefed and ready to shine, getting approval that guests can talk on camera, securing a space for any 1:1’s and ensuring a smooth flow of activity to maximise the coverage of video, vox pops, filming interviews that can be edited swiftly after event for reusable content. For example, our media department creates everything from graphic presentations, animations to filming on location. Outsourcing this aspect frees up your time for adding value in the right areas.

Event consultants and media creatives should take away the panic. You won’t then be waking up in the middle of the night about your event execution and logistics, running through the things you’ve yet to organise – trust me this does happen!

Remove risk

When learning as you go you risk continuity errors and forgetting the critical elements. You also limit yourself in terms of expert knowledge and creativity.

While there are costs associated with using an event consultant/professional, this not only reduces your risk but ring fences the cost of your event up front with a detailed breakdown of services. No surprises, no additional extras or unforeseen costs as when going it alone.

Where you can add value is with your own company knowledge to bring the culture and ambitions to life and avoid costly mistakes.

Want to know more? Then get in touch and we can chat about how to maximise the return on your events.