With all the excitement and hype surrounding Fyre Festival these past few weeks, we as event planners binged both documentaries on Netflix and Hulu.  After we were done cringing in pure agony, we had Alexia Carr, a friend of Mile Zero write a special blog post for us!  Alexia Carr is a research-backed, results-driven marketer with a passion for helping clients reach their fullest potential. She’s worked with a number of agencies and global clients helping to improve their digital presence.

A Quick Checklist for Planning an Event

If you’re planning an event, there are a few things that go into making sure it’s a successful endeavor. You want people to be talking about how amazing your festival was afterward, rather than comparing it to a Fyre Festival fiasco. A lot goes into it, and it’s not an undertaking worth getting into alone—you’ll need a dedicated event and sponsorship agency and a vision that’s worth pursuing that others are also on board with.

Here are a few steps to keep in mind so you can ensure that you put on an event that’s worth remembering rather than one that fades into history without remembrance.

Selecting a brand

Before deciding on a brand, you have to consider exactly the type of event you intend to host. Is it a music festival, or are you looking to create more of a food and beverage festival? You’ll need to conduct the proper research to figure out what sort of event would resonate most within the area you plan to host your event. You can even reach out to sources like Mile Zero to help you find a direction that makes the most sense.

Managing venues

Once you’ve figured out the type of event you’d like to throw, the next step is securing a venue. A few things to consider when looking for a venue are:

• Is there Wi-Fi access or adequate cell phone reception?
• What does parking look like?
• Is there enough space for stages, various tents/rooms, etc.?
• Are there hookup locations for water, electricity, sewage, etc.?
• Is insurance for inclement weather available, and what does the rescheduling or cancellation policy look like?

Choosing a venue will also help you select an appropriate event date. Be sure to do your research, and study up on all of the local events happening around a proposed weekend. Picking a bad date can one of the worst mistakes you can make and can cost you thousands in lost revenue.

Planning operations and logistics

The heart of any event is the operations and logistics. It takes a village to raise a child, and an event is no different. Gather a team that will be able to handle the following:

• venue management
• marketing
• sponsorships
• food and beverage logistics
• entertainment/speakers
• employees

When you’re building out your team, it’ll all come down to your budget and how many people you’re feasibly able to bring on. And one of the most important ways to build a budget is through sponsorship.

Sponsors can be financial, in-trade or simply product support. However, they can also be used to enhance the event by providing beer and wine, entertainment, or media coverage. Mile Zero lives and breathes sponsorship and can help you find the perfect partners for your upcoming event.

Promotion

After your vision is put into motion and sponsors, dates and venue are locked into place, you can move onto the fun part of marketing your event. Your team of promoters will be able to help market it, sharing the event on social media as necessary and creating a hashtag so people can easily find it. You’ll also want to create online materials that can be easily shared to help promote your event and spread the good word.

Once you’ve shared information about your event, you’ll hopefully get enough interest circulated so that attendees buy up all your tickets. After that, it’s smooth sailing until the day of, or at least that’s the hope!