Event Planning Mistakes...
Stephanie at Data Management Group saw the success that some of our other partners have had running events (see here, here, and here)
Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned, and they had to cancel.
I asked Stephanie what she learned from this experience (what would have been her first event) and she sent in some gems.
- Time flies – I thought I had plenty of time to drive attendance and the date snuck up on me. I think 3 months is a good amount of lead time.
- Just because you have a list, does not mean “they will come”. We had a very small list to promote to in the area and out of a little over 100 names of prospects and current clients, we were only able to get 1 person who was interested in attending. Make sure you have a good list to work from.
- Having a list isn’t enough. We sent a postcard and emails inviting our prospects to the event, however did not have the bandwidth to follow up those invites with personal invitations via the telephone. If your prospects are not currently engaged with you, they will be less likely to respond. I believe a personal invitation can go a long way. Plus it’s another good reason to touch them.
There's no shame in failing if you learn from it.
We'll get it next time, Stephanie!