In this six part series, Infinity Management Group will describe its breakdown of an event/meeting. The first part is determining whether or not to hold a meeting; how do you decide if it’s worth all the planning that is to come? There are three components to decide:
- Goals and Objectives
- Budgeting
- Site Selection
Let’s start with goals and objectives. Infinity has blogged about this topic and how it relates to an organization as a whole however, it’s important to know how it’s connected with determining whether or not to hold a meeting. Speak with the meeting owner and ask three questions: is the gathering meant to accomplish anything, does it have a solid purpose, and is the purpose related to a larger goal that will help or advance the association/organization? If all of answers to these questions are yes, you have a good starting point to planning. If the answers are no, you may need to re-evaluate if the meeting is worth holding.
If you decide to continue with the meeting you will need to research and compare venues.
- Determine the meeting location – local, national, or international.
- Decide the type of space; hotel, conference center, other local meeting space, etc.
- Determine the size of your meeting space based on the anticipated attendance.
- Look into pricing for food and beverage, audio visual, and physical space.
Once you have all of this information gathered and some potential meeting sites, your final step to move forward is completing a preliminary budget/costing. The meeting owner should give you a maximum spending number for the meeting (if not you need to ask) – could be a flat amount or a per person amount. (E.g. $50.00 per person, per day). Below is an example of some items you may want to budget for:
Creating this budget will give you and your meeting owner an idea of what you’re likely to spend and if your organization/association can afford it.
So…are you moving forward with your event/meeting?
Stay tuned to part 2 of “The 6 Parts of an Event” series!
Infinity Management Group, LLC 