“The volunteer committee has been running this event successfully for the past twenty years, why would we need to hire an event organiser?!”
That is something I hear often when suggesting hiring an event organiser. It’s a huge barrier to break through when dealing with long standing events, but once the committee see the benefits that an event organiser brings to them, they don’t look back.
Here are three quick points on how an event organiser can benefit your event.
You’ll save time
This is a biggy. Event organisers can take your calls, answer your emails and carry out the huge amounts of admin. It’s what they do every day as their full time job – it’ll save you hours of work and admin, but be second nature to the event organiser.
An event can benefit from a full time point of contact – responding to emails and calls in good time, opening up a wealth of contacts, bringing in a range of skills and knowledge and generally taking away weeks of admin. That’s on top of the running around on the day of the event ensuring everything runs smoothly.
You’ll save money
You need to pay event organisers, so how on Earth could that save you money? Once they know what the budget is, they can pick up their book of contacts and use their long standing relationships to get a whole manner of discounts on things required for the event.
If the event has an exhibition element to it, exhibitors will generally trust a well known event organiser from professional exhibition stand design companies over a committee – meaning more exhibitors will book onto the event – that’s more money to fund the event!
You’ll have less stress
What paperwork is needed to close the road? What happens if your band looses power? What if it rains?! Just a few of the things to consider when running an event. Events are stressful. An event organiser brings a calm face and a stack of back up plans; they know every aspect of the event inside and out; if something goes wrong they generally have a solution – all without the panic.
Does that mean we should get rid of the committee?
Don’t get me wrong, volunteer committees are fantastic. They give their time to the community for nothing – it’s a thankless job. An event organiser can compliment a volunteer committee.
The majority of committee members work full time, have a family life and generally the event comes second (as it should – they have lives!). That’s where an event organiser can help – it’s their full time job. They are always replying to event emails, confirming bookings, organising the huge piles of licences, plans and risk assessments. It’s turns a small village fete with a handful of stalls into a professional operation with a huge market and a full entertainment package – usually for the same cost!
