Anyone who follows my blog or social media accounts probably already knows that I’m planning an awesome concert & laser show with Edmonton musician Letters from Pluto, who also happens to be my friend. The event is taking place on November 3, and I’m pretty excited about it (if you want more info, hop on over to last week’s blog post). That being said, I can hardly believe that it’s been only two weeks since we announced that it was happening. The timelines for this event have been so condensed that it really wasn’t that long ago that I was debating whether or not I should put my time, energy, and money into making this concert a reality. What makes an event worthwhile? Keep reading for my instructions on deciding!
Lay out potential expenses
This is the first thing I did when determining if the concert I’m currently planning was worth the effort. I put together a potential budget laying out every possible expense so I would have an accurate idea of costs. Of course, on an event like this one, there is also revenue in the form of ticket sales and sponsorships. My goal for this event is to actually MAKE money, but I still need to be prepared that I might not. Because I went through this exercise, I know what my greatest possible financial investment in this event will be, and I was able to consider the opportunities for revenue.
Decide Why YOu want to hold the event
I’ve written before about how important strategy is to event planning. It is definitely key to think about what the driving reason behind the event would be. Are you thinking about holding it for marketing purposes, or to raise money? To build connections or to reward people that deserve it? Is it a personal event? If so, your return is probably in the celebration itself. In each of these scenarios, the goals are different. This means that different things will weigh in on your decision about whether or not to go ahead with the event.
Balance risks and rewards
The next step is to look at all the information you’ve put together already and decide whether or not the event is going to get the results you want, within your budget. If it’s a marketing event, you would likely be spending money instead of making money, but you’d need to be getting your value in other ways. It’s time to be strategic and decide whether the type of event you are trying to plan will accomplish the goals that you have laid out. Is the financial risk you’re taking with the event likely to pay off?
Make a decision!
This is the hardest step of all. Once I had brainstormed and collected all the information about the concert, I had to actually decide if I wanted to go ahead with it. Is my event worthwhile? Financially, I won’t know for a bit. But I was willing to take a risk on this one because I honestly thought it was going to be a ton of fun to plan, and a really cool event to be part of – and so far, I’m right.
Is your event worthwhile? I hope the steps outlined above have helped you decide. Let me know in the comments!
Happy Planning!
KG
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