event planning

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Safety tips for festival fans

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This year's festival season might be over but some of us are already getting ready for 2017. Earlier this week we were told that Glastonbury Festival 2017 sold out within one hour. Talking about getting ready for next year.... Pretty amazing!

Whichever festival you go to, make sure you plan it properly. Part of that planning process is to start talking to your friends about how to stay safe at festivals. What is your plan to look after yourself and your friends? 

The Upcoming is giving you some great safety tips when attending gigs and music festivals. You can read the article here.

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My workshop Sustainable Event Management in Holland

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Together with the Event Safety Institute in the Netherlands I am organising a two-day workshop about Sustainable Event Management. It will take place in Holland on the 18th and 19th of January and yes, it will be in Dutch. 

This workshop is for event planners, festival organisers, event suppliers, and event licensors. The aim of the workshop is to provide you the tools to make your organisation and your events more sustainable. 

You can find more information here. All info is in Dutch but feel free to contact me of you have any questions.

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How to make your conference appealing to millennials

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The last time I went to a conference I noticed that the audience was quite "mature". The only younger visitors looked like students who were trying their luck with networking. 

But how do you attract a younger audience? How do you make sure they come back to your conference the next time? How do you make your conference appealing to millennials? You can read the article here.

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What to think of when organising an Oktoberfest

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It's October which means it is time for Oktoberfest! Actually the most important Oktoberfest, the one in Munich in Germany, took place in September. But you get my drift. The world's biggest Oktoberfest generates a whopping €1.3 billion for the region. Of that €189 million is spent on beer.

If you're thinking of organising an Oktoberfest than you might want to read the 6 tips that Eventbrite have put together. It gives you six handy tips for planning an amazing beer festival. And guess what, it's not just about the beer!

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Licensing issues for Glasgow Oktoberfest

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Glasgow Oktoberfest has been cancelled as the organisation didn't get a licence. The festival was said to take place on the 19th of October but due to an argument over the correct licences it has had to cancel the event.

There were concerns over safety issues, according to Glasgow Licensing Board. On the website of Glasgow Oktoberfest it says that they will be back next year. To be continued...

You can read the article here. 

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Investment in event technology: the case of Social Tables

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Event technology company Social Tables has secured another $15 million in funding. Social Tables provides innovative solutions to handle complex event problems (like check-in procedures, seating planning, etc). The company is said to use the investment for " a broader set of event industry challenges".

Here the article about Social Tables. 

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Sustainable Events Summit to take place in London

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The Sustainable Events Summit will take place on Monday 21 November. According to Conference News the summit will take place at 30 Euston Square in London. You can read the full article here.  

This conference will present the findings of a research study about how global brands view sustainability. 

Early bird tickets cost £130 + VAT and standard tickets go for £160 (+ VAT). You can find more info on www.sustainableeventssummit.com. 

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W hotels is entering the music festival market

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A hotel chain that is organising a music festival? W-Hotels gave it a try, according to this Forbes article, and did a good job.

So how does it work? Apparently it was a "100% W experience". Although I'm not 100% sure what that exactly means. But W did manage to fill the hotel on a normally quiet weekend, making the festival a marketing tool for the hotel business. Interesting.

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Networking at conferences: plan your time!

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Ever been to a conference? How did "the networking" work out for you? Did you leave the conference with new ideas, leads, and useful contacts? Sometimes going to a conference can feel like you wasted precious time. But perhaps that is because you didn't plan it properly. You didn't look at what you wanted to get out of the the conference. How the conference can work for you.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote an article about networking at conferences.

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Some helpful tips to keep you safe at music festivals

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Some helpful tips to keep you safe at music festivals

It's the end of the summer and the festival season has more or less finished. This year there was a lot to do about safety at festivals. Drug use, sexual assault, theft. 

Visiting festivals is great fun but sometimes it doesn't always go according to plan. Conway & Conway came up with this amazing infographic and other safety tips. 

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How a vendor policy can save your event money

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How a vendor policy can save your event money

Do check that the products you allow on site comply with your vendor policy. I’ve been at one event where one vendor was temporarily shut down because they used plastic utensils. How do you deal with this? And what are the consequences for you and the vendor? Again, this requires planning. 

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Event planning: know the purpose of your event

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Event planning: know the purpose of your event

I’ve once organised a festival that wanted to cater for everyone. It had a little bit of this and a little bit of that. And when you want to cater for everyone, problems arise. One of the problems was that no one could identify with the event concept. It taught me an expensive lesson: know the purpose of your event.

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Is there a doctor in the room? First Aid at events

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Is there a doctor in the room? First Aid at events

Glastonbury festival works with Festival Medical Services. According to the Guardian this charity organisation “will have 850 volunteers including doctors, nurses, podiatrists, ultrasound technicians, paramedics and dentists” on site. If you are an event planner this might sound daunting. Logistics, planning, and costs are probably the first things you think of.

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The benefits of event technology

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The benefits of event technology

The titanic tech of today impacts upon every conceivable professional sector, and the events industry is no exception. Embracing the diverse range of event technology available to event professionals is essential; not only to deliver the highest quality events you can, but to avoid falling behind your competition. I can guarantee that the majority of them will be harnessing the full potential of event tech!

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5 areas around drug use that event planners need to address

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5 areas around drug use that event planners need to address

“One of the first things event planners need to do is to acknowledge that certain drugs might be used at their event. There are laws that prohibit certain drugs and you will follow certain standards and procedures with regards to these drugs laws. But… acknowledging that some of these drugs inevitably come onto your event site and will be use used is the first step”.

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The benefits of online learning

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The benefits of online learning

On a Friday morning from 9am until 1pm I would teach a group of 25 students Sustainable Event Management. That’s a 4 hour block in which students were supposed to pay attention. Think about the time you sat in a meeting that lasted for four hours. Painful wasn’t it? Sure, I wouldn’t talk for 4 hours. There were breaks, exercises, group work, discussions but still…. 4 hours. 

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Increase Attendee Experience with Social Media

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Increase Attendee Experience with Social Media

You probably already have a digital presence, but you need to make sure it’s the right one. You know the saying “too many cooks spoil the broth”? That stands true with having too many social media accounts. By stretching yourself thin the content gets diluted and engagement opportunities fall through the gap. Only use the channels where your target audience are listening and conversing. 

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A unique festival experience: Fuji Rock

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A unique festival experience: Fuji Rock

At the festival site no queues for the stand where I had to change my ticket for a wristband. Long queues however for the merchandise stand that was next to it. Surprisingly there was no security to check my bags. I only had show my wristbands and I could walk onto the campsite. I can’t make up my mind whether this is a good thing or not. Let’s just say I was surprised.

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What to bring to Fuji Rock Festival

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What to bring to Fuji Rock Festival

Fuji Rock is often referred to as the Glastonbury of Asia. It’ll be warmer than Glastonbury but apparently I should expect rain. On their website, the festival warns for extreme temperature differences and potential heavy rainfall. The semi-British side of me sighs... “oh dear”. Besides the weather warnings there are warnings to keep away from bees, wasps, mosquitos and ticks. 

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What makes a good event location?

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What makes a good event location?

How difficult can it be to provide a clear and easy to understand layout of your event site? It’s almost as if some conferences and exhibitions have become such mammoths that even the event organiser is losing track of what is going on. Event planners need to keep their audience in mind when designing the site and the layout of the site.