5 Things to remember when organizing events
1. Know when to go big and when to scale back
It’s easy to add more to your plate after every successful event. Adding more stages & more speakers seems like the obvious thing to do.
When we started 2x2Fest, it was a surprise to see 75 submissions in the inbox for people wanting to perform. Fast-forward a few years and we’re seeing 200 and 300+ submissions each year. Adding more stages and booking more acts was a comment that we heard all the time. So we did it and after a while the crowds in front of those stages and the number of people seated in a speaker session start to shrink.
Growing with your audience is the best way for your attendees and your speakers/performers to have a great experience.
The 2vs2 Breaking Dance Battle at 2x2 Hip-Hop Festival’s original location in the Weinland Park neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio.
2. Timing is key
Timing quickly becomes an important piece of the puzzle. It isn’t just about what date you select to have your event, it’s timing for everything. From when you start marketing to when you book your talent, to how you schedule out the day of the event itself. Everything has to be timed out properly. You can’t expect to bring out a huge crowd with only a week of promoting.
If you’re planning a series of events, make sure you’re spacing them out enough to give your target audience a break as well as giving yourself enough time to plan and promote each of them to their fullest potential.
Working on a weekend-long festival? Consider starting your event pages and sending out your first run of press releases several months in advance. Be sure to stay on top of your marketing plan so that your event doesn’t fall through the cracks.
Your day-of schedule is just as important as the timing of your promotional calendar leading up to the event. Be sure to think about that customer journey and how your attendee will be experiencing the event. When you have a lot of moving parts, you want to keep that attendee in mind for when to schedule certain talks, performances, and activities.
It isn’t just about what date you select to have your event, it’s timing for everything. From when you start marketing to when you book your talent, to how you schedule out the day of the event itself.
Video Game Developer Expo, GDEX, is a large 3-day event dedicated to all things gaming. This complex event includes video game tournaments, free-play area, a large exhibitor space, and educational talks throughout the weekend.
This event takes several months of planning and almost as long to promote in order to attract our targeted audience.
3. Know your audience
Are you crafting an experience before figuring out what type of audience will want to be a part of it?
Having a great idea for an event before thinking about the type of audience happens all the time, but eventually you’ll start to learn about what your audience wants and needs in an event to keep coming back.
A good way to start planning an event is to think about what the goal of the event is and who it’s for. Once you know what your goals are and who your audience is, you’ll be able to plan out entertainment, activities, and how to set everything up.
A good way to start planning an event is to think about what the goal of the event is and who it’s for.
4. Don’t hold back on your marketing. When in doubt, double down.
There’s a huge difference between doing an event for two hundred people and doing one for thousands.
Not only do you need to know the difference logistically, but you need to understand that the promotion is at a completely different level with those larger events.
After I started throwing small events on OSU campus, I started to hate the phrase “if you build it they will come.” Why? Because if nobody knows what you’ve built then they won’t know when and where to go or that there’s anything to even go to. This is why marketing is so important. When it comes to music festivals and events where your goal is to attract as many people as you can, you have to invest in your marketing.
Everybody has to be on the same page when it comes to marketing. You need to have all of your performers/speakers letting their followers know about your event and everybody else who is involved in the event should be telling their networks as well. Think you’re going to bring 5,000 people out on just word of mouth? Think again..You have to plan out your marketing strategy months in advance and make sure that you’re hitting your target audience from every direction. Social media ads and organic posts, print ads, radio, billboard, etc. This is where knowing your audience is huge.
General rule of thumb for larger events that we work on is to allocate at least 10% of your overall event budget into marketing or $5 for every person that you want in attendance. Whichever is greater. When in doubt, put more into your marketing budget.
If you build it they will come. As long as they know what you’ve built. Want a successful event? Invest time and money into your marketing strategy.
A new event series launched in 2023, Busker’s Corner at Steelton Village, was a great opportunity to introduce the Columbus community to an up and coming development on the city’s south side.
5. Delegate
As your event grows so should your team. Putting together an all day event or weekend long festival is a lot of work. If you’re planning an event for a couple hundred people with a few moving parts, then you might be able to do it yourself.
For those larger events that encompass more than a handful of things happening, building a strong team will be vital to having a successful outcome.
What parts of the planning process do you really enjoy and what parts can be delegated to a team member who can do well with those responsibilities and enjoys them as much as you enjoy yours?