EPMS- heuristics

EPMS

No matter what system is used to run events, there will always be informal rules learned through experience and generally expressed as 'sayings'. They reflect the culture or style of the event company. Parables, little stories and anecdotes are all part of heuristics. They provide the porphyry in the granite of event management - that is, they hold it all together. The event manager uses them to teach the event staff. In the complexity of shifting priorities that occurs in actual event organising they can be a powerful tool to convey essential meaning that can not be expressed by guidelines.

For example Andrew Wash of Accolade insists that ' I stress to all my staff that I can understand mistakes and the most important thing is that I am told about them '. It obviously has been learned from experience and contains a rule that Andrew regards as vital to his successful management. (http://www.accolade.net.au)

I would like to make a collection of these informal rules and sayings for this web site.

Visit the venue, visit the venue, visit the venue "Repetition, repetition, repetition" - that's the mantra of the educator.
For the event planner, it's visit the venue, visit the venue, visit the venue. Early concepts of the event and the location, need to be tested against a firsthand view of the facilities or grounds. It's useful to walk where the attendees or exhibitors will walk, past imagined ticket booths or registration desks, past security guards or hosts, into the event area, around imagined furniture, stands and displays (and loading zones), to washrooms and cloakrooms, and then back to hotel rooms, or to vehicle parking. For both indoor and outdoor events, bear in mind seasonal changes that may come into play when the event actually occurs. Weather and ambient sounds may vary widely (think of noisy air conditioners in summer, consider late winter snow and the bulky coats and dripping boots in the cloakroom). Early concepts will need to be adapted to the site constraints or opportunities. Or it may be necessary to find a more appropriate venue.

David Grimes - Information Technology Consultant (and event manager when necessary) - Ottawa, Canada

The earlier you adapt, the less expensive it will be It's better to adapt as early as possible to the constraints and opportunities of an event location. Last minute improvisations, workarounds or reconstructions are EXPONENTIALLY more expensive. David Grimes - Information Technology Consultant (and event manager when necessary) - Ottawa, Canada The beginning is the most important part of the work (Plato, 4th Century BC)

You know there is a problem when the communication stops. Phone calls are not returned, email not answered. When you are dealing with so many subcontractors, helpers and paid staff, timely communication becomes the vital for good decisions. I always ask for the complete contact list for everyone and that they put all their contact details on every correspondence to me. This is so that I can quickly track down anyone not returning calls - because you can almost guarantee that there is a looming problem when this happens. Bill O'Toole EPMS.NET

Organise a comprehensive pre-event and post-event briefing :The most important people to me on the day of the event are the casual staff. I may have been working on the event for a year, but come the day, each of those people will have a more important role than me. They are the ones who will be on the spot to deal with the public, the performers, the suppliers etc. That's why I can't understand event managers who don't set aside the time and budget for both a comprehensive pre-event briefing (partly simply to convey how important this event is to me) and a good post-event debriefing where 100's of good observations can be noted before the casuals disappear off to their next job. Chris Reidy Producer, Jack Morton Worldwide (formerly the Event Company), Melbourne.

Always double check the electric power : it is often forgotten that the electricity is vital to the event. Lining up ten tea urns can easily blow the power to the event.
I have used the sound system to move the audience. If the music is moved to different set of speakers, then I found the audience will follow it!
If you have an expo with your conference it is a good idea to make sure the delegate have their morning and afternoon tea served at the Expo. It helps the exhibitors get an audience.
- Glen Lehman - Lehman and Associates (http://www.lehman.com.au -a web site well worth a visit)

"I tell the staff of the cloak room of my exhibitions that there will be little work for the first two days and then on the final day they will be swamped. Why? On the last day of the exhibition most people will check out of their hotels and bring their luggage with them to the show. I am sure the same happens with conferences." Rodney Cox of Exhibitions and Trade Fairs http://www.etf.com.au

"When you put in portable toilets for an outside event - don't forget it might rain. This means your attendees may have to walk through mud and rain to get to the toilet (it could lead to a big bill for damaged shoes!). The same goes for the waiters if the kitchen is separate from the dining area." Pamela Wheat - ICMS

"When you close the event - don't forget to check the toilets. I have found people asleep in there!" Annomyous

"Who owns the water cooler? when we have to pack up after an event, it is a problem working out whether some of the equipment is owned by the venue, us or the exhibitors. So it well to sort this out long before the shutdown" NZ event manager

Problems/solutions

I have been running a few problem solving workshops at each of my seminars. Here are a few problems and what the other members of the workshop suggested. Note that that this is used to illustrate that the greatest resources for event mangers is other event managers. A group of 30 event people in the one room is a powerful resource. Their collective experience could never be captured by a book.

Disclaimer - these solution may not be solutions for your problems. They are given to enable you to see what other people suggest based on their experience.

Problem - I work for a legal company . For our event each of the partners invites two of their clients. However no matter how many emails or notes I write they won't get back to me with their list.
Suggested Solution was provided by a person in another industry. Her solution was to point out how many emails and notes these people receive and how their time is prioritised according to the importance of the issue. The suggestion was to go and see them - face to face - has a new power in an age of data smog.

Problem - a fund-raising auction using donated products and the organiser wanted more ideas to raise funds.
Suggested Solution - another event manager had organised a normal action and an auction on the Internet. She found that there was a lot of money raised by using the Internet auction sites.

Problem - a youth event for teenagers already in trouble with the police, where there was a high likelihood of substance abuse over the three day period.
Suggested Solution - Ask the teenagers involved for a solution. They don't want to threaten the event as they are genuinely interested.

If you organise events I am sure you have lots of these little saying send them in to me and I'll add them to this website.

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