Association Event Network September 2018 | Page 16

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Budgeting
Upfront budget advice
Joanna Lunn, event sales manager for the Victory
Services Club in London’s Marble Arch, discusses
how to work with your venue to keep on budget
Communication and transparency
Be upfront and honest with your venue and
tell them your budget. Be clear about your
priorities and defi ne what’s important and
what can be economised if necessary.
Costs
Does your venue off er a discounted rate for
associations and non-profi t organisations –
many do, so it’s worth asking. If you choose
a day delegate rate (DDR) package, then
it’s important that you understand what’s
included and what’s not; not all DDRs are
equal. Many of them include basic AV such
as screens, a PA system and microphones,
security and Wi-Fi – but many don’t and
adding a few basic items soon adds up.
Is VAT included in the DDR or will the
20% be added to your invoice? Th is could
seriously impact on a non-VAT registered
association.
Flexibility
Food and beverage is an area where
many economies could be made - with
the right team involved. Using a venue
with in-house caterers will off er you
more fl exibility in your menu planning.
Meet the chef and discuss your budget
and your audience; a great chef will
listen and then create a menu tailored
to your budget, your audience and event
requirements.
Values
Consider the ethos and values of your
association and fi nd a venue that matches
them; would your members feel more
at home in a not-for-profi t venue or a
fi ve-star hotel? A shared ethos leads to
a better working relationship, which in
turn leads to the very best use of budget
and an amazing event.
September 2018
Getting under
the skin
Live Union's Jez Paxman offers
some tips on how associations
can make events more profi table
and boost delegates
Ensuring people want to buy into
membership is crucial to any association's
survival, and conferences play a huge part
in demonstrating their connection with,
and value to the audience. But how to
attract them to an event and keep them
coming back year after year can be tricky.
Th e clue is in getting under the skin
of delegates and understanding their
expectations.
Gone are the days of wanting, or
needing to, sit through hour after hour of
lecture-style presentations. Th ey have seen
TED Talks, Apple KeyNotes and SXSW
and are demanding more from the events
they choose to spend their time at.
At the heart of this understanding
is recognising what delegates really
value, how they engage with and retain
ideas, and how they choose to make
connections.
Having created events for businesses
such as VISA, Santander and Amazon,
we see a trend towards experience-rich,
brain-friendly conferences. Th ere’s an
increasing desire for delegates to be
able to tailor their own experiences, so
associations need to explore new formats
and ways of sharing ideas.
Th ey need to ensure the event is
creating an immersive, educational, and
collaborative experience for delegates,
providing them with a range of platforms
to keep their interest – putting value on
making connections over simply giving
them more content to consume.
Varying the pace, building in surprises,
trying new event technologies and
embracing active learning are all key to
engaging today’s delegate.