It’s difficult to stay organized when planning a major event. You’ll have to manage dozens of different appointments, contacts, special requests, billing invoices, and more, all while trying to maintain your sanity in the process (not an easy thing to do!). Rather than allowing this clutter to consume your life, however, you should follow the organization tips listed below.
Start Planning Early
It’s never too early to begin planning for your next event. The earlier you start planning, the easier it will be handle all of the tasks associated with planning the event. Even if there’s no date set, you can still scout prospective venues, as well as find caterers, photographers and other service providers, writing down their contact information for later reference.
Organization Apps for Your Smartphone
Every serious event planner owns a smartphone, so why not put it good use? Whether you have an Android or Apple iOS handset, you should have no problem finding an app to help you stay organized. One such app is Google Keep, which allows you to add notes, lists, photos, videos, audio recordings, and more. You can even add colors and labels to your Google Keep so they are easier to find. Best of all, you can grant other users permission to access and edit your notes. If you’re planning an event with other organizers or corporate executives, this feature will certainly prove useful.
Evernote is another excellent app that’s particularly popular among event planners.
Set Up Email Reminders
As an event planner, you’ll be juggling dozens of different tasks at once, making it difficult to remember each and every appointment. But did you know that you can set up reminders in many of the leading email service platforms? If you have an appointment scheduled with a venue owner or manager, for instance, you can create a reminder to notify you via email when it’s time for the appointment.
To set up a reminder in Gmail, open your inbox, click the + icon, and choose “Reminder.” Next, enter the text or note that you would like to appear in the reminder and click “Save.” If you’d like to be reminded at a certain date and time, click the clock icon for more options. Reminders are conveniently displayed in your Gmail inbox so you won’t miss them.
If you’d like to set up a reminder in Microsoft Outlook, refer to this article for step-by-step instructions.
Have a Backup Plan
As Murphy’s Law states, if anything bad can happen, it will probably will, holds true in the event planning industry. From no-show vendors and service providers to inadequate parking and malfunctioning electronics, there’s always the chance for mishaps to occur during an event. To orchestrate a uniform, well-organized event, it’s recommended that you have a backup plan just in case something goes wrong. Hopefully you won’t need to resort to the backup plan, but just having it available will give you peace of mind knowing that you are prepared for the worst.
Photo credit: Dean Hochman