Four areas you might be forgetting in your on-site management planning

You and your planning team have sourced the perfect venue, built an insightful agenda, and planned all the necessary components for an effective event – and now it’s time to go on-site. Are you set up for success?

With the time that goes into pre-planning a successful meeting with your planning team, the last thing you want is for things to go wrong during your event. On-site management is a crucial element in making sure that everything that was planned is executed correctly and making smart on-the-spot decisions to solve any unforeseen issues.

Having dedicated, third-party event management is one way to take the pressure off. We recommend you also keep the same planning team and company to conduct your on-site management as well – consistency is key to a flawlessly executed event.

On-site management can handle all the little details, ensure a positive attendee experience, and make sure everything runs smoothly for an effective corporate event.

What can on-site event management help with?

Here are some key areas you may want assistance in once you’re on-site:

1. Registration

Registration is your attendees’ first impression of the event – and it should be a good impression. Dedicated on-site management can ensure a seamless registration flow and prepare all delegate materials (badges, agendas, and additional information) so they are organized and easily accessible.

2. Organisation

An organized office or storage space is key to a successful event, and on-site management teams can ensure a smooth set-up so that you know exactly where to find what you need. Plus, if you need to locate a sign quickly or the CEO needs a button sewn on, your on-site management team is there to help. On-site management can also assist with organizing your key contact information, ensuring all necessary parties have contact details for all the key players. They can also help you establish a chain of command for emergencies and make sure roles and responsibilities are clearly defined.

3. Food and beverage

Did you know that most negative attendee feedback centers around food? To make sure your F&B experience is on-point, your on-site event manager can help you by:

• reviewing a room set-up and ensuring that the items that were ordered are the items that are offered
• checking for buffet labels or printed menus so that attendees are aware of what they are eating to avoid any allergy/food issues
• Ensuring that the flow of the event runs smoothly.

For example, it is never a good idea to set up a bar near the front of a room because it will become a bottleneck. Also, it can provide a strategy for opening buffets in an order that will avoid large crowds.

4. Space

Making sure your set-ups, AV, and special requests are implemented as planned are tasks that on-site management can assist with. While you are busy with other elements of the meeting, on-site management can conduct room inspections, venue checks, and review AV orders, as well as any other prior plans arranged with your vendors.

Sometimes there is not a lot of time in-between sessions in the same room, and on-site management can help with this part of your meeting too. It is critical to refresh a room by removing waste items, resetting chairs that may be out of place, and ensuring all necessary cleaning requirements are met. When all rooms are turning over at the same time, it takes a team to make sure that everything is done.