Event Planners are just crazy busy these days. No time for leisurely lunches or long sales meetings. They are doing more with less and even though the economy is on the rebound, staffing and budgets are still status quo for the most part.

However, now is the time to honker down and start focusing on your event goals. Yes, you still need to handle the logistics of the meeting, but it is vitally important to stay focused and calm. Here are some tips to avoid distraction and increase clarity.

1. 1. Develop no more than 1 to 3 goals for the meeting. 
      If you come out of a strategy session with your boss or board, with 10 goals, go back in and whittle them down to no more than 3. Here are some common goals to get you started:
      • Increase Attendance by 10% over last year’s conference
      • When renting audio visual equipment, increase the budget by 15%
      • Increase Sponsorships by 15%
   2. Understand why these goals are important.
      Perhaps your attendees were underwhelmed with your event last year and the Board wants to give it some punch with sound and lighting rentals, rent iPads with social media and sponsorship videos, and be viewed as being green through the elimination of paper products.

1. 1. Create high level milestones.
      Understand what needs to be done weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly in order to meet your goals. Make certain to have weekly or monthly meetings with the team to discuss upcoming milestones.

1. 1. Create a project plan.
      It is important to have a detailed project plan and make certain it is in line with your milestones and goals. Sometimes event meeting services organizations get so caught up in the day-to-day activities, they forget their goals. Being busy is no excuse for missing goals and objectives.

1. 1. Document performance metrics.
      All along the way, it is important to know how you are doing against plan. How many attendees do you have signed up and how many did you have the same time last year? What is your budget and how is it year-to-date? If the goal cannot be measured, create a different goal. Measuring will determine if you are successful or not in achieving the objective.

1. Communicate Results.
   At the end of the event, communicate how well you did against the benchmark. If you made your goals, it will be a great motivator to set new goals for next year. If you missed the goals, it can mean the goals may have been too aggressive or there were some kinks in the milestones and plan.

AV Event Solutions, a California meeting equipment firm, is ready and able to help you reach your audio visual goals and objectives. Give them a call today!