10 Mistakes to Avoid When Hiring Event Staff

The success of an event largely depends on the event staff working and how well they interact and engage with your audience. Not only is the event staff the face of your brand, but they help to build and establish relationships with your most valued customers.

However, many times staffing is overlooked which can, consequently, harm the event. In order to create the most success for your event, be sure to avoid the following mistakes when hiring event staff.

Event staffing

1. Delaying the Decision Process
One of the worst mistakes an event planner can make when hiring event staff is taking too long to make a decision. While event staff understand that a lot goes into planning and executing an event, they also have their own personal schedules.

Delaying the decision process for more than 1 to 2 weeks is generally too long and will result in top event staff becoming unavailable. In order to avoid this and ensure quality staff, keep the decision process as short as possible.

2. Not Factoring in Your Brand’s Image
Event staff are the frontline and face of your event and/or promotion. Therefore, when deciding which event staff to hire, it is important to remember your brand image and hire staffing that accurately reflect it.

3. Not Consulting Your Team
When hiring event staff, it is important to consider the other members of your team that will be working alongside these staff members.

Will their personalities complement one another? Nothing is worse than a team that doesn’t get along. Be sure to consult your team before selecting event staff.

4. Not Understanding Your Event Needs
Before hiring event staff, factor in the size, length, and audience of your event. This will help you to determine the ideal number of staff your need, along with their gender, age, experience level, and cultural diversity.

5. Not Interviewing Event Staff
You wouldn’t hire a full or part-time employee without first interviewing him or her, right? Then, why would you hire event staff, without interviewing and asking important event staffing questions first? Before hiring event staff always ask to interview them via phone, Skype, or in person.

6. Not Asking for Updated Photos & Resume
Along with interviewing event staff, you should also ask for an updated resume and photos (editor’s note: this is only for model related staffing where asking for a photo may be relevant to the job. Asking for a photo is NOT always relevant and against the law in some countries) . Doing so will help you determine whether their credentials and experience level are an ideal fit for your company and/or brand.

7. Not Sharing Your Company & Product Information
After hiring event staff, it is important to provide them with the necessary information about your company background and product information. Doing so will keep your event staff well-informed and prepared to answer any questions.

8. Not Investing Enough Money
The quality of the event staff you hire is in direct correlation with the amount of money you pay them to work. While seeking event staff on Craigslist may seem like a great way to save money, it is unlikely that they will be able to meet or exceed your event needs and expectations. Instead, it is best to work with an experienced event staffing company that is professional and reliable.

9. Withholding Job Information
It is important to be upfront with all applicants about the responsibilities of your event. While it may seem better to leave out the negatives or downsides of the staffing role, it may result in more stress. By being honest with your candidates about their roles during the event, they are more likely to work the entire event.

10. Hiring Based on Looks
Finally, one of the biggest mistakes event planners make when hiring event staff is hiring based on looks. While looks are an important factor for attracting attention to your booth, it is more important to hire event staff based on experience level, professionalism, and personality. Event staff that are hired for reasons other than looks are more likely to produce the results your team is aiming for.

In Conclusion
In the end, event planners must remember that staffing is one of the most important factors for lead generation and sales and event and should be treated as such. Therefore, event planners should allot enough time to hire and train event staff before they arrive onsite.

By keeping your event needs and goals in mind, and avoiding these event staffing mistakes, your event is sure to go off without a hitch.

-Margaret Colebeck.

Editor's Note:

In Malaysia, the concept of event staffing is not new but companies might be a loss at where to start finding suitable candidates. Event Sidekicks was formed to fill this void. 

Corporate PR and Marketing Teams who have the event planning done but not enough people to execute it will find it much easier to have a go-to company whenever they have the need for more manpower to help out in their events.

This includes Event Management Companies, Government-Linked Companies (GLCs), Multi-National Corporations (MNCs) and Hotels who organize their own events internally but need extra pairs of hands (and legs!)

For more information about Event Sidekicks, do visit their website at www.eventsidekicks.com

byBest Events

in Event Tips

12:31 AM

10 Mistakes to Avoid When Hiring Event Staff

The success of an event largely depends on the event staff working and how well they interact and engage with your audience. Not only is ...

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16 Party Ideas for the Hot Season

As high temperatures kick into high gear, here are 16 warm-weather ideas for catering, decor, entertainment and more.



At Barbra Streisand's recent fund-raiser for the Cedars-Sinai Women's Heart Center in Malibu, guests helped themselves to a raw fruit and veggie bar. In place of a tablecloth, organizers used a quilt to match the vintage-inspired aesthetic of the event.
Photo: Alex J. Berliner/ABImages



Nothing says summer like fresh seafood. At the Power Ball in Toronto, V.I.P. guests helped themselves to shrimp and freshly shucked oysters at a chilled seafood bar provided by Petite Thuet.
Photo: Josh Fee for BizBash



At Stella McCartney's Resort 2013 collection preview, waitstaff passed citrus-infused cocktails in Mason jars.
Photo: Jim Shi



At this year's Luminescence gala in Chicago, passed canapes included cured salmon lollipops, displayed on beds of wheatgrass.
Photo: Courtesy of John G. Shedd Aquarium



For a fun spin on a summer favorite, LoLo Event Design has caterers serve passed bite-size ice cream cones and ice cream sandwiches.
Photo: Bliss Celebration for the Charles Hotel



At this year's Tony Awards gala in New York, guests could serve themselves cups of YoArt's frozen yogurt. There were 80 different toppings, including fresh fruit and gummi candies.
Photo: Anna Sekula/BizBash



For the dinner, held inside Streisand's home, the summery atmosphere featured neutral tones and fresh-picked centerpieces.
Photo: Alex J. Berliner/ABImages



Markus Daly Ryan produced Univision's Deportes launch in New York, where picnic tables formed the bulk of the seating and found lumber was turned into cocktail tables for a neighborhood-block-party feel.
Photo: Brian Ach/AP Images for Univision



At Glossed & Found's Meredith Wendell luncheon in Chicago, A Perfect Event placed giant, colorful pool inflatables throughout the venue to set the tone for the pool party theme.
Photo: Trevar Evett/Fig Media



For the picnic-inspired Absolut Orient Apple launch party in New York last summer, organizers covered the floor of the indoor venue with sod, and brought in live trees and wooden barrels filled with thousands of apples.
Photo: Gustavo Campos



LoLo Event Design offers hand-painted handkerchiefs that can serve as table numbers at a garden event. Geraniums in a terra cotta pot have a more casual feel than an elaborate formal centerpiece.
Photo: Studio Vitri



LoLo Event Design also creates message-in-a-bottle place cards for beach-inspired events.
Photo: Kjeld Mahoney Photography



For a recent pool party, the team at Swank Productions kept the decor streamlined, with a mostly white color palette, mirrored furnishings, and plenty of sheer draping.
Photo: Courtesy of Swank Productions



For an indoor summer-themed gathering, Swank producers used beach balls to create playful "chandeliers." Tables were covered in summery yellow and orange linens.
Photo: Courtesy of Swank Productions



At last year's Stella McCartney spring preview, guests played ping-pong at a table set up outside.
Photo: Andrew H. Walker/WireImage for Stella McCartney



Zen Arts in Southern California offers an array of entertainment that can take place in or around a pool, including their transparent spheres that hold performers and float on water.
Photo: Josh Reiss

byBest Events

in Event Decor, Party Ideas

12:17 AM

16 Party Ideas for the Hot Season

As high temperatures kick into high gear, here are 16 warm-weather ideas for catering, decor, entertainment and more. At Barbra Streisa...

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8 Steps to Avoid Weather Disasters

Weather-related disasters like the stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair are deadly reminders to be prepared for any weather contingency when planning an outdoor event. Here are eight ways to protect your event, guests, and crew.

1. Start planning for contingencies early.
Wayne Mahar of Precision Weather says planning for severe-weather safety should begin weeks or months in advance. Go over the possible scenarios with all key team members. “[Planning] includes everything from different types of weather events to short and long lead times for sending [guests] home to predetermined locations,” he says.

2. Do your research.
While you may plan for the most obvious natural phenomena like heavy winds or rain, don’t forget to research other potential pitfalls specific to the venue or region, or to the time of the year. “I’ve worked in the event industry for more than 25 years and thought I had seen everything,” Town & Country Event Rentals event director Adam Martin says. “While installing a spectacular wedding in [California’s] Santa Ynez Valley, I was to discover that the ceremony location was set within a tarantula migration zone. As I was to learn on the event day, in early autumn, male tarantulas migrate during mating season, and let me tell you, it wasn’t just the bride that was walking this aisle.”

3. Monitor weather forecasts.
Don’t rely on just your local news channel’s forecast for guidance; an event’s planning requires more specific and nuanced detail. Jacob Worek of the Event Safety Operations suggests resources including the local National Weather Service forecast office, the Storm Prediction Center (part of the National Weather Service), and the National Hurricane Center. You might also consider hiring a private company to provide up-to-date weather information. “A private weather service works only for you and your event,” says Mahar, whose company has worked with events like the Academy Awards and the Cannes Film Festival. “Private forecasts pinpoint your exact location and take into consideration your event’s proximity to bodies of water, hills, and any other local effects.” In addition to hour-by-hour updates, the service provides a meteorologist available to answer weather-related questions 24 hours a day.

4. Designate decision makers.
Early in the planning process, designate key people who are critical in the event of a weather emergency. In addition to law enforcement and security, medical staff, and the public relations team, the event announcer and front-office personnel should be informed to communicate updates to guests. Also, appoint a sole decision maker. “In fast-breaking weather with large crowds, you don’t have time to find your managers, call a meeting, and vote on what to do,” Mahar says. “You must have someone in the know with the latest information who can make critical decisions right now.”

5. Make a communication plan.
Worek recommends having a written plan that defines potential weather-related trigger points like high winds or heavy rain and what actions are required in response. Clearly communicate evacuation procedures and shelter points, and “most importantly, you should ensure that all event employees have read and understand the plan and their individual responsibilities within it,” he says. “Your methods and procedures for doing so should be considered in advance, and account for a variety of possible conditions: Do you have power? Light? Mobile service? Radios?”

6. Pick a venue with weather in mind.
“Your site should be chosen with an eye toward operations during a worst-case scenario,” Worek says. “If severe weather arises and you needed to evacuate your guests, how easy would it be to get everyone off site quickly and safely? If you needed assistance from emergency services, how long would it take for them to arrive?” Consider site characteristics such as potentially hazardous large trees or utility lines, as well as if permanent structures are available for shelter. Examine the layout and identify egress points, and place seating and structures away from exit routes and areas likely to be affected by high winds.

7. Provide cover and cooling.
“It may seem intuitive, but planners sometimes neglect to provide guests with adequate shade from direct sunlight,” says Kevin Dana, director of marketing and product development at Cort Trade Show and Event Furnishings. “Tents with no walls work best to allow guests to mingle and network while also letting some sunlight in.” Offering handheld fans and plenty of water stations keep guests cool and avoid potential liability issues related to dehydrated attendees. Martin notes that you should consider staff, too. “Make sure your crew is well equipped with hats, sunscreen, and plenty of water.”

8. Secure tents and structures.
In extreme weather conditions, tents and other temporary structures pose a significant threat. Dana notes that most structures are engineered to withstand wind gusts from 70 to 90 miles per hour—but only if they’re installed properly. Securing hard-paneled walls at the bottom, top, and sides of tents will help minimize flexing and shaking caused by winds.

-Alesandra Dubin 

byBest Events

in Event Tips

11:57 PM

8 Steps to Avoid Weather Disasters

Weather-related disasters like the stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair are deadly reminders to be prepared for any weather contingen...

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How to Get More Sponsors for Your Events

Whether you’re hosting a trade conference, wedding show or even charity event there’s a good chance that, in order to be profitable, you will have to get sponsors involved in proceedings. However in many cases, that’s significantly easier said than done.

If your background is in event planning and organisation perhaps the skills required to sell sponsorship don’t come naturally to you, but that’s no reason to resign yourself failure, shaping the process slightly differently can deliver great results.

My background is in b2b digital marketing conferences, typically these events are paid for, in my sector ticket prices north of $1000 are very common, however our events are nearly always free-to-attend, which means we’ve been incredibly reliant on sponsor funding. I hope you can learn a little from our successes and avoid some of the mistakes I’ve made over the years.

Your Sponsors are Your Customers
Typically when organising events it’s easier to think about your end customer being the attendee, delegate or whatever the nomenclature of choice is in your sector, but whether sponsors are you main source of revenue, or secondary to other streams, you need to see them as your customers.

This can manifest itself in many different ways; often before you even decide to host an event. For me, the first question before launching an event is not, "Have I got a great venue lined up"? Or "Will I be able to get people to come"? It is "Can I sell sponsorships to companies who want to speak to this audience"? There’re dozens of ideas for great events that have never positively answered that question that I’ve had to cast aside for exactly that reason.

Sometimes thinking of your sponsors as customers first will have an impact on how you programme events or help you make the decision that might impact the attendee experience. This conflict is inevitable, but you mustn’t avoid thinking about it, embrace it.

Framing every decision around achiving two things. One – it must make for a better experience for our sponsors. Two – it must make for a better experience for our attendees. If it can’t do both of those things it’s not something we should be doing.

Know Where You Add Value.
One mistake I’ve seen a lot of companies make when starting out with sponsors is bundling everything they possibiy can into a sponsor package, just to get the sign off and the invoice out the door. But sometimes you need to take a longer term view. Sometimes you’ve got to walk away from the deal, and the revenue, if it jeopardises the future of your event.

A great example of this is around data. A standard question from the sponsor would be “Can I have the details of all those attending?” This is the value in my business, if I share that with a sponsor what purpose do I fulfil next time round?

What is of value in your event business will vary based upon your sector, but once you’ve worked it out don’t sell it no matter what the price. I don’t blame sponsors for asking for these types of things to be included in packages, that’s their prerogative, but never sell yourself short.

Get Pro-active Looking for Sponsors.
You cannot sit back, put a link to a sponsor pack PDF on your site and expect the money to come rolling in. You need to knock on a few doors, make a few calls and send a lot of emails. Often those requests will be cold to people who’ve never heard of your event, but there’s loads you can do to improve your odds.

Make use of LinkedIn, you’ve effectively got the rolodex of every single person you need to speak to right there in front of you. If you know the company you want to approach, search for that company name on LinkedIn and trawl through their employees to find the person with the right job title. If you’re calling, it’ll help you get past the gate-keeper on reception and if you’re clever about it, you might even be able to work out their email address.

Another top tip for speaking to potential sponsors, the person you’ll want to speak to will often be the boss or at least someone very senior, they often tend to start work early or leave the office late. It can work wonders sending your email or making your call outside of conventional office hours for exactly this reason.

LinkedIn can also help you out even if you don’t know which companies to approach, find just one company who fits your sponsor profile perfectly and browse to their company profile page on LinkedIn hidden down the bottom of the page in the right hand column where a section is labeled ‘People Also Viewed’.

This gives you a collection of half a dozen similar companies; that’s a nice starting point but if I then view the profile of the suggested companies I get even more suggestions. Before you know it you’ll have more sponsorship leads than you’ll know what to do with.

In Conclusion/
A lot of the great event managers don’t think they can sell sponsorship, I think they’re wrong. Every event manager I know is great problem-solver, if you think of selling sponsorship as a project with clear steps to go through you’ll deliver great results like you deliver great events.

-Kelvin Newman 

byBest Events

in Trade Show Tips

11:09 PM

How to Get More Sponsors for Your Events

Whether you’re hosting a trade conference, wedding show or even charity event there’s a good chance that, in order to be profitable, you ...

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How to Engage Introverts at Conferences

Participative learning, collaborative working, audience led content – events are changing, and for the better. But with this shift to more involved formats there’s a danger that we alienate a large part of the audience.

One of the crowd

Susan Cain estimates that between a third and half the population is introverted. To understand the real differences between introvert and extrovert personality types, take a look at her phenomenally popular TED Talk. In short, introversion is a preference for reflective, minimally stimulating environments. Shyness is very different- it’s a fear of negative judgement. And, as she points out here, there are many shy extroverts.

As conferences shout about ‘speed networking’ and ‘rocket pitches’ a growing number of people quietly decline to attend. In the world of internal communications, where attendance is often mandatory, these formats can cause real stress (I’ve heard of people in focus groups who talk about being physically sick before having to go to an event that simply hasn’t been designed with them in mind).

Should we abandon all thoughts of participation for fear of appealing to only the most unabashed of extroverts? The answer is definitely not.

Firstly, as Jeff Hurt has persuasively argued, it is a myth to suggest that introverted audiences don’t value participative formats. And, secondly, the fundamental value of people coming together at conferences in 2014 isn’t in pushing information (that’s what the internet is good at) but in sharing ideas, pollinating new thinking, starting conversations – all things that are best done when everyone participates.

So how can we design participative events that don’t alienate huge swathes of our audience?

Event Communications
Avoid shouty jargon that leaves your would- be audience uncertain as to what the event will involve – no one knows what a collaboration zone will entail. Be clear about how the participative elements will be run and how they’ll add value. Encourage people to start building relationships with one another prior to the event and contributing to the content at their own pace.

Format
Use research from past events and pre-event communications to gain an understanding of the content individuals will value. Then tailor a format that allows small groups to engage in active learning around the topics of relevance to them.

Design a narrative that naturally steps people towards collaboration.
This shouldn’t mean having to spontaneously share thoughts with the entire audience. Rather it should see people working together in more intimate two's or three's. Allow time for people to reflect on things and encourage solo flights of thought before they collaborate.

Consider the physical setting, provide quieter seated areas where people can have deeper conversations or simply recharge. Think about the duration of your conference and ensure that people feel able to skip fringe drinks receptions.

Facilitation
A traditional one-way presentation format has no need for facilitation, but as you involve your audience more, the need for support increases. Good facilitators are expert at appealing to all personality types and will help you avoid the pitfalls you might find on the path to delivering a more participative event.

Q&A
Move your Q&A from being the preserve of the vocal few by using an app. Some of these go beyond simple question functionality and allow the audience to see all the questions being asked and vote the most pertinent to the top. Ensure people can ask questions via digital channels at any point before, during or after the event.

Networking
Encourage people to self-categorise on registration and to book one-on-one meet-ups during the event with people they’re likely to share genuine interests. Use topic zones or topic tables to make the networking more efficient and less reliant on small talk. In short, deliver context.

Social Media
The social channels around your event are the perfect place for people to connect and contribute on their own terms. The key is integrating the social content back into the event and vice versa.

In Conclusion
For events to deliver true value they need to treat the audience as participants. But in doing this we have to be mindful of the full spectrum of personality types. If we design events that appeal only to extroverts, we not only alienate a large proportion of the audience, we lose the reflective expertise and focus that introverts bring to the world.

-Jez Paxman 

byBest Events

in Event Tips

10:58 PM

How to Engage Introverts at Conferences

Participative learning, collaborative working, audience led content – events are changing, and for the better. But with this shift to mor...

Read More