5 Rookie Mistakes You Shouldn’t Make When Organizing Business Events in Abu Dhabi

business event

Businesses grow through marketing, and one of the most effective strategies you’ll want to explore in your marketing scheme is staging events.

Event marketing offers plenty of advantages for your business, like:

  • Generating more leads.
  • Building brand awareness.
  • Engaging customers effectively.
  • Improving consumer perception.

To get these perks and more, you’ll have to make sure you’re not making any mistakes that could jeopardize your shot at organizing a successful event. Though hiccups from unforeseen circumstances are inevitable, you can reduce the chances of them happening at your event by avoiding these five blunders:

1.  Delayed planning

Procrastination is one of the biggest enemies you’ll need to defeat no matter what kind of program you’re planning. Event planning is always a race with time, especially for planners in the UAE.

Ideally, you should already begin working as soon as the following details have been finalized:

  • An event date.
  • A general scope and event theme.
  • An overall budget.

If you fail to start the event planning process early, you’ll face several limitations and challenges later. The longer you delay, the fewer options you will have when it comes to event vendors and suppliers in the UAE capital.

For one, the best event venues in Abu Dhabi book very early. This means if you don’t act fast, you may be left with a limited choice of venues.

Besides, live entertainment and guest speakers may also require advanced booking to accommodate your program, so make sure you book way ahead of the event date.

Here’s an expert tip: Once the date is finalized, begin researching performers and speakers right away so you can have the contract signed immediately.

2.  Lack of a checklist and timeline

Keeping the event planning process organized helps bring the endeavor one step closer to success.

To systematize your planning, make sure you have a checklist of the things you must do, items to purchase, and other aspects of the event you need to take care of. This makes it easier to stay on top of the event planning.

Mapping out the steps of the process also works to highlight what needs to be prioritized. Don’t forget to pair your checklist with a timeline so you’ll know what you should’ve already accomplished during a given time and where you are in the event planning process.

3.  Failure to ask for help

No single person can pull off planning an entire event on his own, no matter how good an event planner he may be. With so many elements and aspects of a corporate event, you’ll need at least one other person to assist with the legwork, even if it’s just a board meeting.

The longer, bigger, and more complex an event becomes, the more help you’ll need to plan and execute it perfectly.

But the thing is, many event planners are scared to seek help because labor payments can easily get out of hand and go over the allotted event budget. Still, the event’s success depends on how well every detail is planned and executed, so you’ll need to ask for help.

Besides hiring a skilled professional MC presenter, you’ll also need people who can help with individual aspects of the event, such as:

  • Scouting and selecting the venue.
  • Organising catering and other provisions.
  • Booking speakers and entertainment.
  • Preparing the actual programme.
  • Devising a branding strategy.
  • Planning the logistics.

4.  Not enough vendor follow-up and confirmation

Once you have the contract signed by event vendors, you already have a legally binding document you can use to hold them responsible for the products and/or services they need to provide.

Still, this doesn’t mean you should forgo vendor confirmation during the planning process. That piece of paper won’t do you any good if you find yourself without a presenter, catering, or audio-visual equipment on your big day.

Even if you have such a document, you won’t be able to feed hungry guests or provide tables and chairs unless you confirm with the vendor you’ve gone into contract with before the actual day of the gathering.

Take note that confirmation shouldn’t just be done once, but twice. First, confirm whether vendors have received the documentation of your agreement and already signed it. After that, you should talk to them again at least once before the scheduled delivery of goods.

Remember that this conversation not only clarifies the details of their deliverables but also ensures that your booking is still set on their calendar.

You need to do this with all the events you plan. Some vendors tend to get multiple events, making it very easy for them to lose your paperwork or misfile it under a different company or date. To be safe, always follow up.

5.  Lack of a contingency plan

Many unfortunate things can occur on the day of your event. The list is long and can be difficult to manage, but that does not make them impossible to overcome.

Without a backup plan, the event may become riddled with trouble all day. To avoid this, make sure you think about the specifics and consider what issues may arise. If you do this while planning the event, you can develop an alternative course of action, solving the problem before it even occurs.

Below are some of the most common scenarios that require a contingency plan and what actions you can take to prepare for them:

Inclement weather

Most backup plans include solutions to weather-related matters, especially for events set to be held outdoors. Since weather conditions can be unpredictable, you need to have a plan B in place just in case.

Research the weather forecasts and adjust your event accordingly. You can also modify activity schedules and reserve alternate indoor venues to keep your event going, even if bad weather makes it impossible to do it outside.

Power outages

Besides the weather, another possible scenario that could affect the gathering is a power outage.

Though this is out of your control, the solution here is simple: Ensure that the event venue has a backup power generator on site.

Parking overflow

You can’t always accurately predict how many vehicles your guests will bring, making parking overflow a real dilemma.

To prepare, you can prearrange another location to serve as your backup parking site. As much as possible, choose a spot that is close to your event venue or is easily accessible, at the very least.

Of course, you can always try to prevent this altogether by choosing a venue with ample parking appropriate for the size of the crowd you expect to arrive at your event.

Hotel room availability

For corporate gatherings with overseas guests or those that run for several days, you need to have a couple of extra rooms on reserve. This way, you would have something to offer the attendees just in case hotels become fully booked on the day of your event.

The Takeaway

Planning a business event is not simple, but it can be a lot less stressful if you know what mistakes you need to avoid. Use this article to guide you on your corporate event planning.