A Pre-Planning Guideline for all Event Planners in Dubai (Part 2)

We are still discussing the event planner’s first thrust to start the race to successfully organize an event in Dubai. In part 1 of the article, we have listed 4 event purposes which need to be defined in the planning phase to achieve event success.

 

Awareness, appreciation, marketing & launch. Now we will guide you further into the 5th purpose which is the most elusive. Then, we will take you the extra mile with some guidelines of how to define your event audience, pushing further as an event planner to be an innovative trend-setter.

 

Positioning

Now let me pose an intimidating question to you:

What if Ferrari asked you to organize an event for the brand?!

 

Would you feel like it is the easiest job in the world? because if you did, you would be completely wrong. Or would you think it is the hardest task that has ever been presented to you as an event organizer in Dubai? Well, actually you will still be completely wrong.

 

Now let me clarify what I mean. If a company that big wants to organize an event, they are usually looking for a presence affirmation. Which is more professionally called “Positioning”.

 

Notice the following:

 

1. They do not need to make a name for themselves.
2. They do not have a new product to launch.
3. They do not lack marketing abilities.
4. They are already probably on top or one of the leaders in their market niche.

 

So, you must be wondering, why on god’s green earth do they need an event then?!

 

Well, we have already answered this question, positioning. But the real question for this kind of already-established brands would be: What would my job description be as their event organizer then?

 

The answers are going to be surprising for most, but here they are:

 

1. Don’t get too creative, they most probably have their own.
2. Think more like a production manager than a director.
3. Stick to their plan, because they definitely going to have one.
4. Don’t spare any expenses in producing the event.
5. Get bold with your proposal, they do have the budget.
6. Expect & quickly accept their rejection of ideas.
7. If you got lucky enough to have any of your new concepts accepted by them, then you simply hit jackpot!

 

These were 5 types of events we wanted to provide you with some generic guidelines that can make your life simpler in such a challenging job.

 

Now, to go the extra mile, as you should do with your clients who are certainly looking forward to creating an impressive event for their target audience. Let us give you two main headlines you really have to pay close attention to as an event planner here in Dubai:

 

• Define The Audience

One of the most crucial points in pre-planning an event, if not the most crucial one is: to define your client’s audience. And to approach this very broad aspect of planning, you need to approach it with the utmost caution, as it can definitely be the deciding factor for any event’s success or failure.

 

And here, we will give you three main generic types to categorize your events under:

 

• The official events

Do not make the mistake of putting all the corporate events under one category. There are some events that are going to be serious and more on the official side, like seminars & shareholders meetings for example. And for these you have to understand perfectly the nature and the reason for the gathering so you can set everything around a suitable theme.

 

• The Mundane

As an event planner, you will certainly be asked sometimes to organize an event that is from the repetitive type. We professionally call this category “The Mundane”.

 

Events like medical & pharmaceutical seminars, which attendees usually have to attend to get an attendance certificate. Speeches, announcements or press releases. Sometimes you will find yourself doubting your creativity when you face this category of events.

 

But no need to worry, just make sure you made all the utilities, equipment & amenities are in place and ready. And things will go fine.

 

And to be very frank, this is the audience that you need to be the least worried about.

 

• The relaxed events

There will be also company events that are more on the celebratory side, such as award ceremonies, employee gratitude parties or milestone celebrations. And for these you can go more to the fun side with more creativity in the production, especially when it comes to the gifting, awarding and surprising factors.

 

And here is a secret recipe that you are going to read only here:

 

For the relaxed events, try to be inspired by TV game shows, concerts and even music short films or movies. Nobody can blame you if you produce a 3D structure inspired by The movie Jumanji, the latest Cirque Du Soleil show or some fun props inspired by the “Whose Line Is It Anyway” TV Show. So get creative and borrow smartly.

 

• Be a Trend-Setter

 

As versatile a community Dubai is, and as thriving a market of opportunities for international businesses, it is actually not a vast city. Any event organized around the emirate is going to be well-known, and probably imitated by some copycat small-time event organizers.

 

And this is a two-pronged issue. From one side, expect your once-original ideas to be copied & repeated. Which obligates you to always innovate new event ideas, concepts & themes.

 

And from the other side, never allow yourself to be called a copycat. So, no matter what you do, make sure you never imitate any event details you have seen before.

 

You can get inspired, but never repeat any ideas that came from you or your in-house team.

 

Do not be afraid to be a trend-setter, come up with new bold unvisited concepts that are feasible within budget. Do not use search engines to find new ideas, make your own brain the search engine.

 

It’s a thin line to trace, but if your goal is to stand out from the crowd of event organizing companies in Dubai, then you will need to find the balance between these two concepts:

 

• Everything is a remix

 

There is no need to start from scratch and no no problem in being inspired by precious ideas, everybody learned from someone who came before them in the market anyway. 

 

Like the saying goes: “Everything is a remix”. If a poet begins writing a sonnet, he has definitely learned & got inspired by the work of previous poets. The same applies to a track & field athlete, do you think he is winning races because he invented running!

 

The point is, do not be afraid to remix previous event ideas that inspired you, or to incorporate famous pop culture themes or memes into your event plan. And this does not only apply to the relaxed events as we have categorized here, this applies to the most serious & corporate events you can ever organize. 

 

But we have 3 tips for while remixing:

 

• Pick what your remix carefully
• Don’t remix a borrowed idea entirely
• Make sure it is suitable for your event type

 

Now, as we have said that, be very careful that there is a difference between being inspired by an original, famous or previous concept, and imitating it.

 

• Innovate, Don’t Imitate

 

You have to be innovative, even when you choose to remix a well-known previously-used concept. Let’s put this way, have you have ever searched on Youtube for a remix of your favorite Pop song, and after less than a minute from pressing the play button, you felt disappointed?

 

Of your answer is yes, let me tell you there are only 3 possible reasons for this disappointment, either the remix was bad, or it was actually for another song other than your favorite, or even worse it was too similar to the original studio version of it. You see the point here my fellow event planners?

 

Apply the same principle, but from the attendees of an event you have organized, and created it by badly remixing previous concepts. Now you can imagine the disappointment they would feel in such a case.

 

So, no matter what you do and no matter where you got your inspiration from while planning your event, make sure to add your own touch, innovate your own original ideas. And if you choose to include a remixed idea into your event scheme, make sure that the remix really adds value to the original concept and that it suits the nature of the event you are organizing like a glove.

 

Hopefully, this 2-part article have successfully inspired you, and shed more light on the path to make a name for yourself and your event management company in such a challenging market.

Only then, clients will not be looking for any event organizer in Dubai.

 

Your company itself will become a brand in the world of events.

And all those big brands would ask for its services .. by name.