1. The best events are non-events.
An event professional’s perspective.
“I just got back from a fantastic event. Brilliant!”
“Where was it?”
“The Whitsundays. Had a ball!”
“What was the event about?”
“Sales. Usual stuff.”
The ‘usualstuff’. If that’s what your lastevent was like, chances are your
event manager didn’t havea clue.
The best event managers will find out fromyou whatyou need your event
to do. Or, if you don’t know, they’llhelp you define the need.
The best event managers will get to understand your business, your goals,
your challenges and your people. Only then will they work with you to
make absolutely sure your event does what it MUSTdo: motivate, inspire,
foster change and reinvigorateteamwork.
You know the business imperatives that should driveyour next event: sales
growth, reward and recognition, education, launching new ideas and
products, seizing opportunities or making your existing resources sing like
the sweetestchoir.
After 25 years as an event professionalI continue to hear the conversation I
quoted at the top of this blog. Every week I see or hear about event
companies delivering the mostfantastic ‘usualstuff’.
An event is justa day off or a holiday if it’s memorable only because it’s an
event.
The event business should beabout one thing: business. Eventmanagers
must be more than socialorganisers. They need to be payoff strategists
who understand results and deliver the right outcomes.

2. Drawing from their experience, event managers who are true professionals
will not be afraid to tell you what can work, and whatwon’t. They’ll talk
more about targets than canapés. And they’ll ask you what you want your
event to achieve long after it’s over. You see, an event shouldn’tjustbe an
event – it should be an immersivecampaign that resonates, and even
amplifies, over time.
Event managers and their clients need to agree upfronton the risk/reward
factor. The bestevent managers will be able to eliminate risks and
maximise rewards.
Events need to engage audiences intellectually, emotionally and
behaviourally. Delegates need to walk away from an event understanding
and buying in to your messages and underlying strategies. Results mustbe
measurable.
Working with your event manager you have to apply the ‘outcome
blowtorch’ to every element of your event. You should ask this question of
every decision you make: how will this impact on the desired results? If the
answer is ‘nothing’ or ‘very little’, you obviously need to take a different
tack.
There are four other fundamental questions which should form the basic
strategic blueprint for an outcomes-focused event:
 What does the audience already know?
 What is the desired strategic shift?
 How do we wantthe audience to feel?
 What are the behavioural changes and results that we can measure
after the event?
The answers to these questions will help you deliver a powerfulevent that
guarantees a lasting effect on your people and transfers back to your
business.
Rob Frank is the managing director of Verve Creative Events, one of Australia’s most
awarded event companies. The Verve focus is simple: Genius, Magic, Results.