{"id":5631,"date":"2014-10-27T07:00:29","date_gmt":"2014-10-27T11:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/?p=5631"},"modified":"2018-08-20T15:54:14","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T19:54:14","slug":"three-things-event-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/2014\/10\/27\/three-things-event-planning\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Things You Might Forget When Planning an Event"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Courtesy<\/a>
Courtesy of Girls’ Globe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Event planning can be a phenomenal way to introduce yourself to the realities of the public relations industry.\u00a0 With so many intricate, fast-moving parts, it takes a very organized person to execute a successful event. Sometimes it can be difficult for you to maintain the focus of a public relations practitioner in all of your efforts.\u00a0If you do happen to lose focus, remember these three things:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b>You\u2019re not there to practice your decoration skills; you\u2019re there to sharpen your project management capabilities.<\/b><\/p>\n

Public relations students \u2014 especially PRSSA members \u2014 are extremely creative. It\u2019s easy to let your mind wander during the planning process, especially when social sites like Pinterest can help you illustrate your vision. There\u2019s nothing wrong with having the best-designed materials for your big event. However, there is something wrong if that\u2019s where you devoted most of your attention.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t skimp on the important factors of your plan, like your promotional strategy and logistical understanding of how things will run smoothly. The defining difference between an event planner and a public relations professional is the role\u2019s focus. With event planning, the focus is on the event itself. In public relations, the focus is on what happens as a result of the event. <\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b>2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b>You begin with strategy and end with strategy.<\/b><\/p>\n

Every function of your plan should work to accomplish a particular goal. Before you even begin, you should strategize. <\/b>Set goals that align with your Chapter\u2019s priorities. Are you looking to grow your Chapter in size? Would you like to double your fundraising account? If so, these are measurable goals that every function of your plan should work to accomplish. Have a written plan, approach each goal with several tactics and remain focused on strategy to deliver results. <\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b>3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b>You have more than one backup plan and they\u2019re all just as good as the original.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Working in public relations, especially in special events and projects, you\u2019ll soon learn that anything and everything that can go wrong will go wrong. Forget if the WiFi password isn\u2019t working, what if you lose power? What happens if your keynote presenter is stuck sleeping in an airport because of bad weather?<\/p>\n

Address conflicts that you can control, and identify potential conflicts that you can\u2019t. <\/b>Sometimes, bad things happen that are completely out of your control. How you react to challenges is just as important as how you plan for them. A great public relations practitioner is reactionary, somebody who can use elasticity and common sense to solve any dilemma.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t forget to put the PR in \u201cpractice\u201d so you\u2019ll have results your Chapter can be proud of. Event planning is a tool for publicists, not a job.<\/p>\n

_____<\/p>\n

To learn more about how you and your Chapter can use this tool to your advantage, contact Vice President of Regional Conferences, <\/i>David Lee Watta<\/i><\/a>.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

*Editor’s note*\u00a0The original title for this blog post “Three Things That Separate You From an Event Planner” has been updated to the current title “Three Things You Might Forget When Planning an Event.” The previous title suggested a biased comparison to the event planning profession that was not the true intention of the content.\u00a0Special thanks to our reader Lauren for inspiring some minimal changes that enhanced this post.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Event planning can be a phenomenal way to introduce yourself to the realities of the public relations industry.\u00a0 With so many intricate, fast-moving parts, it takes a very organized person to execute a successful event. Sometimes it can be difficult for you to maintain the focus of a public relations practitioner in all of your efforts.\u00a0If you do happen to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2894,1],"tags":[627,208,399,566,400,940,15,40,56,44],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5631"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5631"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9131,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5631\/revisions\/9131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}