If you’re a good event planner, you know that events never go exactly as planned. If you’re a great event planner, you put every measure in place to make sure the right people know about any unplanned surprises as soon as possible.
While we usually have pre- and post-event communication taken care of, we often forget about the most important part: on-site communication the day of your event.
And we’re not just talking about establishing communication with your team on day-of responsibilities, guest list updates, or last-minute changes – we’re also talking about communication with your attendees when something unexpected comes up.
So let’s go beyond yelling into walkie talkies and shouting into a mic to get your message across. Here are 7 communication tips – both internal and external – that will save your team time (and headaches) on the big day.
Did it suddenly start downpouring? Is your door staff dealing with an insanely long line? Or on the flipside, does your venue feel empty inside? There’s a million reasons why you need to ensure you’re always communicating with your team on the day of your event. Here’s how to make sure you’re not scrambling at the last minute.
1. Establish a go-to form of communication with your event staff
Whether it’s with walkie talkies (our least favorite method), in-person syncs, group texts, or Slack (our favorite method), your first priority should always be to decide which communication channel you and your staff will be using on-site.
But keep in mind: when talking to your event team, things not only have to move quickly, they also have to be under the radar. Because no one wants to be that person speaking into a walkie talkie at the front door about a security mishap inside of the event (awkward!).
Our recommended type of on-site communication is Slack (before and during the event). Not only does it offer a single place for communication, and utilizes a tool your team already uses on a daily basis, you can also set up different channels – like, one for people on door duty or one for emergencies – so that communication isn’t just instant, it’s organized, too.
Pro tip: if you plan to stick to group texts, be sure you have everyone’s phone numbers ahead of time so you’re not trying to figure out how to reach someone during crunch time.
2. Always be in contact with the door
If there’s place where you never want to underestimate communication, it’s at the door. You should always, and I mean always, be in contact with the team that’s running the door at your event.
This will make it easier for you to quickly solve any issues (and there are always issues) as guests arrive. And, it’s important for your door staff to be communicating with your team inside the venue for capacity purposes (hello fire marshall).
Pro tip: did you know that you can check people out of your event in our Host App? This can help you gauge capacity numbers, but also, provide better event engagement metrics in your reporting.
3. Connect your sales team to prospects faster
No one likes walking into an event without feeling welcomed. The instant an important guest walks through the door, your sales team should be right by their side, greeting them with their favorite drink.
So, how do you make sure your team knows who’s at your event? Here are three ways we love to do it at Splash:
• Set up our Host App to automatically send push notifications the moment your clients, prospects, or VIP guests arrive.
• Integrate Splash with Slack, and automatically send customizable, real-time updates on who’s checked in straight to a designated Slack channel (that way you can flag key prospects, and ping account owners).
• Integrate Splash with Twilio via Zapier, and send SMS event notifications to your Sales team when guests RSVP to an event (you can map to a specific event or list).
4. Identify the main point of contact for external partners
Unfortunately, it happens often – partners, speakers, or sponsors will arrive at your event with no idea where to go, where to set up, or what to do.
Think of your event partners, sponsors, vendors, and venue staff as an extension of your team. Before your event, it’s important that you provide them with one central point of contact so they can easily communicate with your team on-site.
Even though the behind-the-scenes may feel hectic, you never want your guests to feel like they don’t know what’s going on. Which is why it’s essential to set up forms of communication with your guests on-site – whether it’s last minute or planned.
1. Begin communication right when guests walk through the door
In addition to including important information in your pre-event comms, you can provide your guests with on-site information right when they walk through the door.
Set up signage or TV visuals that remain in the same place and provide relevant information for the event (i.e. a map of the venue or breakout session times) that they can refer back to at any moment.
When people arrive, give them a “welcome bag” filled with event swag, a printed schedule, and any other important details (for example, lunch location) that they can keep on hand.
2. Send instant updates to their inbox
Have a message you want to send directly to your attendees right away? The easiest and surefire way to do this is to use the Splash Host App and email guests directly through the app.
Since the Host App is connected to your event on Splash, you can easily send emails to specific segments of your guest list. For example:
• Send the guests on your waitlist a special note about reaching capacity limits.
• Send flagged VIP guests a note about a special VIP entrance.
• Send all your guests an email about a last-minute after party.
3. Use social media to keep guests in the loop
Social media at events – seems obvious, right? For most events, the first place people check for instant updates is your Twitter channel.
Besides using social media to promote your event, you can also use your social media channels to post event updates as they happen, and include an event hashtag that people can easily follow along with.
Looking for more expert event planning advice? Check out our Run of Show videos for tips on aligning your team, increasing RSVPs, and maximizing engagement with your guests.
Splash's fourth ever employee, Zach's been giving Splash users the tools to be great since 2013. It's his job to ensure every client that logs into our platforms emerges feeling confident they can make their events extraordinary. Not to date himself, but his favorite movie is Dumb and Dumber (1994); he also uses The Plaza Hotel as the location on every one of his Splash pages.
