The Lifecycle of Event Planning - Part 1: Understanding Your Client

Understanding Your Client is the first step to planning any event. Before diving into mood boards and conception, it’s important to try to get a real sense of your client’s personality, likes and dislikes, and the ‘vibe’ they are trying to achieve. Do they want a serious tone to come across, or do they want this to be an event where their employees and/or customers let loose, socialize with one another, and leave with a positive feeling towards the company? At Wantz events, we find it helpful to have initial meetings at the client’s office to get a firsthand sense of the company culture. If they are a young tech company, it is unlikely they will host in a hotel ballroom as they tend to gravitate towards unique, stand-alone venues. If they are an older and well-established association with attendees from out of town, they may love the idea of a hotel ballroom as a one-stop-shop where guests will also stay.

Knowing your client’s dislikes is equally as important as understanding their likes and goals for the event. Some people have strong opinions about things you may not have expected – one type of alcohol or food item, disliking certain songs, preference towards DJ over live band, etc. - and not want that element present anywhere at the event. Getting to know your client and truly understanding them and their goals, makes every decision through the planning process easier.

As creatives, it can be easy for planners to get excited and start down a path that they feel is the better choice for the client, but at the end of the day, we are here to insure they feel the event was a success!

Who is your client, and who are they putting this event together for? What are your client’s goals and objectives? How would they define a successful event? What is their style, vibe, and company culture?

Once you know and understand your client and their objectives, you can then move onto developing themes, concepts, venue ideas, event activations, and all of the other fun involved in planning and managing a special event.