As 2017 comes to a close, take some time to look back over everything you’ve accomplished. You might have lost a little weight, had a few personal milestones, and likely hosted several successful events, but was there anything that could’ve run smoother? As you reflect on the shortcomings of last year’s events, try to pinpoint the ways you’d like to change and improve your events for next year.
Here are just a few New Year’s resolutions every event planner and professional can use.
Balance Work and Life
Many event professionals cite stress as one of their top problems. As the event date creeps closer and closer, event planners work themselves to the bone to ensure that everything runs smoothly and that their event is a success. This can put a real strain on your mental and physical wellbeing, and can even put stress on your personal relationships. Next year, take some “me time” and make sure your life continues to run as smoothly as your events- you’ll find that this will help you manage stress as your event date sneaks up on you.
Engage More Patrons
These days, simply hosting an event isn’t enough. You need to take it a step beyond and actually engage your attendees through memorable, shared experiences. If your events haven’t had enough “wow” factor or you find attendees simply not connecting with your brand, make it a resolution to make your events more engaging in 2018.
Learn To Say No
This might be the most difficult thing for any event professional to learn due to their accommodating nature and “get it done” attitude. If you’ve put yourself in a stressful situation because you didn’t stick up for yourself and say no, learn from this mistake and start putting your foot down. From laughable budgets to unreasonable timelines, you have the power to say no when you know a feat is impossible.
Embrace New Technology
If you felt like your events missed out on utilizing the newest technology, make event tech your priority for 2018. From Snapchat to Instagram Stories to VR and event livestreaming, there are plenty of options out there for events big and small. Take some time to review what you’d like to improve and see if there’s an app, platform, or hardware that can help solve your problem.
What other resolutions would you like to make a reality in 2018? Do you have financial or personal goals you’d like to meet relating to your events? Whatever they may be, try to make them actionable goals to help you stick to them! It’s always easier to make your resolutions into habits if you can actually accomplish them (even if its just incremental progress).
