Events have the power to bring people together, give them a forum to discuss important ideas, mobilize them to action and change the way they see the world. But if you aspire to producing transformative events, you need to move beyond the mindset of logistics and menu-planning and take a more strategic role within your organization.

Step 1: Understand your true role

The first step is to stop thinking of yourself as “just” a meeting or event planner. You’re a meeting or event professional. And if you’re in charge of one of your organization’s most powerful and effective tools for educating people, helping them forge important relationships and generating revenue, you’re truly a strategist.

Step 2: Start with strategy

The second step is to develop your strategy. Work with your stakeholders to define the top three things this meeting or event needs to achieve. What kind of budget do you have to make that happen? Assign the bulk of your budget to areas that will help you achieve these three primary objectives.

Step 3: Find the right partners

If you want to create a transformative experience, you can’t just check off boxes. And you don’t want partners at your venue or on your technology team who are just going through the motions. As you’re shopping for venue and vendor partners, share your meeting and event budget and goals and ask them how they’d help you achieve them. You’ll quickly be able to tell who’s just interested in selling you a package versus who’s interested in being a collaborative partner.

The most seamless approach is to find a partner who can join you during the strategy phase, walk you through all the elements of creative and production design and be there with you onsite or online to execute your vision and ensure it is delivered flawlessly. These kind of partners are rare, but the Encore team does provide this suite of end-to-end meeting and event solutions. And what’s more impressive, they have the largest global venue support team in the industry. That means that regardless of where you are based and your event is physically located, they likely have a local contact and global connections who can turn your whiteboard ideas into transformative event experiences.

Interested in learning more? Book a free consultation.