Simon Thewlis of Event Pty Ltd is back with his fifth instalment about why the event organisation process is the same whether the guest list consists of 40 or 40,000 people…
“I tell people not to be constrained by traditional binary choices as there are often better ways to do things. Last week, we talked about making everything seamless. This week, my recommendation is to focus on all the details…
With a smaller event, the smallest of things can really stand out. So, it’s important to think through them all.
Here, we had a string quartet, and you may or may not know this, but nearly every time, they’ll arrive with non-matching music stands! Plus, it’s rare for them to have their own lights for their music stands.
This usually results in a last-minute scramble to get lighting pointed at the stands so they can read their music. But the lighting that helps them see what’s in front of them will rarely be the lighting that will make the quartet look good to the audience.
Thinking about this in advance, we sourced four nice-looking matching music stands, each with a proper music stand light. (Thankfully, the lights nowadays are battery-operated LEDs, so no need for power cables. But do make sure you’ve got fresh batteries in before the event begins).
Paying attention to this small detail meant:
- The stage look was consistent with that of the rest of the event because everything was nicely matching.
- We could practice the removal of the chairs, and music stands to ensure it would work before the musicians arrived.
Musicians aside, working closely with the caterer was another small yet important detail because it meant the running of the night all worked perfectly together. For example, we confirmed all the usual things, like making sure that ten minutes before the speeches, they were topping up drinks and clearing up.
Now, the above might seem like a lot to obsess over for just 40 people. But that was what was needed to create the outcome the client wanted with a very high degree of certainty.
The event was beautiful. And it ran seamlessly, as if by magic.
Next week Simon turns his attention to the 40,000+ people event for Melbourne’s ANZAC Day.
Also read The event organisation process you will refer to forever (part four) | Executive PA Media
