The Brief

Wednesday May 26, 2010 was the first day of classes for my Ten week Events Management Course. Is ten weeks enough (30 hours contact time), maybe not, but I am sure there is a lot that I can learn both in class and on my own.

Firstly, last evening was a milestone in my life. It was the first time EVER I have been in a classroom setting with my Mother and Younger Sister. It was so surreal! Here we are determined to learn as much as possible about this new interest, but most importantly learning something new about each other in the process.

So our first lesson was basically centered around
1 The Importance of Networking
2 The Fundamentals of Events Management
3 Understanding the Brief

Well I have always known about the Importance of Networking, not by actively networking, but by observing people who do. At University I was always amazed by the ability of some people to always have a friend somewhere to help them do something.
These people were always in the know and were exposed (through their contacts) to many opportunities.

While observing this I would think about Networking as the 'Users' Game.' I came to this conclusion because I thought contacts were being made just to say 'I know so and so' or to say 'So and so can do that for me.' I am sure for some people Networking is a game, but in Events Management it seems to be a necessary tool to enhance my effectiveness in getting the right people on board.

So right now I am going through my phones' contact list, bridging the gaps and re opening the lines of communication.

Understanding the Brief

The bulk of our class time was focused on going over the fundamentals,however, we did an exercise that brought to life an important aspect of Events Management; The Brief. I understand the brief to be the first contact between the client and the Events Manager in which the client gives the Manager a 'run down' of their vision or objectives for the event. The client may or may not go into great detail but it is important for the Events Manager to identify some key details such as;

Why
Where
When
How (much money)

These four question basically encapsulates the more specific questions such as

Objectives for the event
History behind the event
Date and Time (including running order)
Capacity
Catering and Seating
Geography
Demographics
among other things

I am thinking it is the responsibility of the Events Manager to garner as much information from the client, since I really cant imagine many people really have an idea for an event and provide all the details (especially in Jamaica) but then I may be wrong.

So the brief is important and the starting line for the entire event planning experience.

I suggested in class last night that maybe a good tool to get all the information needed to go forward with the event would be a questionnaire. Do Event Planners use questionnaires for this purpose?

I guess i'll Google that.