Anza Goodbar
Anza Goodbar is a business consultant and event strategist with more than two decades of experience designing and fine-tuning highly successful conversion strategies for corporate events, conventions, conferences, and more. She is the Founder and CEO of Bankable Events LLC, a full service event advisory and management firm that designs events that generate revenue, increase value for the participants, and build brand loyalty.
I love bringing people who are experts in the events industry and can give you ideas and different ways of looking at events. In this interview, Anza shares her experience in the event management field and provides some great tips and strategies to make your event more successful.
When we talk about business building in general, we start right at the beginning and want to know our clients. Anza highly recommends that before you begin planning your event, start building the event avatar for your audience. In hosting events, big or small, you have to evaluate your target audience and be very specific with whom you are inviting. These will help you decide on the topic, theme, format, and the speakers you want to bring in for your audience.
Sometimes, more than one avatar might be interested in your event. Anza suggests that the best way to make the target is by being very specific and going beyond the general demographics. When you put together invitation materials or a sales page, make sure you are talking directly to your specific avatar. Invite the people who will get the most benefit out of the event, but also give the event host the result that they are looking for.
Creating the purpose and the big promise of your event correlates with your audience avatar. Throughout your event, make sure you give the attendees all the tools they need and walk away with that huge promise you guaranteed to them in the beginning.
In looking for the facility to hold your event, Anza shares choosing a facility conducive for what you are trying to do is vital. If your event requires spaces for breakout sessions, you want to ensure that the breakout space is all on the same floor and easy to get to. Signages inside the venue are an integral part of your guest experience so you should consider them as soon as you choose the facility. If your event has room to grow and your breakouts have finite sizes, make sure that you have the ability to move into a bigger breakout room or get an additional breakout room of similar size. Having speakers that can fill in that space is also essential.
One big mistake Anza sees in events is people never plan enough space for the registration area. Registration spaces are often a bottleneck and can block things, so make it certain that you are not cutting off any major hallway. If you allow vendors to set up booths at your event, you also want to provide ample hallway space for them. A huge part of any event is networking and making real life connections. To support this, Anza suggests having plenty of space to set up food and drink and have little vignettes where people can gather and network.
There are so many things to think about when choosing the right facility. Anza says it is important to be mindful about the type of event you are hosting and if the space fits the purpose of your event. Outdoor space is highly sought after, especially in the warmer months, but you always have to be prepared for inclement weather by having a backup facility. If you are using a large arena for your event, it is a priority to look at the accessibility of the venue. Consider all the directions people are coming from and make it as easy as possible for them to reach the facility. Anza also suggests having people outside directing traffic and controlling the parking in the parking lot. If you’re doing an evening event, ensure great lighting at the parking lot for guests’ safety, especially for women going to the event by themselves.
Safety is a vital decision-making element for your guests. Anza highly stresses asking the facility owner questions beforehand about what goes on in the area that you should be aware of. This way, you can put plans in place to make sure your event is not going to be put in jeopardy by any circumstance that is going to happen.
According to Anza, you have to think about the type of event you are hosting when planning for the internal flow of your event. It is essential to create a setup conducive to the activity you want your attendees to experience. If you want people to take notes, you must consider providing tabletops that still allow you to have ample people in the room. You also want to make sure that you have interactive activities to keep your audience engaged and not end up turning to their phones or computers when they get bored. Whether you have general or assigned seating, communicate these in your conference materials and from the stage to remind your attendees. If you are filming the event, consider the best place to position the cameras so they are not blocking people from seeing things going on across the stage.
I hope you picked up many great tips from Anza to make your events wildly successful. If you want Anza to help you strategize your next event, you can visit her company website at www.bankableevents.com or you can send an email to anza@bankableevents.com.
