Heroic Event Productions Blog

Looking for some event management tips to help reduce stress? You’ve come to the right place. Being an event planner sounds like nothing but fun to those who don’t have to do the job. But you know it takes a lot of creativity and careful choreography to pull things off flawlessly. And that, of course, is stressful.

You’re responsible for managing vendors, presenters, performers, caterers, contracts, marketing, and all those tiny details that go into planning an event. You’re good at that, but you need to get good at managing your stress, too. So, here are some event management tips that are guaranteed to help:

Using new or unusual venues keeps events interesting and engaging. But finding the perfect event space can be time-consuming. It has to be the right choice, otherwise, your event could flop or execution could become a major headache. Thankfully, there are websites you can consult to simplify your selection process.

Here are some of the best websites we’ve found that make finding an event space easier. While some of them are global in reach, others focus on the U.S. Many even allow you to contact the venue or submit requests for proposal (RFPs) directly from the site. 

Projection mapping is a great way for entertainers or speakers to engage with their audience. But have you thought of combining sight and sound by syncing projection mapping to music? We can do that. Talk about creating a cohesive and eye-catching AV element!  Your event is sure to be the talk of the town.

Creating an engaging event for your attendees is top of mind as you’re planning the event. But how do you know if you succeeded? Can you actually measure audience engagement — and, if so, how?

You can look around as your event unfolds to see how people are reacting (and you should), but that’s pretty vague and doesn’t necessarily give you an accurate picture. You need reliable data. Details. Ideally, you need to measure attendee response to every aspect of your event — not only the content but the ambiance, the food, the venue, even the back-end processes such as sign-up. Sure, people came to your event, but were they engaged?

Branding your event is really important for business, but attendees don't want to see your logo and brand colors plastered all over the venue. Too much, and it all becomes “background music,” losing its visual impact. Besides, your brand is more than your logo and colors anyway — it’s the total perception people have of the company, whether they’re employees, customers, or event guests.

So, what are some branding ideas that will draw positive, memorable attention? You want buzz, not zzzzzzzzzz. So think beyond the same-old-same-old.

Creating an engaging experience that attendees can share on social media platforms is crucial to the success of your event and future attendance. And what better way to invite your attendees to engage with the event than by installing an Instagram museum, where they can snap selfies and post to social media!

Music has a strong correlation to memories and mood. Whether you choose a DJ or live musical entertainment for your event, make sure their playlist and their style match the atmosphere you want to create. If you succeed, attendees may remember your event for years to come every time they hear a certain song or listen to a specific band. That’s the power of mood music.

Successful mood music is no afterthought. There are a number of factors that you’ll want to consider before making any musical decisions, and you’ll want to get busy with that as soon as you start planning your event. Not only is music integral to your entire event experience, the best DJs and bands often book up far in advance.

Here are four key elements you’ll want to think about:

Successful event planners make a point of learning from every event, so they can make the next ones even better. One of the most effective ways to do that is to host a post-event meeting with vendors, speakers, entertainers, and staff to talk about what went well and what needs improvement.

These meetings are invaluable. You can use what you learn to build on this year’s success and avoid or remedy what didn’t work so well to avoid repeating history.

So, what does this post-event meeting look like, when do you host it, and who should be there?

A large event requires coordination among several vendors, many of whom will need to use the loading dock to get equipment in and out of your event. Most venues have rules and restrictions for using their loading docks. As an event planner, it's important to know those rules so you can communicate them to your vendors.

Here are some loading dock questions you should ask your venue. Do this as soon as possible because everyone (including you) will have to plan ahead to ensure loading dock activities run efficiently and safely.

The opportunity to work on Super Bowl LIVE festivities doesn't happen very often for Minnesota vendors. In fact, the last time we hosted The Big Game was in 1992, when the Washington Redskins defeated the Buffalo Bills 37–24 at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. When The Big Game came to U.S. Bank Stadium last year, we were honored to have a seat at the table by being chosen as the lighting provider for all of Super Bowl LIVE 2018.

Super Bowl LIVE was hands-down the largest event we've participated in to date, and it challenged us in ways we've never experienced before. We learned a number of great lessons from our AV experience at Super Bowl LIVE that we wanted to share with others in the event production world. Before we jump into the lessons we learned, it's important that we lay out the details of this large-scale event.