This is the simple yet impactful story of how I organized an event in six weeks to celebrate Black Businesses in the London area. But first things first: I have used the expression “organize a successful event” and it’s crucial for you to pause and define what success looks like.
When organizing the Black Business Festival in collaboration with Wempower, our goals were to:
- Bring in at least 15 people to participate
- Creating a light atmosphere
- Assigning an emergency fund to a business
- Sharing insightful information with the audience
And we hit the marks. Yet, we only had six weeks to organize the event, set up the online marketing, invite people, find speakers and sponsors, and figure out what to offer people through goodie bags and as a light meal.
Here is what we focused on to organise a successful event in six weeks:
- Defined success
- Asked our ideal audience what they’d like to hear about
- Assigned each person specific tasks and updated them on Asana
- Leveraged our networks to help spread the word
- But we still contacted people in our network individually to invite them (no paid ads)
- Delivered the event with the heart
- Kept open and honest communication between each other
- Maintained an open mind on our expectations
- Welcomed feedback and suggestions from others
The Black Business Festival ran so smoothly and beautifully, we were asked to organize it again soon. And while it isn’t likely that we’ll do that soon (but rather after a year), we are so glad to have reached our goals:
- 19 people booked the ticket
- 2 people donated additional money for the emergency fund
- We awarded the emergency fund to a company helping people who have been in prison to restart their lives
- The atmosphere was familiar and cozy
- In their feedback form, the audience shared the event was insightful
Celebrating putting together an event in six weeks
The event was a success and we are so delighted it helped people. Now we have the feedback for the next edition and can also celebrate putting all these together in just six weeks.
What about your event?
You too can have a super successful event. In fact, let me know in the comment what event you are working on.