Planning, location and content

What makes a great event? In CJAM’s view it’s a combination of planning, location and content – together with the expertise to execute it.

Organising business events for our growing association client base is an important element of the services we provide. We’ve been involved with 21 since the beginning of the year – from dinners, briefings and conferences to a member day at the races, a rugby event, overseas meetings, awards dinners and an exhibition. There are still 16 events in the pipeline to December.

Preparation and planning

Getting the fundamentals right is crucial and this takes time and attention to detail so that every aspect is painstakingly arranged from the menu, accommodation and speakers to delegate badges and audio visual set up. There’s also the marketing of the event, including branding, promotional e-newsletters, advertisements invitations and programmes.

Our clients vary in their requirements; some hand over the entire event planning and delivery while others wish for input on just some elements such as venue location and delegate booking and management. Our breadth of know-how and history of success is of great reassurance. Flexibility and the ability to work seamlessly as part of the client team in a people-centred way is valued and appreciated, building essential trust.

Hitches are all part of the event organiser’s day; it’s how you manage them that’s important. At a recent conference numbers increased unexpectedly when a delegate brought several guests, only to decrease again when those guests decided not to stay for lunch. In the background, a new table was laid, then subsequently removed quietly and without fuss.

Location, location

There’s no doubt that choosing a new or unusual yet relevant venue can be a draw to event attendance and we believe these are more memorable than spending the budget on extraneous momentary creatives in an otherwise uninspiring setting. On this basis, we have selected historic listed One Great George Street in Westminster and flown groups to New York, among others.

Choosing a central location for easy access from various parts of the UK via several modes of transport can also be important in certain circumstances, such as the annual TyreSafe Briefing and awards where stakeholders attend from across the country.

What’s it all about?

Rich content is not just for websites, it’s important to attract the required target audience to any event. The subject matter, and how it’s marketed, will very often heavily influence that crucial yes/no decision on whether to attend.

Not only will the content ultimately determine the footfall by which success is judged, but the quality of said content will shape the satisfaction of those who came and their word of mouth endorsement for the next one.

CJAM not only suggests and sources speakers and subjects to inspire the given target audience, our team members provide advice on the running order, timings, entertainment and comperes. For BULKEX, we organise everything for a conference, awards dinner and exhibition across two days, selling stands and sponsorship in addition to booking speakers.

A smart event provides participants with meaningful engagement, which in turn leads to great feedback:

“Best event ever, thank you.”

“We loved it, CJAM have done a great job for us.”

“Our largest turnout, it’s been a great success.”

To enquire about events services from CJAM telephone 01787 226995 or email hello@cjam.co.uk