1. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
How to Throw a Kickass Event
On a Shoestring Budget
Presented by
Emily Miethner
Founder, President

2. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
What You Will Learn
50+ event planning tips that will help you produce
an awesome event
All the tips include free or cheap services and
strategies for keeping costs low

3. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
What We’ll Cover
– Venue hunting tips
– Choosing the day of the week to hold your event
– Differences between Eventbrite, Meetup, Facebook
and protips for use of all three
– How to approach partners and sponsors
– Minimizing check-in awkwardness
– And more

4. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
About Me
Founder, President
30+ events for 1,400+ guests

5. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
Know Your Goals
– To build a community
– To expand your network
– To promote a product
– To make a profit
– To support an organization
– To help the community
– To celebrate an achievement

6. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
First Things First
– Location
– Date
– Time
– Name of the event
– RSVP page

7. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
Venue Hunting
– Don't look for space, offer an opportunity
– Find a place who's mission aligns with yours
– See where similar events are hosted
– Learn about the space’s goals before you reach out

8. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
Pick a Day of the Week
– Monday: Doesn’t leave time for promotion
– Tuesday: Better, leaves one day for promotion
– Wednesday: Good for networking events
– Thursday: Good for more party-like events
– Friday: Good for party-like events or happy hours
– Saturday: Good for conferences or social events
– Sunday: Good for conferences or social events

9. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
Where to Post the Event
– Are you trying to create a community?
– Is your event one time only?
– Is the event free or are you trying to make money?
– Do you mind getting last minute RSVPs?
– Are you able to take cash at the door?
– Do you want commitment from attendees?
– Are events a supplement or your main thing?

10. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
Meetup
PROS
– Get discovered by 9.5 million members
– Members have profiles
– Members are alerted about new events
CONS
– Can only create one ticket price
– You don’t get attendee email addresses

11. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
Meetup
PRO TIPS
– Gather email addresses when people join the group
by making it a required question
– Max out your Meetup’s topics
– Don’t let users email your mailing list (change in settings)
– Use your welcome message and keep it updated

12. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
Eventbrite
PROS
– Plenty of ticketing options
– Customizable widgets to advertise your event
– Discount codes creation and management
CONS
– No community

13. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
Eventbrite
PROTIPS
– Use their 24 hour phone customer service
– The countdown widget drives the most sales
– Create tracking links track sales from different sources
– Export email addresses into other mailing lists
– Add news and updates to event page
– Collect custom information when people buy tickets

14. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
Facebook
PROS
– Acts as a great “in your face” reminder
– You can easily invite friends without being invasive
CONS
– People forget to officially RSVP
– No customization of event page (photos, logos, etc)

15. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
Facebook
PROTIPS
– Adjust the event name to cause a notification
– Send message reminders
– Always create a Facebook event as a supplement…
it’s worth it

16. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
General Event Page Tips
– Creative the main RSVP page on your organization’s
website (use Eventbrite widget)
– Make the RSVP link big, bold, and obvious
– Keep info minimal on pages directing to main RSVP
– If your guest list is impressive, show it off

17. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
Finding Sponsors & Partners
– Emphasize what you can offer them
– Find companies who have done something similar
– Reach out on multiple platforms (email, Twitter, etc)
– Announce what you need through social media
– Under-promise and over-deliver

18. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns

19. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
Pitch Tips
– The shorter the better
– Anticipate questions and answer them in your pitch
– Make your pitch specific to the company you email
– Write a succinct and explanatory subject line
– Always try to find a referral to avoid “cold calls”

20. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns

21. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns

22. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
Promoting Your Event
– Promote your sponsors and partners
– #FF speakers and partners
– Tweet at organization who may retweet to their
community
– Find other organizations who will tell their members
and offer a discount
– Use free industry event listing sites like Gary’s Guide
and keep on ongoing list

23. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
Speaker Preparation & Care
– (For panel and networking events)
– Create a Google Doc one sheet with all information
(your contact, arrival time, sample questions, etc)
– Send information in the email and link to Google Doc
– Figure out your email schedule. Don’t send too many,
but don’t let them forget about the event
– Always have a phone call with them if possible to
create a stronger connection

24. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
Check In
– Make your first impression a great one
– Have at least two people on the door, one to handle
checkins and one to handle issues
– Don’t create a bottleneck. Think about the set up of
check in table, name tag tables, etc
– Using the Eventbrite Entry App is the easiest
– Smile!

25. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
Sample Run of Show
– 6:00 - Set up starts
– 6:30 - Bartenders arrive
– 7:00 - Doors open
– 7:30 - Jenny welcome
– 7:33 - Emily welcome
– 7:35 - Ashley welcome
– 7:37 - Julie welcome

26. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
Sample Run of Show (con’t)
– 7:42 - Speaker
– 7:47 - Speaker
– 7:52 - Julie closes
– 7:55 - Mingling starts again
– 8:50 - Start letting people know we're closing up
– 9:00 - DJs turn music off
– 9:00 - Clean up

27. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
Post Event
– Send a follow up email to attendees with photos, blog
entries, etc. Do this within one week if possible
– Put a link to your site and sponsor shout outs in
captions of event photos on Facebook
– Create a wrap up report for any partners

28. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
Miscellaneous Tips
– Trader Joe's is great for cheap food, beer, and wine
– Event drop off rate:
Free = 50% no show, Paid = 25% no show (goes
down the higher the price)
– You can most likely get away with adding Eventbrite
fees on top of the ticket price

29. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
Miscellaneous Tips
– Are you going to be doing another event soon?
Promote future events at events
– Photos and videos are worth it. If you have a budget,
this is where you should spend. You will use the
content as marketing for future events
– Make a shot list for photographers and videographers

30. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
Helpful Tools
– Rapportive – learn about contacts through your email
– 37signals– task management and CRM
– Hootsuite – social network management
– Mailchimp – email newsletter creation
– Google Docs – share word docs, powerpoints, etc

31. By @EmilyMiethner of @NYCinterns
Contact
emily@nycreativeinterns.com
twitter.com/emilymiethner