5 Essential Lessons I Learned About Event Logistics
After throwing 13 events this month (business and social) in 4 cities across the United States, here are 5 things I have learned about event logistics:
Table of Contents
Free Invites
Venue
Nametags
Alcohol
Follow Up System
Conclusion
Free Invites At least 50% of people bail on free event invites.
If you are throwing a business meetup that isn’t a seated dinner at a trendy restaurant, you will need to send out at least 10x more invitations than you think you need to.
Venue Pick a venue where your event is the only thing going on.
You’ll be inclined to do it at a public bar because it’s cheaper, but this makes the event too casual and significantly harder for people to free flow and organically meet the most amount of people in the given time for the event.
Use a peer-to-peer event rental space site like PeerSpace.
Nametags Everyone needs a name tag. You should pre-write them.
I will die on this hill.
Alcohol Don’t serve red wine or beer.
These are the most common things to order at a bar, but do not offer either of these things.
Follow Up System You need to have a follow-up system for your RSVPs to message people at least 3 times, including the day of the event.
This is no different than saying that 30% of sales come from the follow-up. Your list of RSVPs showing up is a sales process – irregardless of whether your event is for business or social purposes.
Conclusion Managing events comes down to practical decisions, not perfect plans.
Through these 13 events, I’ve learned that success lies in over-inviting for free events, choosing dedicated venues, insisting on name tags, avoiding messy drinks, and treating RSVPs like sales leads.
These aren’t revolutionary insights – just hard-learned lessons from real experience.
— Ben Hirsch
