Here we go again but once again an informal meeting struck a cord that I wanted to explore.

I was in a meeting having an informal chat with a journalist, a council employee, a business owner and a bank manager...this sounds like a joke but that's not my style so I'll get back to the story!

We were talking about different ways that school children could raise money and one of the group caused instant silence when they said that organising events was easy, it was the easy option.  The rest of the room went quiet as we let it sink in that she could have just insulted me and my profession.  I tend to be a fairly easy going person and so wasn't hugely offended, especially since it's a fight I have to fight every time I win business.

Why are we considered that way?

Humans are naturally organised and naturally pig headed - hence do we all think we can do everything?  I actually agree that event management is not a mysterious art - it's just a case of being organised, starting at the beginning and just ticking things off a list. Isn’t it?

Well let’s not get into the different ways that people learn and manage data other than to say that to some people being organised is harder than getting to the moon on a balloon.

I just fundamentally think that knowledge and experience enable me to do my job much more effectively bringing major cost and time savings to my clients.  Does everyone explore why they attend events?  Whether or not it’s really a good idea or just the MD having a need to prove that his company is great?  What are your objectives – branding, PR, sales or a combination of all three?  Do you want to make money directly from selling on the stand?  Do you know which suppliers can do the best job for that particular event? Which ones are all talk and no trousers?

It’s all about experience and knowledge – I’d love to put it in a bottle and share it with you but I haven’t found a way yet.  However, by hiring a professional you can borrow their skills and build some very successful, stress free events.

To me, events are easy but are they easy to people who don’t do it everyday and prefer mind maps to To Do lists?