A personal event gone bad!

Recently, I was involved in planning an event for a friend. The event was agreed to be implemented almost six months before the event. There were many stakeholders involved in getting a date for the event. The date was eventually chosen based on her elder brother’s availability. With the date set, many event components had to be taken care of. Getting a space, the food menu, who would be in charge of buying, cooking, and serving the food, logistics for the chairs and tables, decoration team, graphics team, and tech teams to handle microphones, speakers, and switch on generators should electricity be an issue. My area has many local dishes, and the goal was to capture as much of the variety of local dishes as possible. Decisions around setting up the hall, where guests would sit, where the food tables would be mounted, and even the entire day’s program was still to be decided upon, as well as wrap-up and cleaning. Initially, a budget was set for the event, and family members were tasked with raising the funds. Because family and friends were dispersed geographically, a WhatsApp group was formed to handle various decisions on the different components, and individuals were tasked with specific activities. 

The event could have been a better one. The day’s program started two hours late; the pork was not well cooked and was still very tender. There was no photographer or music operator at the start of the event. Also, the hall owners were unhappy with those responsible for setting up the chairs and tables as they had come in the night before the day of the vent. The noise from mounting up the chairs and tables had caused a great deal of sleep disruption. 

The most frustrating part was the uncertainty around the availability of the event hall/space one week to the day of the event. This happened because the hall owner was not contacted on time but only became aware of the intent to use the hall two weeks before the event's day. There were a lot of lengthy negotiations between the hall owners and my friend to have the hall available on that date. Apparently, the hall was already booked for an event a day before our set day. This meant that time for cleaning and conducting repairs, if any, was not guaranteed, and it was up to my friend to decide whether to accept the burden of paying a high premium for the cleaners.

 I believe there should have been an early consultation with the hall owners, perhaps three months before the event, to assess availability and make early bookings. Bringing in the key stakeholders at the right time will ensure the project rolls out smoothly (Walden University, LLC, n.d). 

 The hurdle of coordinating the various stakeholders on a WhatsApp group was an additional layer of frustration. Some participants would not give feedback on time on the assigned task, which delayed decision-making. Reflecting on this, I think it may have been helpful to have a designated event coordinator whose role could be likened to the project manager, engaging all participants and key stakeholders and ensuring they provide timely feedback on assigned tasks. The role would ensure that the event components are planned, organized, and coordinated and that stakeholder engagement is effective (Weinstein, 2015). With all the delays and hurdles, the final expenses far superseded the initial budget. Again, having an event coordinator would have ensured the cost stayed within and did not extend significantly. 

 References. 

Walden University, LLC. (Executive Producer). (n.d.). Practitioner voices: Barriers to project success [Video file]. Retrieved from https://waldenu.instructure.com Weinstein, M. (2015). The accidental training manager: trainers often have to do more than design and facilitate successful training programs--they have be effective project managers as they oversee the overall processLinks to an external site.. 52(3). Retrieved from https://trainingmag.com/the-accidental-training-manager/