The document provides tips for throwing an event on a shoestring budget. It discusses choosing a venue and date, using Meetup, Eventbrite and Facebook to promote the event, finding sponsors, preparing speakers, running the event smoothly, and following up after the event. The tips are aimed at helping readers produce a high quality event while keeping costs low through free or inexpensive strategies and services.

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