- Pick and KNOW your teammates! When you're planning an event with more than one person, you should always make sure you know who you're choosing to play on your team. Pick the best candidates - reliable, trustworthy, responsible, respectful, resourceful, etc. You should make sure that the people you pick are people who are going to take the event seriously!
- Plan! In my other post "My Little 'Tea' Party", I stressed the importance of planning! Planning helps to get every one's ideas/visions/thoughts on the table. It helps for everyone to understand what they want and what is the best way to plan the event where EVERYONE is satisfied! It also helps for the team to come up with a budget and list of jobs for each person!
- Voice your opinion. You should decide on how decisions are made - whether it's a majority vote or if everyone must agree. Everyone in the group should voice their opinion and a consensus should be reached. But you must also remember that whatever decision is made should be followed and respected unless there are last minute changes that EVERYONE has agreed upon!
- STICK TO THE PLAN/BUDGET. Sometimes last minute changes are necessary but you should definitely stay on track. Too many changes can become confusing and cause unnecessary issues. If you budget a certain amount of money - stick to it - if YOU choose to go over the budget then that is YOUR choice and YOUR CHOICE ONLY. The group shouldn't have to reimburse or compensate you for YOU deciding to spend a little extra (that is the whole idea of a BUDGET).
- Time is important. Plan your time accordingly. Allot for any issues that could possibly occur - food isn't ready, traffic, decorating, etc. - whatever preparations that need to be done should be done in a timely fashion. Remember you want to have things set up and ready so that rushing isn't an option!
- Take your job/event seriously! If you are given a certain job or task to do - do it COMPLETELY and to the fullest extent possible. It's not fair when the group has done their job and you haven't done yours! Divide up tasks according to team member's qualifications. If you know someone isn't good with counting money don't make them the cashier - decide which job suits who so they can do the job and do it well!!
- Be Punctual. When hosting an event with more than one person - ALL of the hosts should be on time and at the event TOGETHER. The group should be greeting guests together. It also helps on securing that everything for the event has been taken care of. Your guests shouldn't have to wait for you to run home and change or to pick up that last pan of food from the cook!
- Clean-up!!! If you are hosting an event at a place that DOES NOT come with a maintenance staff - guess what - YOU AND THE OTHER HOSTS become the clean-up crew. It is so UNCOOL for your guest to help you clean-up. They came for entertainment not to work! Don't wait until the very last minute to start cleaning up. If you start a little earlier or tidy up during the event, you and the other hosts will have less to worry about when the music has faded and the guest have left! The party isn't over until the place is how you found it - CLEAN!!
Bonus Tip: VERY VERY IMPORTANT - Create a VIP list of those who will receive "special treatment" so that bartenders and/or servers are aware of who gets the "special services". It shouldn't be the bartenders job to remember who gets the free shots and who has to come out their pockets!!
Tips for hosting an event with a group can go on and on but for me these are important. There is nothing worse than planning an event with your friends and when its all said and done the new title is "frenemies"! Your event should be something you remember with a smile on your face not a memory of a frown with you saying "NEVER AGAIN!"
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