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The Value of Appreciation

As the fall season of events approaches, it’s important to appreciate those who helped you achieve your event’s success, and amongst the mountain of wrap-up post-event, remembering to express gratitude and appreciation by saying “thank you” is an important post-event to do item. It sounds like a simple reminder, but it is often a forgotten art. Public thank you’s to donors, sponsors and guests is certainly well-deserved and should be a priority, but don’t forget to thank the rest of the team that put in a great effort.

For any event your organization produces, you no doubt have a host of folks working behind the scenes comprised of internal staff, consultants, and volunteers. These men and women worked tirelessly for the days, weeks, and months preceding the event. They will have had late nights, pizza delivery dinners, and a lot of hard work prepping for your event.

You might be wondering how best to express your gratitude? Here are some ways that we recommend:

• Thank people publically. Announce thank you’s from the stage, make it part of the evenings script, write it into the printed program, produce signage in the room that lists everyone you wish to acknowledge.
• Hand-write a note. Yes, I said HAND WRITE. I know this method is becoming obsolete, but it absolutely should not be. Writing a note expressing your gratitude can be the nicest, most appreciated form of thanks in our humble TME opinion.
• Send an email to the designated group, before or after your handwritten notes. This is a great way to shoot a quick thanks to a larger group right after the event has wrapped up. We have heard that it is quite nice to receive an email from leadership that is time stamped at the wee hours of the morning – meaning that even though it was midnight or later and everyone’s exhausted, the boss cared enough to express his or her appreciation.
• Find a few minutes at the next staff meeting and express your appreciation for their hard work, and have everyone give a round of applause for the group’s efforts.
• Depending on the size of your team, the event, and the individual’s role, it may be appropriate and within budget to say thank you with a small gift or some sweet treats. The TME team likes to celebrate with Edible Arrangements, Georgetown Cupcakes and spa treatments at Blue Heron Wellness.

Don’t forget your vendors either. Sending them a thank you is an extra nice touch. It will make them feel appreciated and in turn be excited and willing to go above and beyond for you at your next event.

Regardless of the methods you choose, ensure the thank you is genuine. And in the spirit of gratitude, we here at TME appreciate you and thank you for reading this blog. We hope that it encourages you to pay it forward.