TaylorMade Best Practices

August 30, 2017
in TaylorMade Best Practices

In December 2016, TME’s Vice President Juvale (Jae) Regala was diagnosed with Stage 4 Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia while pregnant with her fourth daughter, Carina. The TaylorMade Experience team has missed her dearly while she has been out on medical leave, fighting hard to beat cancer.   Being experts in the event and fundraising fields, we decided there was no better way to show Jae just how loved and missed she was than – you guessed it – an event! Working with vendor partners, clients and friends in TME’s inner circle, we produced...

July 17, 2017
in TaylorMade Best Practices

Our President and CEO, Christina Taylor Serrano, was recently invited by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) to speak on a panel about successful strategies for nonprofit fundraising events. She addressed best practices of event fundraising, such as how to go from an event to a stronger relationship driven approach with your donors. Sitting on the panel alongside Christina was Michelle Powers Keegan of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Danielle Altenburg of the Animal Welfare League of Arlington. Events are oftentimes a fundraising staple for many nonprofits that serve as a significant...

June 16, 2017
in TaylorMade Best Practices

One of the best ways to have a successful fundraising event is to set up an effective host committee. Key word: Effective! Your committee members are the leadership and life-force of your event, and with good communication, the possibilities are endless. These are the people who can invite important guests to the event and who will lend much-needed help to the overall planning, setup, and organization. And even if your host committee only consists of two people, that’s okay! The number of leaders doesn’t matter—the key to success is all in...

January 24, 2017
in TaylorMade Best Practices

Food is a central part of many events, but finding the best caterer can be difficult and expensive. The good news is that we’ve acquired lots of excellent tips when it comes to ensuring you provide incredible catering at your next event. The following will enable you to provide excellent catered food options to your guests while staying within budget.   Shop around Just like we mentioned in our post on audio visual setup, the venue’s in-house vendor may not be the tastiest or cheapest option. There are pros and cons to a venue...

September 6, 2016
in TaylorMade Best Practices

Imagine you’re in the middle of registering attendees at your company’s conference. Your phone rings and you look down to see it’s the caterer, who should have been at the conference an hour ago.  As you go to pick up the call, you notice your phone is at 8% battery life. In a panic you scurry to find an outlet, only to realize the exhibit hall doesn’t have one nearby—and you can’t leave the registration table. These scenarios can—and do—happen, but they don’t have to. With the right survival kit, you...

August 2, 2016
in Above and Beyond, TaylorMade Best Practices

The guests have left and the doors are closed, and after months of planning, your event is over. You may think it’s time to move on to the next project, but we’re not done just yet. Now is the perfect time for Taylor Made Experience’s (TME) After Action Meeting and Report: our comprehensive event report and debrief meeting that follows a week or two after an event. We do this for every event and believe it is a huge part of our clients’ success. Here’s what our clients can look forward to...

July 12, 2016
in TaylorMade Best Practices

From galas to trade shows, audio visual (AV) setup is a crucial part of every event. But, if you’re not careful, AV can also be the place where even the most mindful event consultant can lose control of the price tag. Follow these tips for a seamless audio visual setup that will help you stay in budget and in control of the show: Always compare The key to staying within your budget is to find the best offer. This may mean reaching out to multiple vendors for quotes. While many venues offer in-house...

June 21, 2016
in Events, TaylorMade Best Practices

One of the most valuable assets in an event manager’s repertoire is comprehensive knowledge of venues.  We know all the best places and spaces to host a spectacular event -- whether it's a non-profit fundraiser or a corporate expo. So, if you're looking for one of the best venues in the greater Washington DC area for your next event, we've got you covered. The TaylorMade Experience (TME) team recently toured some of DC's most notable and sophisticated event spaces and we're eager to share what we learned. Below are our thoughts,...

June 8, 2016
in Events, TaylorMade Best Practices

Chances are you’ve experienced some kind of event gamification in the past. You might have seen it through an event scavenger hunt, or maybe it made a more subtle appearance through a Leaderboard of the “Top Social Media Posters” on an event’s social wall. We’ve already shared our two cents on how gamification can be a tool to increase event attendance, but the trend is also useful in other ways. Through gamification, you can make your event more interactive, inclusive, and instructive for your guests—and more informative for you. 1. Get...

May 3, 2016
in Events, TaylorMade Best Practices

In the realm of event consulting, the word “attrition” holds a ton of weight. The standard definition of the word is “the action of gradually reducing the strength of something through sustained pressure.” For event consultants, it it’s the percentage of registrants that we can expect will not attend an event. Unfortunately, no-shows are nearly guaranteed, but there are steps you can take to decrease your expected attrition. Follow our tips to ensure that your RSVP’d guests actually attend your event. Consistent Communication Early RSVP’s are some of the easiest to lose. A...