TaylorMade Best Practices

February 4, 2016
in TaylorMade Best Practices

As a kid, receiving a goodie bag was the highlight of any birthday party or event. Now that we’re adults, the same is true for swag bags at a conference, gala or similar event. People of all ages love to get useful items as a parting gift from a memorable event—and these giveaway items will help your guests remember you, your company, and the event for years to come! In fact, I still have an amazing engraved silver pen that was in one of my swag bags once upon a time—and...

December 3, 2015
in Events, TaylorMade Best Practices

When the event is over, the work is far from done. Any event manager worth their salt knows there’s still plenty left to do after the guests have said their final goodnight. We’ve spent many years managing events, and the experience has left us with a solid after-event game plan. This game plan has helped us manage many excellent events and still stay upbeat and positive for the next one. Want in on our MUST do list? Check it out: Clean up – literally After the event has ended, there’s always stuff to be...

November 19, 2015
in Events, TaylorMade Best Practices

We’re so glad the dark days in event management are behind us—days filled with printed stacks of registration lists and hours spent sifting through these lists to find event attendees’ names. As a result of all that paper shuffling, there was always a bottleneck of frustrated attendees waiting to check in at registration. Now with the use of on-site event registration technology, all we need to do is type in the first few letters of a name and an attendee’s name will pop right up on our iPad. We can edit...

November 17, 2015
in TaylorMade Best Practices

Event sponsors are worth their weight in gold—sometimes literally! Sponsors offer much-needed revenue to help with event operations—and you’ll want to build close relationships with them over time. The trouble can be, after spending so much time, effort, and resources to attract new sponsors, the strength of a new partnership can easily start to wane after the first year. In the beginning, the newbie is treated like a VIP—they’re given lots of attention and fanfare—but as time wears on, the attention might shift to newer sponsors. It’s all too easy to take...

November 5, 2015
in TaylorMade Best Practices

While we can’t stress enough how important annual events are for your non-profit organization or company, we do know that these events come with a big price tag. The good news is that you don’t have to foot the bill alone. You can increase event revenue by securing some really great sponsors. Easy solution, right? Not so fast—getting sponsors on board with your event and mission can be a lot of hard work. If you’re looking to attract sponsors to your next event, the following tips will help you start some lucrative...

October 22, 2015
in TaylorMade Best Practices

Every small business, large corporation, and nonprofit needs to be flexible and nimble if they want to keep up with competition, market demand, and business trends.That’s one of the reasons outsourcing is so popular – and why companies like TaylorMade Experience exist. Let’s face it: You don’t need to have a full-time, in-house team that is dedicated to event planning and fundraising. You might not need an in-house general counsel or CPA or digital marketing team, either – but you do need them in your Rolodex. There are numerous advantages of outsourcing,...

October 1, 2015
in TaylorMade Best Practices

Everyone thinks they are a VIP, and you know what? They are absolutely right! Here at TaylorMade Experience, we make sure all of our clients and customers are given platinum-level treatment. After spending years catering to important event guests, celebrity speakers and entertainers, politicians, diplomats, we now have some tips and tricks in place that make all of our clients feel like total rock stars. If you’re looking to take a few plays out of our playbook, here’s how we work with the VIPs we encounter in our field. Board members From the very...

September 17, 2015
in TaylorMade Best Practices, Tips for Nonprofit Fundraising

Whether you’re looking to increase donations, sales, exposure, or your guest list, holding an engaging event is your ticket to success. Your guests want to be immersed in an experience. They want to enjoy a night that’s inspiring and invigorating—they want to walk away from the event feeling like they’ve gained a lot just by attending. So, how do you provide your guests with an exciting and engaging experience that will increase donations or ROI? Start with the following: Know your audience This is the number-one, hands-down, most important aspect to throwing a fabulous event....

September 10, 2015
in Events, TaylorMade Best Practices

There are a million details involved with planning an event—from booking the venue in advance to sending thank-you notes to your guests. However, with so many moving pieces to manage, it’s easy to overlook a few crucial details. Specifically, there are five major—yet easily avoidable—mistakes you could make during your next event. Making these mistakes could cost you attendee engagement, exposure and awareness, donations, or ROI. If you want your next event to be a smashing success, then you’ll want to prevent the following mistakes from ever happening: Not including a testimonial For non-profits,...

August 20, 2015
in Events, Lessons Learned, TaylorMade Best Practices

Whether you’re a corporation or a non-profit organization, annual events are a key component to your company’s success. Before we dive into the importance of why you need to have annual events, let’s talk about the why they need to happen annually. While we understand an event takes time, energy, and resources, it is vital to have one at least once a year—especially for non-profits. Here’s why: You want to stay in front of your customers and donors.  If you hold bi-annual events, you run the risk of donors or customers forgetting...