Events

August 11, 2014
in Events, Lessons Learned, TaylorMade Best Practices

Are you getting a lackluster performance out of your board or event committee? Are you not producing the results you had desired? Are you rallying the teams and just not getting anyone to bite? We feel your pain! Effective boards and event committees are essential in creating outreach lists for invitations, sponsorships, and cultivating new donors, so their lack of involvement can be a significant problem to your bottom line. Whether your board or event committee is uninvolved, hard to engage and excite, or just totally unresponsive, there are several ways...

August 5, 2014
in Events, Social Media, TaylorMade Best Practices

Our previous post on social media for events took us through the “5 W’s” – who, what, when, where, and why. This follow-up post will expand on the much-related “how” of social media for events. Now that you have answered your “W” questions, the how includes the all-important action items needed to maximize your social media integration efforts. Here are a few of TME’s best practices: Persevere. Many organizations utilize social media for their general mission and organization, but quite a few do not carry this over to their events, creating a...

July 22, 2014
in Events, Social Media, TaylorMade Best Practices

Think back to English class in grade school. You may remember hearing some form of litany from your teacher on the “5 W’s” of good writing and he or she might even have thrown in an “H” for good measure. Hopefully those lessons stuck with you, because we’re going to use them today to share our brief commentary on the intersection of audience engagement and social media. What? Interaction, engagement, excitement, enthusiasm, camaraderie – these are all words that could be used to describe the vibrant nature of well planned events.  What...

June 16, 2014
in Events, TaylorMade Best Practices

Are you keeping your attendees well fed? Do you make the right choices for menus so that you have healthy and tasty options? Our TME team is very good at making sure we are well fed. This is in part due to our staff member, Stephanie, who can sometimes fit the description of hangry. Thankfully, we’ve always been able to feed her before the darker emotions start bubbling up. However, it brings to light an excellent point that must be considered for any event: the provision of food. Today’s post is a...

June 2, 2014
in Events, TaylorMade Best Practices, Tips for Nonprofit Fundraising

In some cases, fundraising may be no more than a clumsy ask for money. It can be difficult responsibility for the asker as the conversation requires a clear and definite request that must be presented firmly but politely. And if that wasn’t enough, fundraising can take place through a myriad of methods. Some common ways are through online donations, annual campaigns, event sponsorships, onsite giving at an event, and silent or live auctions. Done well, fundraising can be immensely beneficial to an organization and well worth the potential headache. At its...

May 1, 2014
in Events, TaylorMade Best Practices

What’s an event without a great space to hold it? Indoors, outdoors, on a boat or in an exclusive new hotspot in the city, your chosen event venue sets the overall tone, adding character, ambiance, and excitement to your event. Certainly the above factors are important when selecting a venue, but there is so much more that must be considered. In our years of experience, we have seen an array of issues arise with potential locations.  But I have good news! Many of these issues can be mitigated by proper planning...

February 13, 2014
in Events, TaylorMade Best Practices

If you’re here in the D.C. Metro area with us this week, you’re liking seeing the same thing that we’re seeing: white.  Specifically, a white blanket of winter wonderland that wafted in from the south. While the snow is quite beautiful, it also wreaks havoc on what Robert Burns dubbed as  “the best laid plans.” Given that it’s Valentine’s Day weekend, I would venture to say that quite a few plans have been made. And certainly a number of events were planned in the city as well, including an event that...

January 20, 2014
in Above and Beyond, Culture, Events, Lessons Learned, TaylorMade Best Practices, The TME Team

Experience is defined by Merriam-Webster as “the process of doing and seeing things and of having things happen to you.” Who doesn’t want to have a fun and exciting experience? And we know that you want to create a unique, exceptional and flawless event to engage your guests and keep them coming back. In order to ensure such quality at our events, TME has the following "Company Rules:" I don’t know is not an answer! Instead of saying we can’t do something, we find a way to make it happen. And when...