13 Event Planning Problems and Solutions

In the world of event planning, unexpected issues are common events. It’s not a matter of if but a matter of when. Sometimes, problems are big enough to give you a house of horrors to navigate. Unsurprisingly, endless troubleshooting leads to an exorbitant amount of stress, making event planning the third-most stressful job in the market today.

But don’t get frightened by the daunting task of avoiding these event planning problems. Remember, every task has a solution. We outline some of the most horrifying issues people face when planning events and offer some helpful tricks (or treats) that can be used to rescue your event from doom. By identifying event planning problems and solutions, you can ensure event success and gather the tools and skills to dominate your next event.

13 Event Planning Problems and Solutions

Event planning problems and solutions aren’t always evident. Problems can arise during any part of the event planning process, and the resolution may seem elusive. Though some scenarios may require one-off solutions, many event planning challenges are recurring. Familiarize yourself with these common challenges many event planners face, and you’ll always be a step ahead.

1. Overspending or Event Budget Constraints

Solution: Research to plan an accurate budget

An event’s requirements vary based on client needs and the attendee experience, so determining how much your event will cost is always an issue. Without a detailed budget analysis, you can end up in a financial mess through either overspending or running out of money entirely.

Conduct a deep dive into your event's expected cost and pricing early in the planning phase and keep a running tally of how much has been used once the spending process is underway. Making early estimates and tracking your budget accurately throughout will help you make prudent financial decisions and avoid any monetary mishaps.

2. Lack of Attendees

Solution: Clear Communication and Hype Before the Event

As a kid, nearly everyone had the nightmare of nobody showing up to their birthday party. Imagine if that same situation happened as an adult at one of your events. It would be terrifying!

Simply put, people won’t attend an event they don’t know about, so communicate with all of the invitees on your guest list. The best event professionals give specific details about the date, time, location, and theme and always follow up to avoid miscommunication or a lack of details.

In addition to using clear communication, you must hype the event to your target audience. Use social media and word-of-mouth techniques to get people talking about it in a positive light. Excitement should generate enough interest to ensure people attend, creating a successful event in the process. As a failsafe, build a ticketing event app that receives payments upfront, so you have a headcount before the event begins.

3. Being Understaffed

Solution: Be Prepared for a High Turnout

Hyping your event often means the turnout rate will exceed expectations. Although this is an excellent problem from a success standpoint, it poses quite a challenge. The safest solution is to treat each event as if a large audience could happen.

Don’t overspend and assume you’ll need more food or additional staffing, but leave some space in your finances just in case a last-minute decision to bring in more resources or team members is necessary. Promoting your event well can lead to a big turnout, so always be prepared if that happens. It’s one of the event planning problems and solutions that should always be on your radar.

4. Losing the Attention of Guests

Solution: Keep Them Engaged With Activities

Crafting a memorable corporate event has its share of potential issues. One of the worst feelings as an event planner is seeing your attendees visibly bored. As such, event planning problems and solutions centered around attendee engagement are paramount.

Add gamification elements to the event space or divide event attendees into smaller groups for discussion periods to prevent yawning or phone staring. Place breaks in your event schedule structure so people can refocus.

Mix things up by planning different activities throughout your schedule, but don’t be afraid to spend more time on anything that creates strong engagement. Bottom line: Be willing to adapt onsite.

5. Low Participation Rate Among Attendees

Solution: Entice Them With Incentives

Sometimes, incentives are all you need to motivate attendees. If you want to get the most engagement from your audience, offer them some perks to participate!

Gamify the experience and boost accessibility for all attendees by creating contests that require everyone to contribute during the event and reward the people who put in the best work. Those incentives could be provided by your event sponsorships (discount deals, free products, invitations to product launches, etc.) or even your own company-related perks (office networking opportunities, bonus vacation days, corporate swag). Everyone loves friendly competition, so use that as a motivating tool to get your attendees to participate in the event.

Hoppier is a superb option for event planning problems and solutions related to participation rate. With easy-to-send digital gift cards, you can quickly provide attendees with prizes and rewards.

6. Complicated Catering and Gifting Logistics

Solution: Use Hoppier To Simplify the Process

Reliable catering is one of the biggest challenges an event planner faces, and this has only gotten more challenging with the rise of virtual events.

To avoid this event challenge, partner with Hoppier to cater your future events. We can provide your attendees with virtual gift cards that let them order from various vendors and providers, and the items will be swiftly delivered to each person, even if they’re all in different locations.

It’s also a terrific incentive because its customizable nature means it works well for anyone who ultimately wins the reward. Try Hoppier to avoid the logistical nightmares of catering or gifting and give everyone an incredible experience by letting each person pick the things they want.

7. Unexpected Tech Issues

Solution: Test Rigorously and Have a Backup Plan

Virtual events are here to stay. But for all the convenience of technology, our reliance on it can cause massive problems if something doesn’t work when needed. To avoid encountering these time-wasting issues at your events, test everything rigorously before things get underway.

This preparation can help you manage tech-based event planning problems and solutions early enough to get the help needed. If something goes wrong during your event, always have a contingency plan prepared to keep things moving until you can fix the issue.

8. Bad Weather or Event Venue Problems

Solution: Prepare for the Worst-case Scenario

Though virtual events have gained popularity, in-person events are finally returning after a post-COVID hiatus. Having a specific location for an event can cause unexpected complications beyond your control, like bad weather, problems with the venue, or unreachable venue managers.

If inclement weather is possible for your outdoor event, book somewhere with an indoor option. And if something goes wrong with the venue and your location needs to change, always have a backup option in mind for a sudden late change. Preparing for a worst-case scenario can significantly help you avoid a nightmarish outcome — giving you the upper hand on one of the most common event planning problems and solutions.

9. Last-minute Speaker Cancellations

Solution: Coordinate With Backup Speakers or Extra Discussion Topics

A compelling list of speakers is one of the most essential elements of any event. But what happens when one of them cancels on you at the last minute?

Dealing with the loss of a speaker is frustrating, especially when it’s right before your event. In an emergency, have a backup guest or two you trust, and relay the information to stakeholders to ensure the person is a feasible choice.

If none of your fallback speakers are available, be prepared with extra panel discussion topics to fill the time with genuine, interesting dialogue rather than filler conversation.

10. Struggling To Find Sponsors

Solution: Proactively Seek a Variety of Sponsors

If you want or need sponsors for your event, be proactive and lock them down early in your event timeline. Waiting too long to find sponsors can cripple your event. Focus on sponsors early to alleviate the pressure later on, and go through all your options promptly.

Draft a sizable list of potential partners and discuss the benefits of each with your team. You may need to consider several options before finally reaching an agreement.

11. Failure To Leave Wiggle Room

Solution: Create a Flexible Schedule

Even if you’re amazing at project management or using the latest event management software, the pieces don’t always fall into place. So here’s some essential advice: Be flexible when making your schedule.

Perhaps one of your activities runs longer than planned, or you don’t want to stop a particular component because it generates excellent engagement with the attendees. A detailed plan is necessary to keep things moving steadily, but you can’t become committed to following each element precisely as scheduled.

A willingness to adjust your plan creates the wiggle room needed to provide the most captivating event possible for everyone in attendance.

12. Ignoring the Little Things

Solution: Survey Your Attendees and Gauge Reactions

Vision is integral to event planning, but you must also listen carefully to what the attendees hope for. Ask guests what they want beforehand through a survey or casual conversation. If the audience responds unenthusiastically to your suggestions, ask them what they’d prefer instead (more networking opportunities, different themes, shorter event time, among other possibilities).

You can’t act on every recommendation. However, adopting common requests that will elevate your event into a memorable and enjoyable experience is tantamount to success.

13. Feeling Overwhelmed

Solution: Ask for Help

Feeling overwhelmed is typical in event planning, but problems can multiply tenfold just by failing to ask for help. Telling your superiors or coworkers this often results in extra people coming in to support you, like a team of associates or even a professional event planner.

New people might energize the organizing phase with great ideas of their own. Asking for help can make your planning much more productive and is a foremost part of the event planning problems and solutions equation.

Hoppier: A Helpful Tool To Solve Your Event Catering Concerns

Catering is a primary concern of every event planner, but Hoppier provides a more-than-adequate solution. We provide you and your guests with a creative catering experience by using virtual cards to order food or drinks from various vendors.

Create an account, and then customize your card however you’d like. Set a spending balance that works for your particular event, and let the guests order whatever items they want from a long list of available vendors. Our program eliminates the hassle of catering your event, and you can even use extra cards as added incentives, rewards, or prizes for your attendees or onsite staff.

How To Solve Your Event Planning Problems

If we had to name one common theme for all 13 of these event planning problems and solutions, it would be that preparation is vital. You can never predict which issues will unfold, but being ready for anything at any time is the safest way to deal with whatever challenges are thrown your way.

Creating a list of potential event planning problems and solutions will pay dividends as you move closer to the event. With catering help from Hoppier, you have one less thing on your plate. And with one less thing on your plate, you have the extra time to plan, retool, troubleshoot, and ultimately succeed.

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