Wow, What a Great Event!
Learn
how to create and coordinate successful special events. Develop skills, find
resources and gain confidence to plan and produce any size or type of event.
This course reveals proven tips, tools, techniques, and procedures used by
experts and master event planners to help you avoid embarrassing and costly
planning errors or production mistakes.
You'll discover how to select the right suppliers for food, decorations,
entertainment, and you'll learn how to effectively employ them within your own
budgetary constraints. You'll get easy access to event industry information
compiled by and for professional event planners. We'll even point you in the
right direction to meet other event and meeting planners and to join a
professional association or industry group. You'll be so excited with your newly
gained confidence and expertise that you'll want to start planning your next
event even before this course is over.
To enroll in this course, click the Enroll Now button below:
Requirements:
Internet access, e-mail, and the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser.
Syllabus:
All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two
lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do
not have to be present when the lesson is released, but you must complete each
lesson within two weeks of its release.
A new section of each course starts on the second or third Wednesday of each
month. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space
the start date for each course at least two months apart.
| Week One |
| Wednesday - Lesson 01 |
| No matter what you need or hope to accomplish, you'll
inevitably need to plan it first. How many times can you recall being in
a quandary and needing some direction? You'll get that direction after
you read this first lesson! Today, we'll lay out a step-by-step approach
for event planning that's simple, straightforward, and works every time.
|
| Friday - Lesson 02 |
| You're surrounded by themes in your daily life. If
you're a fashionista who follows all the latest fashion trends, there's
likely a theme to your seasonal wardrobe. When you watch the home
improvement shows on cable television, you learn how to create a theme
that dominates your home decor. If you garden, you know that the
selection and arrangement of your flowers, shrubs, statuary, and outdoor
furniture will result in a theme. In this lesson, you'll learn when to
use and when to avoid a theme at your events. Then we'll discuss how to
bring your theme to life using your all of your senses. We'll conclude
the lesson by looking at two theme examples to help spark your own
creativity. |
| Week Two |
| Wednesday - Lesson 03 |
| Today, you'll find out why there's a lot more to
selecting a site than booking your neighborhood hotel or banquet hall.
Location, location, and location are the three key words everyone uses
when talking about any kind of real estate. An event site is a unique
type of real estate and an important part your event's success. In this
lesson, we'll categorize various types of event sites and look at some
criteria that will ultimately help you make your site selection. |
| Friday - Lesson 04 |
| Now that you know which site you'll use for your
event, it's time to get out your pencil and paper and start planning how
you'll use the space. In today's lesson, you'll learn which site
diagrams you'll need, how to develop a room layout, and which sketches
you'll want to request or create yourself. I'll teach you how to walk
through your site and make observations, noting everything that will be
a potential help or hindrance to you, your guests, and your event. |
| Week Three |
| Wednesday - Lesson 05 |
| Have a snack and a beverage at your side while you
read this lesson! Today's extensive discussion about the selection and
serving of food and beverages will likely spur your appetite. It may
also help you recall memorable meals that you've enjoyed in the past, or
help you conjure up ideas about fancy foods that you'll want to feature
at your next party. If that's not enough, links in this lesson's
supplementary material will really tempt you with colorful pictures and
extensive recipes of delectable food and drink. I'm sure you'll refer to
this lesson and its resources long after you've finished the course! |
| Friday - Lesson 06 |
| Entertainment is a key component of most any event.
There are many potential resources to go to for entertainment, but you
have to know where to look. This lesson is chock-full of valuable
entertainment source information for novice event planners and
experienced professionals alike. After you finish reading the lesson, be
sure to check out the extensive list of links in the supplementary
material. |
| Week Four |
| Wednesday - Lesson 07 |
| Developing a decorating theme for your event can help
you free your inhibitions and let your creative juices flow. If anything
provides a limitation, it's usually the budget. But even then, you can
beg, borrow, or buy at a discount to make your big ideas come to life!
I'll show you how in this lesson. We'll also pay special attention to
color and special lighting that will make your events eye-popping. This
lesson may end up being your favorite in the course because it's just so
much fun to decorate a space for a party or an event. |
| Friday - Lesson 08 |
| Today, we'll examine corporate sponsorships, which
are proliferating and are an important means of covering the major costs
of many events, maybe even some of yours. If you're not a fundraising
professional, don't think that this lesson isn't for you. While we'll
discuss donations and grants, we'll also talk about a lot more. |
| Week Five |
| Wednesday - Lesson 09 |
| Ever worry that you'll go through all the trouble of
throwing a grand event but no one attends? If you follow the advice
you'll read in this lesson, you can almost ensure that you'll avoid that
problem. In this lesson, we'll look at all the different modes of
promoting your event, including word-of-mouth, print, electronic media,
and media relations. |
| Friday - Lesson 10 |
| Few of us can handle all the little details of our
events completely alone. You'll almost always need some help—sometimes
quite a lot of help. But, as you'll discover in this lesson, you can
hire anything from a small team to a large committee to help you with
your own event. After we talk about who these people are and how they
can assist you, you'll gain some insight into how to get the most out of
their help, and you'll learn how to avoid the worst problems in
personnel matters. |
| Week Six |
| Wednesday - Lesson 11 |
| Evaluating your events soon after they're completed
is a great way to learn from your mistakes. How better to visualize the
best way to proceed with your future events? In this lesson, you'll
learn what to look at and who to consult as you do your own examination
and evaluation. We'll also discuss surveys and focus groups. |
| Friday - Lesson 12 |
| If you truly enjoy creating special events, you'll want to continue your education—formally or informally—and widen your circle of professional colleagues once you complete this course. In this lesson, you'll learn many ways that you can do both! |
To enroll in this course, click the Enroll Now button below:
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