Event Development (continued)

“The following is a continuation of my Event Development Series. Some time ago, I started the series with the first section, “Initial Development”. The second section is entitled “Research and Preliminary Planning”. Now that you and your team have decided to proceed with the event, it’s time to get serious! As suggested previously, any thoughts and idea are more then welcome!”

Research and Preliminary Planning

Research (Continued)

3. D.B.I.A. (Downtown Business Improvement Association) – Many towns have D.B.I.A.s. These associations are made up of local downtown business owners. Most are interested in promoting the downtown area and its businesses and hold or support events that are held in the downtown area. If you are hoping to hold your event in the downtown area, contacting and consulting the local D.B.I.A. is a must! They may object to your event or they may think its needed, but either way, without their support your event is doomed for failure. The key to obtaining the support of the D.B.I.A. is knowing what their promotional needs are and then planning your event accordingly. If you can obtain the full backing of D.B.I.A. members, your event has a much greater chance of success. Also, many D.B.I.A.s have promotional funds available and may agree to use some of them to help promote your event.

4.CHAMBER OF COMMERCE – Like the D.B.I.A.s shown above, many areas have local or regional Chambers of Commerce. While each Chamber of Commerce has different objectives, all exist to promote local and regional businesses. Promotion comes in various forms depending on the Chamber, but most support local events in one way or another. Meeting with the local Chamber manager is always a wise thing to do. The manager can fill you in on their activities and how they or their members might help you and your committee. They might even be able to help you identify local businesses or business owners as potential sponsors and donors.

(To be continued)