When you are in the midst of running your fundraising event, you will often times feel like that of a traffic-control police officer. Staying on time and moving your event along is all about getting your guests positioned at the right places during the right times. In a sense, it is traffic control. Let’s take a closer look at some tips and insights to help you with this process of directing your guests from one room to another.
Going from the cocktail party to the main event
Let’s start here since this is the first big move that needs to take place. To move guests from the foyer cocktail party into your main event space, start by shutting down the bar service in the foyer. Make sure all of the bartenders completely LEAVE the area. If bartenders stay at their bars, people will tip them to get drinks even if the bar is officially closed. Expect this process of closing the bars and directing people to the main event area to take somewhere around 10 to 15 minutes.
Still having problems getting your guests to move?
So you closed down the bars and your guests are still hanging out in the foyer. It’s okay, no need to panic. Getting guests from the cocktail hour to the main event in a timely fashion can be a challenge. Check out some more tips to help you move things along:
· Flash the lights on and off. It’s an overlooked technique that always works to get people’s attention.
· Use dinner chimes and make an announcement. Make an announcement with clear instructions for where your guests need to go next.
· Utilize polite crowd marshals. These crowd marshals should work different areas of the room and politely inform guests that it is time to take their seats in the main event area. Remind your crowd marshals not to be intrusive, and never to touch the guests.
Close the silent auction
This may be the best way to get the attention of your guests. Closing the silent auction informs everyone that it is time to move on to the main event of the evening.
Here’s how you want to work the announcements: 15 minute warning, 10 minute warning, 5 minute warning, 1 minute warning, 30 second warning, and then finally, a 10 second countdown. Be loud and clear when you announce: “The silent auction is now closed.” Now that the silent auction is closed, your guests will know that it’s time to move on to the main event.
The successful coordination of major fundraising events takes a lot of planning and strategizing to ensure that each step of the night is executed without a hitch. For more insight on further strategies to help with your next event, reach out to us today at AmFund.