10 Successful Steps to Plan and Manage Event & Wedding for Venue, Phuket – Thailand

event is special happening or occurrence including meetings, public & private gathering, conferences, conventions, exhibitions, and weddings. It usually happens once a year, in 4 years, or once in the live time like weddings.

A written or oral inquiry is confirmed in writing within 24 – 48 hours. In this email, the convention services manager draws attention by means of the hotel fact sheet . The customer’s information is taken up.

Sample of the inquiry confirmation letter/email

Dear Mr. Customer,

Thank you very much for your inquiry dated 1^st June. For your dealer meeting of 6^th– 9^th December, we have accommodation and suitable facilities available; seminar rooms 5 to 8 have already been provisionally reserved for you and the 50 participants. We will send you the detailed offer, containing information with regard to facilities and technical infrastructure as well as menu suggestion for lunch, within the next few days.

As part of our quality service, we will make every possible effort to turn your dealer group’s meeting into success. We stand for efficient organization and personal consulting. From now on, during planning phase, I will be your exclusive contact. My direct phone number is 123 456789 and I will be please to answers your questions at any time.

Should there be any further queries or assistance required, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best regards,

Mr. Manager

A complete offer is sent to the potential customer preferably 24 hours after receipt of the inquiry or within 72 hours at the latest.

It consists of an accompanying letter/email, all the informational as well as an individual, written offer.

A uniform structure is used for the offer in order to guarantee a clear and professional appearance. The offer always contains the standard elements mentioned.

Please find the sample banquet kit.

Within 72 hours, the follow-up phone call/email is made in order to discuss the offer in detail. If requested, a new and more precise offer is made and sent to the customer.

If the customer does not reply, the follow-up is repeated after one week.

If the answer is negative (lost business), the customer’s exact address is recorded in the sales follow-up file and used for sales activities, such as mailings.

The customer reacts to the offer either by calling or in writing. They give the convention services manager their consent to continue with the order. If they do not react within the time of the set deadline, we contact them.

Within 72 hours, the convention services manager sends the customer the order confirmation, together with an accompanying letter/email and the general terms of business (Contract).
One copy of the confirmation must be signed and returned by the customer.

Sample of order confirmation for dealer group meeting of 6^th-9^th December      

Dear Mr. Customer,

Thank you very much for your order as confirmed by phone/email on 20^th June. We look forward to being your attentive host for the dealer group meeting on 6^th-9^th December. We will do every thing in our power to organizer and carry out your event according to your ideas. Enclosed, please find the order confirmation containing the exact schedule as discussed in detail.

Please check the order confirmation and write down possible corrections directly. The order confirmation with your signature and date is to be returned by 30^th June. The team here is looking forward to welcoming your dealers on the occasion of your meeting.

Best regards,

Mr. Manager

Please find sample of the contract.

Seven business days before the event, the convention services manager calls the customer in order to find out whether all the information and agreements are still valid or whether they have to be adjusted.

All information are summarized into internal communication means which are BEO (banquet event orders/function sheet and group booking recap/group resume (include rooming list)

As discussed between the convention services manager and the service staff member at the coordination meetings, the check-list is complied. Internal pre conference meeting must be organized to finally recap/discuss

all arrangements which are needed to be done by each department.   

Clients (PCOs/end user) usually arrive couple of days before the event date which the pre conference meeting must be organized for both venue and clients to make sure that both parties
are on the same page of communications.

Check-list

It is one of an convention services manager’s main responsibilities to make sure that the range of tools is complete and that the equipment is functioning with the help of the checklists below.

Office supplies

A box containing small items is placed on the table:

· Pens for flip charts
  (3 colors in 3 tip sizes: m, f and s)
· Pointer for LCD projector
· Paper punch
· Stapler and refill staples
· Ruler
· Correcting tape or fluid
· Tape
· Magnets
· Pins
· Paper clips
· Scissors
· Waste-paper basket
· Flip chart with paper · Pinboard and accessories or magnetic board

Technical equipment

· LCD projector with carriage and table projector    
  (placed on the right of the table)
· Screen (mobile or integrated)
· Telephone
  (incl. list of the most important internal numbers)
· Mains connections: 110/220/380 volt
 (depending on the hotel’s location)
· Cable TV (as in the hotel rooms)
· Direct (ISDN) telephone line
· Curtain/roller shutter
· Light dimmer
· Speaker desk
· Amplifier with loudspeakers and  
microphone/headset (for large rooms)
· DVD/Video recorder and TV set
· Laser pointer

On the conference tables

· Desk pad
· Pen
· Writing pad
· Mint
· Water
· Soft drinks
· Function sheet with coffee break, lunch and dinner schedule
· Price-list and technical data sheet for in-house technical equipment (e.g. LCD projector)
· Price-list for external technical equipment

Inspection of the meeting room

– Is the technical infrastructure complete and is the entire equipment functioning?
– Are all name tags there and in the right place?
– Is the sign of the room spelt correctly and in the right place?
– Is the range of writing utensils complete and do they work?
– Is the LCD projector functional?

Set-up check

– Are the required plates and glasses/coffee cups/mineral water on the table?
– Does every participant have a writing pad and a pen?

Welcoming

Both the convention services manager in charge, banquet manager/supervisor and service staff member welcome the customer. After welcoming the guests, banquet staff members take on the responsibility for the smooth operation of the event.

Direct phone number

During the event, there is no need for an convention services manager to be present all the time.

Therefore, they leave their direct phone on a business card.

Presence and inquiry

Even if there are no direct questions, banquet staff member inquires about the guests’ needs
at regular intervals.

Food and beverage lists for catering

Putting up signs for the event serves as a first friendly contact with the customers and helps them to get their bearings either by using the classical sign or the info LCD screen.

In general, it is important that all signs are clearly labelled in the area of the banquet and seminar
rooms and that they are put up in places where they are clearly visible. If possible, the customer’s logo is always integrated as well.

We have produced a range of tools. Some of the listed advertising material: neutral writing pads and flip chart pads can be ordered from the web shop.

Any important comment made by the customer is written down in the customer file by convention services manager or banquet staff member. The questionnaire is to be handed to the customer.

Additionally, we hand the questionnaire to the customer at the end of the event and ask
them to answer it right on the spot and return it to the event/convention services manager before leaving. This step is very important for quality control and gives an idea of the customer’s satisfaction. If the comment contains important information with regard to the sales follow-up file, this information must be recorded and processed further.

Informing customers at regular intervals about our activities strengthens the customer relationship and can lead to new orders.

Within 72 hours of the end of the event, we send a letter/email to the customer thanking them
for the trust placed in us.

Sample of thank you letter/email – Thank you for hosting the dealer meeting with us

Dear Mr. Customer,

We hope that you still have pleasant memories of your dealer meeting during 6^th – 9^th December and we are happy that everything was to your liking. The team would like to thank you once more for your trust placed in us.
— OR —
It was indeed a pleasure and privilege to host your dealer meeting during 6^th – 9^th December with us.
We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks for your valued patronage and opportunity to host your event with us.

We do hope that guests enjoyed the stay and the event has been successful
or please let us know if there might be any comments we need to look at for further improvement.

We are now making a calculation of all costs with regard to your event and will send you the detailed invoice in two days. [if credit is granted]

The team here would be pleases to welcome you again very soon.

Best regards,

Mr. Manager

The customer is sent a clear final invoice with a separate accompanying letter/email after the end of the event as soon as possible.

Dear Mr. Customer,

As announced, please find the final invoice for the dealer meeting of 6^th-9^th December 2011 hereto attached. Please check the invoice and call us any time if you have questions.

Thank you once more time for having chosen us and I will be our pleasure to be at your disposal also in the future.

Best regards,

Mr. Manager