What are you doing to avoid the holiday event planning rush in your organization? In a few short weeks, organizations are going to decide that they want to have a holiday party and you have to help them. Sometimes holiday parties can give you a run for your money, especially when they are planned last minute. What can you do to stay ahead of the curve?

• Email meeting sponsors early and often to remind them of the services you offer around holiday events
• Already have a list of popular spots in your destinations of expertise and their unavailable dates
• Be prepared with some local activities that can enhance the experience of your attendees
• Be prepared also with some local trends that you can suggest to your client to help them expedite the planning process
• After program is confirmed, try and plan ahead with all of the logistics of the program
• Manage onsite expectations well in advance
• Try to set up advance expectations on reconciliation with the venue and your meeting sponsor immediately following event to avoid year-end reconciliation frustrations.

Try to stay ahead of the game by gaining buy-in for programs early, and pushing them forward to implementation. The sooner you can have some events planned the better. Why? So you can get to your holiday shopping – of course!

Any other tips to stay ahead of the season? Would love to hear them in the comments.

Photo credit: Noelle Noodle via Flickr