The Tribune

By D’Arcy Rahming

I just threw an awards banquet that was very successful in terms of what I needed it to do. The effect of the banquet was that sponsors were happy, clients were happy, the staff was happy and people felt honoured and respected. All involved were left with a really good feeling about the services we offer. This was confirmed by the positive comments received on Facebook, e-mails and in person when I followed up with pictures of the event.

But the event was not without narrowly-missed glitches that could have ruined it had I not done a walk-through before hand. For example, my caterers had only prepared for 70 people as of that morning, even though 140 ended up attending the event.

The original venue had to be changed at the last moment because of an air-conditioning malfunction. The caterers were all set to go to the wrong address. Certificates that we made had misspellings. The prizes that we had for over 40 persons were not ordered until the last moment. Persons did not RSVP, but showed up anyway.

All of these problems were solved by having a walk-through of the event. The idea of a walk-through, when throwing an event or launching a product, is very important yet seldom done. This requires that someone actually visualises what happens step by step before it happens. Then they should anticipate problems ,and provide solutions to them, before they actually occur. My recommendation is that you begin with the question: “What is the customer experience going to be?”

So I visualise a customer receiving an invitation to the event. Then a follow-up phone call that confirms their RSVP. Now they show up for the event. Where do they park their car? What are the first scenes they are greeted with? How do they know where to go to register? Who ushers them to their table? Will they be able to see and hear the awards being called? How will the tables get their food and in which order? About how long will all of these things take? And the questions go on and on.

During the walk-through you will find that among your staff there are often a lot of: “Oh, I thought you were responsible for that.” Or even indifference to what you are doing because they do not feel it is part of their job responsibility. Do not be surprised or frustrated. That is the purpose of the walk-through. At the end of the day, what really matters is that your event or presentation is received as you intended.

• NB: D’Arcy Rahming holds an MBA from the prestigious Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. A lecturer at the College of the Bahamas, Mr Rahming has clients in general insurance, retail, the health and medical fields, sports federations and financial services. He is also treasurer of the Bahamas Olympic Committee. To contact him he can be reached at DArcyRahmingsr@gmail.com.