After years of planning association events, I’ve learned that success isn’t about everything going perfectly (spoiler alert: it never does). It’s about being prepared, staying flexible, and keeping people at the heart of it all. Here are a few skills I’ve found most useful for planning and implementing association events.
The Planner’s Checklist
A solid checklist is your best friend. It keeps you organized when details start piling up. You can support this by providing clear, timely information. As an association volunteer leader, ensure your event manager’s checklist includes things like final floor plans, volunteer shifts, dietary requests, sponsor logos checked, and emergency contacts printed. Once, having “extra name badges and markers” on my list saved the day when a big group of walk-ins showed up. Instead of scrambling, we had everything ready, and registration kept moving smoothly. Trust your event manager’s process; the little items you think you’ll never need often make the biggest difference.
The Juggler’s Mindset
On event day, your event manager will be pulled in different directions. They might be checking booth setups, answering a question at the info desk, and making sure coffee stations are restocked—all before the first session even starts. Your role as an association leader is to be a calm, decisive point of contact for staff and volunteers. The ability to juggle and prioritize on the fly is what keeps everything moving without attendees noticing the scramble behind the scramble.
The Master of Calm Chaos
Something always pops up. Maybe the tech fails, or a keynote cancels, or the freight container is late. I once had a situation where the container carrying all the booth materials arrived late, which set back the entire setup. We kept everyone calm by offering beverages to the exhibitor memberswhile the team worked quickly to get everything ready. In a crisis, your most important job is to back up your event manager’s decisions publicly and help manage the expectations of other stakeholders. Staying flexible and keeping people comfortable makes a big difference—it turns potential stress into a manageable situation.
The Experience Architect
When your event manager walks through a space, they try to see it the way an attendee would. Is it clear where to go? Are the seats comfortable enough for a full-day program? Does the schedule balance learning with breaks? You are the voice of your members. Walk the space with your association event manager beforehand and provide this crucial feedback. Provide comfortable chairs and a water cooler dispenser to keep attendees relaxed and refreshed. Collaborating around real needs like this always pays off. Remember, it’s the little things that sometimes can have the biggest impact on the success of your association’s event!
The Creative Scout
Fresh ideas keep events memorable. Sometimes it’s simple—like swapping paper agendas for a mobile app that lets attendees build their own schedule. Other times it’s about the atmosphere, like adding live music during networking receptions. Once, we added a DJ to the show’s floor to make it more lively, and the atmosphere completely changed; attendees were energized and more engaged. As an association volunteer leader, you can empower this creativity by creating a budget and culture that allows for some experimentation. Creativity doesn’t have to be over the top; it’s just about making the experience a little more memorable.
The Real Keys to a Successful Partnership
Pulling off a great event is a team effort. By trusting your event manager’s expertise, providing clear leadership, and acting as a bridge to your members, you’ll set everyone up for success. At the end of the day, it’s about making people feel welcome and giving them a reason to come back next year.