1. Know your objective.  Knowing what you want helps you determine your target audience, cost, location and other details.

2. Decide your budget.  The budget you have influences the choice of speakers, meeting facility, type of food and beverage, decoration and a whole list of other things.  While one can plan for sponsorship, registration income or ticket sales, it is better to be conservative with spending in this kind of economy.  In general, people are getting more careful in how they part with their money.

3. Consider your objective & audience before determining a ticket price.  Some marketers and event organizers advocate charging a ticket price for an event to increase attendance because they claim that people see more value with a paying event and it is also more likely for them to show up if they have paid in advance.  Yes and no.  It really depends on the objective and type of the event. I have seen well-attended events that are free and have also attended expensive events that deterred many people from joining.

4. Add a cushion.  It is always useful to add a cushion of about 10% for unforeseen expenses.  You will also need to pay a deposit for the venue or food and beverage minimum. So make sure you have enough money in your bank account for all the upfront expenses.

5. Allow plenty of time.  This is a frequent mistake event planners have.  Most people are busy with different commitments in their lives - work, school, family, church, volunteer, social activities; and the list goes on and on.  You need to give plenty of notice so people can pencil the event in on their calendar.  Hopefully, the advance notice will also beat other events that may happen on the same day.

6. Promote using social media.  Having a nice event without people attending is like having a website but nobody can find it.  There are different ways to promote an event depending on what it is and who are the target audience.  Social media is a channel that should not be ignored.  Post it on Facebook, make a video to stir some interest or put it on the newspaper blog to create awareness in the local community.

7. Use RSVP.  Whether you decide to charge for an event or not, it is always good to know how many people will end up attending the event.  Always ask people to RSVP whether they are attending or not.  It helps with planning and eliminating waste.

8. Know the requirements of the meeting facility & the speakers. If you are inviting a speaker, make sure you know what kind of audiovisual equipment the meeting facility provides.  Most speakers assume that basic requirements such as LCD projector and flipchart will be available.  If this is not the case, you need to communicate that with the speaker in advance so alternatives can be planned out.

9. Inform your speaker with specific details.  I have been invited to speak on a few occasions and it is frustrating that the event organizer does not provide all the details a speaker needs.  Most speakers will not attend the whole event from morning till evening, so they need to know what time they need to be there, how much time they are allocated and the deadline to provide a headshot and workshop summary.  Good speakers will also want to know other details, such as some information of the audience so they can adapt their materials for more effective delivery.

10. Dot your "i"s and cross your "t"s. There is nothing more irritating than typos on flyers and website.  It will annoy your sponsors who see that their company name is not spelled right.  It happened to me before and that really made me think if the sponsorship was a right choice and whether I should even consider continuing the support the following year.  The participants will also start to doubt the professionalism of the event.