Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

Most of us in business won't be called upon to manage a special event like the U.S. Open Golf Tournament, but learning from some of the preparations made are a good lesson when we enter into unique marketing events in our businesses beyond our normal comfort and operations zones.

In a May interview on the U.S. Open Web site, Mike Antolini was asked what he had to do to make the tournament a success. Antolini is the manager for the 2008 U.S. Open.

The two major insights Antolini gave for managing the myriad things that needed to be prepared, were communication and training.

When we embark on something outside the norm of doing business everyday, it means there will be things we need to prepare for that are different than we usually do.

In the case of the U.S. Open, Antolini said concerning communication, it was more than simply making sure people knew what was going on, but also building and maintaining relationships throughout the entire process and event; especially with the officials involved.

Operational elements not usually a major concern at the golf course were now in play, as the crowd size would be much larger than normal, and things like parking and transportation needed to be taken care of.

Because there are a large number of volunteers, as well as new duties, training is an essential element to successfully initiating something beyond the normal way of doing things, and making sure everybody understands their duties and can fulfill them is crucial to success.

Finally, the last unique aspect concerning special events is there is always a carryover of the event to take care of things after it is completed.

The thing about special events is there are a lot of temporary things connected to it that must be handled once it's over. That could be anything from dismantling and taking down special booths and structures, to following up on consumers or clients that are interested in what we have to offer them.

In other words, there is the possibility that a potential windfall of new business comes about from a special event, and taking care of that is as important as the event itself.

To conclude, communication and training are essential in conducting unique, special events because there are elements involved not part of the usual way of doing business for our people. Following up on the impact on the event on those we're conducting it for are also very important, as it should be the reason for the event in the first place.

Even if the event is for the purpose of branding, we should minimally thank those that attended and offer some type of appreciation to them for attending or showing interest.

The bottom line is we must be thoroughly prepared, as creating a special event could end up being a nightmare if we don't provide those interested with a good experience.