How to Organise an Awards Opening Ceremony

If you’re an event planner and need help with organising an awards opening ceremony, we can help you succeed with a killer awards opening ceremony. Since preparing for an award ceremony can be quite a difficult job, we’ve provided some useful tips from Judgify to get you to the top of the industry.

What is an awards opening day?

An awards opening day is a large-scale public event with the participation of the media and the press and the presentation of awards to the winners.

To help celebrate creative thinking, various awards are given during the opening and awards ceremonies. The awards opening show is also the first thing your attendees see at the awards event, so you will want to come up with some great ideas to succeed. 

Reasons to organise an awards opening ceremony

There are numerous reasons why event planners plan an awards opening ceremony: to raise awareness for a cause, to increase employee motivation, to raise funds, or to promote a business. If your client works within a particular industry, then there are numerous reasons why they may want to organise an awards ceremony.

What is expected of such events?

With so many different things to think about, working out how to plan an opening speech can take a lot of time and effort. It’s no wonder that a flawless opening, show, and closing are expected of such events.

How to organise an awards opening ceremony step by step

Decide the budget

It is important to foresee all the possible nuances associated with the finances and staff involved in the project. Any budget should be planned wisely to reduce unreasonable expenses and to have enough for the important items.

Define the event objectives

The first thing the event manager begins with is defining the goals of the event. The objectives of the event may vary, but they all will reveal the audience for which the manager is organising the event.

Decide the format and theme

You know best what ideas and concepts are perfect for your client’s program. Your first task is to help choose the subject and make sure your customers have a good fit for their brand. Connect the goal with the concept and format of the event while looking for organic but creative solutions.

Create the guest list

Make a list of your guests, and inform your staff of who has been invited. Use guest lists throughout your entire planning process. 

Find a venue

After creating the guest list, it is important to determine the date, site, and speakers (if any). Sometimes a room or date dictates the rules, so look for the strengths of each venue to find the best fit.

Select your ticketing or registration platform

The process of organising an event requires not only interesting and unique ideas but also involves painstaking work with documents, contracts, and estimates. Choose the right platform to avoid any extra manual work.

Approach your sponsors

If you need sponsors to support your event, approach them in advance, as they may be very busy or you may miss them because of your competitors’ proposals to sponsor their own events.

Marketing and advertising

Engage all resources, combine free and paid tools, test out different methods, and use only what works with your budget or audience size. 

Identify and hire the necessary vendors

Choose the best vendors by inquiring about which to include in your awards planning. It’s wise to do some upfront research so you can find people who match your needs and goals.

Final preparations

Plan ahead for all possible problem points, and make a list of solutions for any of these possible situations in advance. The final stage is connected with contractors and partners and the consolidation of all reports and estimates. Also, do not forget to effectively close the awards ceremony and collect guest reviews.

Things to do

There are lots of things to do both during the awards ceremony and after it, so don’t relax too soon. You’ll need to make surveys, follow up, and say many thanks to everyone involved. Use emails, social media, and any other available channels for this. Prepare the awards closing ceremony and follow up with thank you emails.

During the event

The best awards ceremonies are those where participants feel compelled to tweet or post on Instagram about it, use other social media, etc., and the success of the event lies in the fact that this happens regardless of whether they deem it to be well organised or not.

After the ceremony

Meetings are great and networking events are fun, but don’t forget the next step: a perfect follow-up e-mail that will help you stand out from all the others after the event. Thanks are the best way to make the audience share, so make sure you send thank you letters to the participants.

How to manage your ceremony

For the participants of the award ceremony management, this is a great opportunity to demonstrate their professionalism and to guarantee the importance and significance of their activity. This is also an occasion to think about how to make their work even better. Obviously, there are numerous reasons to control the management process of an event, from financial risks to security issues and so on. Each event organiser should be well prepared in any situation:

• Planning

• Sending invitations

• The submission process

• Choosing judges

• The opening speech

• Opening a ceremony

• Running a ceremony 

• Voting, automated scoring, and reporting

• Winners’ recognition
• Closing & following up

Planning checklist

Make a checklist of tasks to be accomplished for each part of the event. Be sure to write down the deadlines for the tasks and who is responsible for what. Reduce the risk to a minimum, and try to ensure that events are going according to your event management plan. Careful preparation, the selection of reliable performers, and the coordination of key points will allow you to hold a high-level event.

Best practices for organising an awards opening

So, you don’t have any ideas on how to organise the awards opening? Here are some creative ideas to rework your events and make them stand out. Include them in your planning checklist if your budget allows.

1. Make extravagant decorations like statues supported with colourful orchids, lilies, ferns, etc.
2. Invite a famous host to open your awards ceremony. 
3. Create a brand wall or use a social wall to welcome the guests. Make sure these are branded. The constructions along the red carpet may serve as decorations, or use a press wall and a unique background for photos of guests.
4. Choose a reliable software to manage an awards opening ceremony, sell tickets and invite judges, announce the winners, and analyse the event’s success.

Tips

If you need some tips on how to organise an awards opening ceremony and avoid mistakes, here they are:

Use event planning software

Apply modern event technology apps for everything you do at your events.

Set SMART objectives

It is worth remembering that the purpose, ideas and concepts, and other event expectations should be realistic and easy to measure. 

Understand who your main audience is

As soon as key points are agreed upon and the audience is defined, the main part of the work begins: promotion of the event and active work with the target audience.

Analyse your metrics

The technology used for organising an event has its own specifics, and you can only improve what you can count. Learn to set measurable goals, and it will be easier to achieve and analyse them.

Pick the right team

Hire a team and contractors wisely. They should be reliable and timely. Ask them to use these tips for successful event planning.

Promote your event

Choose and stick to the event promotion scheme. Keep in mind possible problem areas to prevent any mishaps. You can also maximise event marketing with Judgify.

Call to action

Create a bright award ceremony management opening to get the applause you deserve on the Judgify awards platform. You will do a great job at your awards ceremony!

Conclusion

Be sure to make your opening effective by inviting competent hosts, writing a closing award ceremony speech, hiring reliable vendors and the right venue, and thinking of awards planning tools to use to organise the most interesting awards program.  In the end, you have to collect all guest contacts, photo reports, and video reports; launch post releases; and post all information on websites and social networks to boost successful post-event effects. 

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