Event Management

Getting Better at Event Budgeting: 10 Alternatives To Save Your Dollars!

Eventually Learning Team

08 November 2022

Read time 6 minutes

“A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.”

Over the pandemic event organizers have lived the proverb “cut your coat according to your cloth”. Blame it on the sponsors & brands wary of plunging into the virtual world, not-so-pocket-friendly, new-fangled event tech on the rise and the high event staff attrition numbers draining on the brimming yesteryear event budgeting models!

But there’s no denying that event budget reallocations will be the reality in 2022! In-person events are slated to be back. Hybrid versions or not….the strategic event landscape is sure to change for the good with Extended Reality (XR), NFTs and Virtual Hologram-based presentations entering the event budgeting excel cell blocks. According to a Social Tables Survey Report 64% of event planners have already expanded their budget in 2022.

The twist in the event journey tale now will be “where to spend the dollars” and “where to do dollar savings” as commercialization of event planning automation & technology has brought many better and newer options to the fore.

The pandemic-hardened event managers are emerging stronger than ever – they are now 'poka-yoke'ing, SWOT analyzing and finding alternatives to optimize their event planning spends. They are trying out money saving tips and tricks! Here’s what they are trying out!

Trending Now: Co-located Events!

The event venue booking can mean a pretty sizeable cash outflow. While event planners are busy marking their calendars for off-season and early-date event space bookings, piggybacking your B2B event onto another similar-industry B2B event can be a better idea!

You could think along the lines of shared high-end menus, joint hospitality staff and going dutch on the collaborative in-event spots. The co-locating event trend is catching on……for example, The Subcon 2022 was held in June 2022 under one roof with The Engineer Expo and The Manufacturing Management Show!

Our Tip: Be on the lookout for local event creators and branding professionals, even vendors, with whom you can strategize your co-located event in unison.

Grab the Free Tools, Put Your Money Into The All-In-One Event Management Platforms

Event Production, especially the hybrid one is an art. You will need to segregate your ‘must-haves’ and ‘icing on the cake’ event requirements for optimizing your paying-outs to the various tech, venue styling, and experiential offerings.

For starters, surf through the free event management tools available in the market. You can try out the ClickUp software for project management, for custom 3D event diagramming it’s Social Tables, for everything in event registrations you can work with Wild Apricot, it’s boosting hybrid event engagement with InEvent! All these and more FREE tools promise to make your event absolutely eventful, without shelling out the dollars!
You can even reduce your operational costs on event promotions with these free digital softwares and tools.
And if you are into the best costing deals.....they are on with the all-in-one event management software platforms like PheedLoop wherein you can use a singular portal for access to event ticketing, plus registrations, plus programming, plus managing sponsorships, and analytics features. Try them for some super-savings!

More Money Saving Tips: Add On The Volunteering Positions!

This is the right time to empower yourself with extra manpower via event volunteering and internship programs. These slash the event staffing costs through value trade propositions. Some third-party staffing volunteers work for school credits, interns typically toil to gain more industry experience and assisting industry volunteers and personnel appreciate free tickets to the event’s networking lounges, concerts or anything that grants them the privileged staff access.

Our Tip: You can bank on the domain expertise of the interns and students, but if more complex event planning tasks have to be executed, it’s better to leave the tasks for completion to the full-time event staff.

Sometimes, training event volunteers demands that the event organizers take them under his or her wing. This requires effort on your part, but remember it’s worth it, financially and otherwise!

Choose Event Food and Drink Options Wisely

You don’t have to dish out fancy, expensive dishes at your event necessarily. You can be a palate-pleaser even with DIY Pitas, Falafels, Salad Bars and Cupcakes.

Instead of rich buffet stations, oversized appetizing canapés that are circulated around the networking room can work brilliantly, coupled with fruit juices that the audience can consume on the go! If you see the budgetary spends as well, if you’re hosting an event in New York City, a buffet would cost $47.50 – $67.50 per head, but canapes cost only $25 per head, per hour, for unlimited munches.
Beef and fish are dearer than chicken. You can garnish chicken breasts with sauces and herbs to give your event plate an exotic feel, that’s easy on the pocket. (Chicken breast is $8 Vs. Beef being $38 per 2.2lb tenderloin cut)

About the beverages & booze! Swap packaged water bottles with a portable water station. Swap full-shelf liquors and hard drinks with signature cocktails or non-alcoholic alternatives. Another way to curb the drink spends is to offer on-arrival drink tickets. If any attendee wants to indulge in more drinks they can always pay at the event bar!

If Your Paying For Attendee Travel…STOP!

With various Covid and Omicron variants making their entry and exits on the global map, global travel is out of the question for most event attendees. So, this is a good time to save on those business class tickets and premier hotel accommodations. If you’re a staunch advocate of in-person events, you could try doing something different for a change. Re-direct your grand F&B and Venue Decoration Costs to choosing a robust hybrid event management platform!

You could also embark on sending Virtual Reality Kits to attendees. (A VR kit can be rented at $250). An 8k Virtual Reality Camera costs $7000 to rent. A total of $10,000! Think about it. But if you want to get 10 attendees from the other side of the globe to your event venue, the flight and accommodation charges for 3-4 days combined, would cost a lot more!!

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the alternatives for cutting down printing costs at an event?

Some good alternatives to cut down printing costs at an event are developing a mobile-optimized event platform or website, an event app or making use of in-event RFID wearables.

Is it okay to stick with virtual events in 2022 as well?

Given the industry losses during the pandemic, it would be a wise budgetary move to stick to virtual event production in 2022. This move will reduce your event costs by large numbers, while keeping you visible in the market.