Crafting Purpose: The Key Role of Your Event's Why Statement
Your event’s “why” statement serves as the guiding force behind hosting it.
A well-crafted event-focused “why” statement goes behind intention; it can enhance brand identity, improve your bottom line, share your passion with your audience, foster community development, and provide purpose by reinforcing your event's big-picture concept.
Optimal formulation of your why statement involves adhering to the S.M.A.R.T. criteria - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.
Specific: Clearly define the accomplishment you aim to achieve.
Measurable: Introduce a quantifiable aspect to track goal attainment.
Achievable: Set realistic and attainable goals, avoiding over-promising.
Relevant: Ensure alignment with your company’s mission or goal.
Time-Bound: Establish a timeframe for goal achievement.
Your why statement should resonate with your company’s mission and be able to support your event production goals for the entire year.
Craft it with clarity, making sure it can be understood and embraced by all stakeholders, serving as an impactful guide during the planning and execution process.
To ensure consistency, your why statement should be communicated to all internal teams working on the event from marketing to graphic design, and of course your event production company.
Use this statement as a call to action, creating a road map that will drive progress of your event continuously forward. Engaging not only your rational thought but also your gut feelings by employing “The Golden Circle” method created by Simon Sinek.
On the outside loop it describes your company’s "what” – what they do; the middle loop describes “how”- how their company differentiates themselves; the inner loop describing the company’s “why” - why they do what they do and why is it important to them.
This way of thinking allows each concept to build on itself but be communicated from the inside out, making your why the most important loop.
This creation process will assist you in selecting your target audience, lead you to your pool of potential speakers, decide what educational content you want to develop, and even help you create the overall brand and design throughout your event.
Each task you complete in your event road map journey should not only lead you to the next step but also tie in all event elements back to your why statement.
For instance, if your why statement has a focus on educating young minds in the medical field, you could begin by considering inviting medical students at a discounted rate, which could lead you to think through targeted content for this level of attendee. You may then find yourself adding a specialty certification course to the agenda.
Attendees are looking for more connection, community, and purpose than ever before.
Use your why statement to drive innovation in the areas that matter most to them. Effectively communicating your why statement will show them your value add through your company’s passion and unique industry position.
This will encourage attendees to action before, during, and after your event ensuring they are able to cultivate an impactful experience using the same consistent themes shown in your why statement.
For example, if your why statement is about charitable giving through local community impact, consider organizing an offsite activity planting trees in a local park.
Partnering with RMM’s end-to-end planning service streamlines the process of crafting and developing your event experience, starting with construction of your why statement.
Collaboration between RMM and your team ensures effective progress towards your end goal-
-Employing a mission-oriented system and designing a road map in the process that will guide you through your event planning journey.