There is a lot of work necessary to pull off a perfect event. It breaks down into five separate jobs. I have written job descriptions for these, and posted these to my “Perfect Events” website. And no, this does not mean you need five people. Keep reading.
Event Presenter. This is most likely the financial advisor, although it could be a wholesaler, or other guest speaker.
Producer. This person has been given authority to get the plan executed. Ideally, this person does not hold any other of the key positions listed, but quite frankly, it is rare for a team to be large enough so that each person only has one job.
Event Coordinator. This person is primarily responsible for the Production Plan.
Event Marketing Director. This person is responsible for getting people to attend and such follow-up as is required by the Communications Plan.
Event Communications Assistant. This person sends out mass mailings, confirmation letters and emails, and individual letters to attendees and no-shows. In order to accomplish this, he or she must be quite adept at managing the FA’s database.
Based how much help you have, here is how I would configure these jobs.
Solo FA. You are everything, including overworked.
FA and One Assistant. The FA is most likely the Event Presenter, Event Producer, and Event Marketing Director. Your assistant is the Event Coordinator and the Event Communications Assistant.
FA, One Full-Time, and One Part-Time Assistant. This one can be tricky. The FA is still the Event Presenter, Event Producer, and the Event Marketing Director. The full-time assistant is the Event Coordinator. But a part-time person, if possible, should take over as Event Communications Assistant. It’s rarely a good idea to let the Marketing Director and the Event Communications Assistant be the same person.
FA with a Perfect Team. This perfect team consists of a full-time service assistant that doubles as Event Coordinator, a full-time marketing Director who handles the entire event marketing functions, and a part-time computer operator who becomes the Event Communications Assistant. Whoever is more administratively perfect, can take over as Event Producer. This leaves the FA as Event Presenter. As such, it is his or her job to show up, give the event, and then see people who attended.