Pulse March / April 2016 | Page 48

that plans are double-checked and without errors.” Pickard has also written an entirely separate protocol on booking, organizing and preparing events in order to properly prepare staff. All the same, the complex nature of these events can be difficult to handle. “Some events provide learning experiences despite our long-term success hosting them, and conducting postmortems after each event provides insights that can be incorporated into future events,” Tamba says. “However, the foundation for continued event successes is predicated on staff involvement that clearly identifies events’ requirements, needs, objectives and goals that must be met, as well to clarify the expectations of all staff involved.” Meeting these expectations is the first step in throwing a successful party. BEST TIPS FOR PLANNING A SPA PARTY “Every guest has one universal demand—to have an amazing spa experience,” Stringert says. “You don’t always have to reinvent what you have in place to make this happen. Listen to the guest’s needs and craft a thoughtful response. Add small personalized touches to the guest experience where you can, and if you cannot accommodate a request, make sure to offer an appropriate alternative.” n At the 2015 ISPA Conference & Expo, Professional Development Session (PDS) speaker and Mountain Waters Spa and Wellness owner, Marni Beninger, tackled “The Art of Event Planning for Spas.” Here, she offers five planning tips: 1. Purpose of the Party. This is the number one thing to take into consideration when you are first planning your spa party. Determine whether the purpose of the party is for guest appreciation, to introduce a new product, service or staff, to raise funds for the community, to have a grand opening, or anything similar. This will determine the budget, design and atmosphere of the entire event. 2. Time and Date. Picking the correct time and date will ensure the success of any spa party. Every spa is different, but the failsafe time to pick is that of your busiest time and day of the week as this has already been proven to be a time available for your guests. The other great way to pick a time or date is to pick a similar time and day of another successful event in the past with similar target demographics. 3. VIP Invites. You can either have an exclusive VIP event or you can start with your VIP Guests and also invite others. Be sure to include your target market top guests. Invite them with a personal phone call and, when possible, send a mailed invitation with a hand addressed. These are the peop