"How to Organize a Successful Major Event"

1 — What is the best event you have participated in? Which event are you the proudest of in terms of its outcome?

For me personally, one of my greatest memories is of the Nuclear Security Summit 2014. This event was held in The Hague (which is about 20 km from our property) and was attended by 58 world leaders, 5,000 delegates and 3,000 journalists. At the NH Conference Centre Leeuwenhorst we were delighted to welcome some of the world’s most powerful broadcasting networks like NBC, the United States Secret Service, the Dutch military force and a large part of the Dutch police force. For three days in a row we were fully booked, with every square metre of the hotel in use, 24/7. We served approximately 5000 meals per day on site and the cooperation we had, especially from the Dutch military force, was amazing.
We also hosted the 35th edition of the International Fundraising Congress at the hotel. What is also remarkable is that the previous 34 editions also took place here at NH Conference
Centre Leeuwenhorst. Fundraisers from all over the world travel to Noordwijkerhout to share knowledge and experiences and to work on new strategies to make the world a better place.
Another important event that we were truly excited about was one of our largest annual events; 1,400 guests attend a corporate programme to learn from one another, to develop themselves, and to become even better managers than they already are. It started on Sunday evening with a welcome dinner, not a buffet-style meal, but a sit-down meal for all 1,400 guests–a large-scale operation where we were only satisfied when achieving the best in service and quality. And what did this mean to us? Well, all 1,400 guests received their course within 18 minutes, all dietary requests were handled with care, drinks were served from the moment our guest entered the room, each one of our staff members had a smile on their face and, of course, a proactive attitude.

2 — What is the most important thing to keep in mind when organising an event?

There are a few important things to keep in mind, but the absolute most important one is that our client is TOP priority. Customer satisfaction is the number one focal point and I feel that we can achieve this through teamwork and cooperation with our clients. We are one team in organising their (and our) event. In addition to this, we never say no, as I feel there is always a solution to any challenge that may occur.

3 — Do you have any trick or system that helps you to properly understand the customers’ needs?

It might sound simple, but just to open the lines of communication, to really ask what the client’s wishes are. To listen and act upon what you are told is something that is not often done. Of course this is a big task for our booking office, but this is also important during the event. Our NH Ambassadors are in constant contact with the guests, to ensure that we meet their needs immediately.
Food planners play an important role in the preparation of meetings and events. Our head chef creates a catering menu and we invite our clients to a menu tasting. But how do we actually know what they like? To be 100% sure, we are currently developing a test that will help us understand exactly what our clients like. Within this test they are asked questions like: ‘Do you prefer vanilla ice cream or raspberry ice cream?’; ‘Do you like cappuccino or espresso?’, etc. With the results, we can determine the preferences of a client. Future plans are also to adapt this to whole buffets; when your test shows that you like, for example, sweet, or sour, or bitter, etc. we can advise you to choose the buffet with a stronger presence of this type of flavour.

4 — Are there valid formats for all kinds of events or does every event need to be customised?

Every event is different. Maybe not when you look at the content, but every contact person is different and requires a different approach. Also, when the contact person is the same, the attendees are different, the circumstances are different, the state of mind of the contact person and the delegates, etc., etc. All of this affects the event. It is our job to read between the lines, have a personal approach and create the perfect event for our clients.
We learn new things every single time and take these valuable lessons into account for the next event.

5 — Nowadays consumer feedback is very important. How do the opinions of the attendees help to improve the service?

Our goal is to never receive negative feedback after an event, simply because once the event has taken place, we can no longer do anything about it. Part of our teamwork is focused on a daily evaluation with our client to hear about their experiences, to discuss the programme for the coming day and to evaluate the day before. This great tool helps both our client and us to be able to work on every last detail, exceed expectations, and make every event a memorable one!

6 — What are the clients’ most frequent requests: state-of-the-art technology, customisable catering, eco-friendly services…?

It is a combination of things. Catering is definitely a very important aspect for any event. Therefore we use the food planners as explained previously. And technology is, I think for most of our clients, very important. This can mean paperless events where every participant has their own personal screen where they can view presentations and work, or apps that are being developed to share details about the event such as the programme, which sends messages with the latest news about the event. But it is also a great way for participants to network.