Every student will have that experience of running a flawless event, an event where everything clicks, guests are equally impressed, and the student feels like they can do anything. However, most student planners will pay for pathetic oversight errors during planning that could have been avoided, and that has ultimately wasted precious time, money, and trust. From failing to conduct research to overindulgence in creativity without structure, small mistakes can accumulate quickly. From skipping research to overloading creativity without structure, small mistakes can snowball fast.
In this post, we’ll uncover the 5 most common and surprising mistakes students make when he/she plan for an event, and how you can sidestep them like a pro. Whether you’re running your very first college fest or dreaming of a think about a big career in event management, these tips will help you stand out and make your mark.
Organising an event in college, a festival, a cultural night, or a professional conference is usually one of the best moments of the student life cycle. Event planning is the perfect mix of creativity, chaos, and leadership.
But the reality of event planning sits in the underlying truth that it involves more than just planning a fun event with great decorations. Event planning is a strategy, teamwork, budgeting, and executing a plan. And because most students learn by doing, it is easy to make mistakes that seasoned professionals would never deliberately consider as a smart or controllable practice.
Here are 5 of the most common mistakes that many student planners encounter with ideas for how to be able to fix and address such events during your next big event.
By far, this is the most widespread and fatal blunder. Most of the students take all of the steps, like booking a stage, inviting guest speakers, and social media promotion, before getting a proper foundation in place.
Without a clear roadmap, you risk overlaps, delays, and confusion.
What to do instead:
Start with a timeline and task breakdown. Create a Google Sheet or project tracker listing every major responsibility: permissions, vendors, logistics, marketing, and coordination. Assign roles early and set internal deadlines a week before the actual due date.
Pro Tip: Use digital software tools like Trello, Google Calendar, or Asana to keep everyone aligned. Professionals rely on these for a reason!
It's easy to underestimate costs as a newcomer. It's the small things that drive the costs up, and the little charges for supplies, printing invites, and refreshments quickly add up. Many start-up student teams set their budgets with the assumption that sponsorships will "catch the rest" and scramble when finding out on the last day and hour, they don't have enough money.
Instead:
Make a complete budgeting sheet - consider every possible expense for the change you'll likely spend, and always double what your budget is for emergencies.
If you are depending on sponsorships, go to potential sponsors early with a values-based proposal, but don't ask them for the money right away. Instead, demonstrate the return on investment for them if they invest in your cause.
Hidden Lesson: Smart budgeting is at the base of professional event management - and one of the first Pentagon recruiters look for in candidates.
Events do not fail due to a lack of skill; they fail due to poor communication. When individuals assume that “somebody else will take care of it”, these responsibilities are not fulfilled.
Students often forget to assign various roles and responsibilities, such as head of logistics, head of marketing, finance manager, stage manager, or vendor coordinator, causing chaos on the day of the event.
What to do instead:
Before starting, define clear roles and reporting lines. Hold short daily or weekly stand-ups to review progress. Encourage open communication; problems discussed early are problems solved easily.
Real-world note: Professional planners use hierarchical team structures to maintain control — a skill GIEM students master through live project training.
Student planners can get so caught up in the decor, coordination, and star-studded invites that they sometimes forget who the event is for. It is well known that guests will remember their feelings and not how extravagant the setup or decor was.
What to think about instead:
Just think about it from your audience's perspective. How will they register, and how will they travel around the venue? Do you have enough rest areas, snacks and refreshments, or visible signage to get around?
Pro Tip: A good practice to try is a small dry run walk of the flow of the event, like you are at the event. By doing this, you will be able to identify weaknesses as an attendee before they become major issues.
After the event is over, most teams will celebrate and move on - without a doubt, but unfortunately, they are missing the most important step: reflection. What went well? What didn't go as planned? How could communication, budgeting, or planning improve?
If you skip this step, you will have to assume the same mistakes will not happen again.
What to do instead:
After each event, conduct a post-event review meeting. Ask everyone on the team to share one success and one suggestion for improvement afterwards. Document that in a shared file for future reference.
Pro Insight: Professional event agencies usually conduct extensive post-event audits — including analysing guest feedback, ROI, and efficiency metrics.
At GIEM Bhubaneswar, we understand that true learning happens when theory meets practice. That’s why our Event Management programs are designed to simulate real-world challenges, from planning college fests to corporate conferences.
Students at GIEM:
1. Learn to create professional event proposals and budgets.
2. Manage vendor communications, logistics, and sponsorships.
3. Work on live projects with industry mentors.
4. Understand emotional intelligence and guest experience design.
When they graduate, students of GIEM aren’t just event planners; they’ve grown into strategic, confident leaders ready to take roles in different events like weddings, corporate events, sports, and entertainment.
Inevitably, you will make mistakes, but what will make you great is learning from those mistakes. The only difference between a novice organiser and a professional is the preparation, communication and learning.
So if you have made these mistakes, don’t worry - you’re closer than you think to mastering the art of managing events. With training, tools and mentors at the Global Institute of Event Management (GIEM), you will run events that amaze and inspire.
Remember: Every great event starts with one smart decision - to plan better.