Events and event management should run with the famous ‘Keep It Simple Stupid’ mentality. Here’s why!

KISS, an acronym for ’Keep It Simple, Stupid’, is a powerful philosophy named after William of Ockham and too is a design principle noted by the U.S. Navy in 1960. Who would have thought that 60 years later this philosophy would be as prevalent as ever, no matter the business, no matter the industry.

According to Last Man Standing MD, Jorge Soares, “There is a lot of power in the statement ‘Keep it Simple; Stupid’. A marketing phrase that gets drilled into you from the moment you take on that BCom degree. The fascinating thing is that it rings so true in absolutely everything we do.”

From our daily lives and tasks to significant business operations, simple acts, choices and decisions become so unnecessarily complicated that what would have taken a fraction of the time to get done, takes a lot longer.

Packing unneeded intelligence and problem-solving skills as well as complex, far-sighted plans and actions means business owners and decisionmakers in event management will bypass the ‘simplest’ solution, the ‘too obvious’ choice and the right option. Case in point, not applying this age-old principle of KISS can affect your event business in more ways than one.

The Beauty of Keeping it Simple

Why wouldn’t you keep it simple when KISS allows everyone – from business staff to customers – to understand something without a message, instruction or offering being lost in translation. Increased clarity means rallying behind a chosen direction, a selected event. Why? Well, because customers’ levels of confidence when understanding your business offering, event or message will significantly impact their willingness to support it and to attend. So, KISS means everyone buys into your event. KISS allows your customers to ‘get it’ – what the event is and what it is about. A simple event message or offering will reach your broadest customer base and get them attending.

When it comes to an event, the less that can go wrong, the better. So keep your events and event management business following a simple model – a single ratio that highlights a single ‘X’. With a simple event model, you’ll have a straightforward direction along with simple measuring sticks that can be used to ensure your direct initiatives and goals are met.

“When we consider the process around how we do events; how we conduct business with our suppliers and clients; complexity seems to be irking its way into the process, and I’m hoping it’s not here to stay,” said Soares.

Use Kiss When Hosting Live Events

According to Soares, “Hosting live events; a concept I’m hoping we get to adopt fairly soon; will potentially be filled with complex health and safety regulations that bring with it an increase in costs across all aspects.

You can imagine what we will need to do around catering; decor; venue; etc; to be able actually to open the doors to guests. So; I’m hoping that the eventing community at large; which is made up of a great, creative bunch, comes together to find a way to keep this process simple.

There is a reason simple things do so well; I.e. Tik Tok, McDonald’s, Spotify, microwave-ready meals, I could go on and on.”

Underlying All We Do Is KISS

Soares says, “Underlying all of this is that great KISS principle; coupled with an ability to listen and see what your customer wants and give it to them in the simplest way process. It keeps them going back.

[We need to act like that coffee shop] It’s like that cup of coffee in the morning from their favourite spot. They [coffee servers] know their name; have recorded their most selected version of their hot beverage, and can get their customers in and out the door within minutes. Simple; good; quality service.

That’s what we believe in and that’s what we will continue to do at LMS.

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