Right along with weddings and births, college graduations are among the most joyous and memorable of life events. Which is why it’s so important to ensure a successful commencement ceremony that gets everything right, down to the last detail. When you consider that graduation is the event students have been working toward for years, it’s no wonder there’s a lot of pressure to make it perfect.
Here are some sure-fire tips for making sure your commencement goes off without a hitch:
Have a backup plan. If you’re planning an outdoor commencement, you’ve most likely identified an alternate indoor location, too, in the event of inclement weather. But be sure you’re also fully prepared for that change of venue on what could be short notice. For instance, do you have a trailer ready for moving chairs and other heavy items if the forecast predicts the worst? Are additional staff on standby to help make a possible last-minute move?
Take an “all hands on deck” approach. For an event as important as graduation, everyone on your campus team should be involved in making sure things go off like clockwork. Not only should there be ample staff covering the actual ceremony, make sure you have enough help available for parking, security, custodial and other ancillary needs.
Look at your campus as a whole. Sure, a lot of focus will be on the specific location where the ceremony will take place. But also remember that guests will be all over your campus at commencement time. Alumni in particular will want to cruise through their old haunts. Make sure your campus looks polished, from the front entrance to the lawns to the halls.
Organize, organize, organize. Remember the saying, “if you fail to plan, plan to fail.” Start early and develop action items, priorities and budgets, and assign out responsibilities. At National, we believe there’s no such thing as too much planning going into a graduation event.
Are you looking to ensure the most picture-perfect commencement? If so, talk to us. National’s facilities management services ensure pristine campuses, not only on graduation day, but every day, and we also offer professional event planning and other support resources. Let us remove the burden and plan a commencement ceremony that will leave your graduates and attendees with a positive, lasting impression.
Now let’s get those tassels moving from right to left!