Happy new year, from all of us here at Eventbrite!

As we return to work after the festive break, now is the time to decide on those new year’s resolutions and set goals for the year ahead.

Since December, we have been asking our EventTribe community for their 2018 resolutions – what came out of this was a list of useful tips from event industry professionals on what they plan to do to increase productivity and improve their events this year.

We take a look at some of those resolutions here…

1) Attend more events

Attending events is the ideal opportunity to discover event trends and gather inspiration. Whether it is an impressive caterer, a musical act or the venue itself, attending more events can provide useful information for when you plan your next one. Reach out to those suppliers afterwards and get them on board – you know how good they are as you have seen it first-hand.

Additionally, it is an opportunity find out what it is that makes an event desirable to attendees. By experiencing the event from the other side, as the attendee, you know what you liked and didn’t like and – most importantly – you know if you would attend a similar event again.

Keep an eye on the social media activity taking place around you. What are attendees tweeting about? What is the most “Instagrammable” part of the venue? This knowledge is hard to gather when you are rushing around as the organiser and don’t have time to mingle. Use this opportunity to your advantage when you are on the ground.

2) Read more industry content

Keeping on top of relevant blogs, news sites and publications not only keeps you informed on the industry but also provides inspiration for your own content.

You might run a blog that needs a new guest blogger or need some new content ideas to kick-start your 2018 content activity. Or, maybe you are starting your blog from scratch? Whatever your content need or challenge, make it your 2018 resolution to sign up to more newsletters and follow more blogspots to ensure you are immersed in the industry and have new topics at your fingertips.

Good sites to monitor include TechCrunch, Recode, Venture Beat and Wired, and right here at the Eventbrite blog, of course!

3) Know about GDPR

Coming into force on May 25, 2018, the introduction of GDPR will impact the rules around how event organisers gain consent to hold, use and share people’s data. The law stipulates that you must clearly explain how people’s data will be used and that they must provide “active” consent to that. Learning about this new regulation is, therefore, an advisable resolution to adopt for all event organisers.

Non-compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation could mean fines of up to €20 million and the legislation applies to everything from registration systems, event apps and surveys to social media, collecting business cards and scanning badges

This blog provides a comprehensive breakdown of the key GDPR changes. Make sure you are informed.

4) Tracking ROI/success of your events

Data, data, data. We heard that word echo throughout 2017 and it features on our list of resolutions for 2018 too – make it your mission to know more about your ROI and the success of your event through data.

To start this process for the new year, set your goals. Write down the reasons you’re running the event. Is it to make a profit through ticket sales? Generate sales or qualified leads? Attract new employees or partners, or educate and motivate existing ones? To build awareness or launch a new product? Decide on your goal.

Then attach metrics to each objective and decide on how you are going to monitor. Read this blog before you start implementing your new year’s resolution to find out how best to measure your event ROI.

A new year is a fresh start. Make sure that you start 2018 the right way with achievable goals and the determination to achieve them. Check out the EventTribe forum for more resolution inspiration.