Anyone who hasn’t loved the Simpsons can eat my shorts quite frankly.  Yet you’d be forgiven if you’ve not turned to it over the years for sound career advice as an event organiser.

Well, we think you could have missed a trick!

Don’t worry though, because we’ve got you covered, as we distill 25 years of brilliant Simpson’s advice into a few key lessons for event organisers below:

1.

In this classic 1993 episode, Treehouse of Horror IV, Homer perfectly demonstrates the power of exclusivity and scarcity in driving demand.

The lesson: If you want to create some ‘must-have’ brand equity, think of limiting the supply for your event (or create an exclusive event within an event) and watch people drool at the prospect of getting in.

2.

Courtesy of Buzzfeed.com

When you do get people through the door, make sure you do everything to delight them.  As this quote from the “The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show” episode demonstrates, everything is instantly public these days, so run your event as though it will be broadcast to the world instantly (it probably is).

The lesson: Try to build an event experience that meets and exceeds your guest’s expectations at every turn.

3.

In ‘Homerpalooza,’ Grampa Simpson provides a stark warning to all event organisers out there about the need to keep on trend year-in, year-out, or risk being seen as outdated.

The lesson: To stay relevant and flourish, you cant live in the past! Keep reinventing your event to stay current and even keep ahead of the latest trends.

4.

Courtesy of Buzzfeed.com

Talking of ‘being with it,’ there’s nothing more in vogue right now than content marketing.  This quote from “Mountain of Madness” is a great reminder that sharing interesting ideas and valuable content is a powerful way to drive inbound interest in your event.

The lesson: Create and share compelling content to build leads and interest in your event.

5.

“Oh, yeah. Beer busts, beer blasts, keggers, stein hoists, AA meetings, beer night. It’s wonderful, Marge. I’ve never felt so accepted in all my life. These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined.”  This quote from ‘Homer the Great’ should make all event organisers ask themselves: Do you make your attendees feel like you know them? Do you know what they want and need?  Or do they feel like an anonymous number?

The lesson: Great events feel like a community, where everyone is accepted for the shared interests they have, and the community feel that the organiser understands their needs.

6.

One of the most famous quotes to emerge from The Simpson’s, Millhouse goes from hating his ‘Flood pants’ to being very happy with them moments later after homer floods the school for an art project.  It’s easy to feel like this about parts of event planning, where you think the chances of something going wrong are so remote, it hardly seems worth preparing for.  However, you never know what’s just around the corner.

The lesson: Always be prepared!

7.

Our final lesson from the Simpons brings us to the idea of technology and the role it should play in your events.  To make sure it’s an asset and not a liability, Homer perfectly illustrates the need to make everything as simple and intuitive as possible, which is what we strive for here at Eventbrite.

The lesson: Choose event technology that creates a seamless and easy experience for you and your customers.

Given how many episodes there are to choose from, we know that there are many other great lessons for event planners in The Simpsons that we haven’t covered.  Please share them in the comments below!