This is the final part of our Event Planning Checklist. Today we will explore what should be on your checklist in the final run up to your event, starting with one week before the big day:
A week before the event and your event planning checklist should almost be complete. Use this final week to double-check everything and get organised for the event itself. Here is a list of things to do and check:
- Give staff a full briefing with a walk-through of the event
- Check flights/speaker travel
- Confirm all arrangements and timings with venue, including final numbers for catering
- Confirm arrangements with all other suppliers
- Send reminder email to all delegates to let them you know are looking forward to seeing them at the event
- For larger events, a dress rehearsal is advised. If speakers are not available, a walkthrough with staff and the AV Company is advisable
- Print name badges for all of your delegates, staff, speakers, sponsors and exhibitors
- Consider how you will collate feedback. There are many ways to do this, such as a form for people to complete on the day, an electronic survey on the day or an online survey for delegates to complete after the event.
- Make sure all your event staff know where and when they need to arrive
- Pack your equipment ready to take with you to the event – here are some of the things you will need
- A lap top with all of your event documents saved into one folder
- Name badges
- Conference bags and literature
- Stationery box – including scissors, pens, sticking tape, blu-tack, phone chargers
- A list of important contact names and numbers – e.g. speakers contact details, key staff, key suppliers
- Feedback forms
- Print outs of your briefing document for staff
- Personal items such as deodorant, mobile phone, spare cash
On the day
On the day of your event, the key thing to remember is that some of the things on your event planning checklist will not go exactly as you planned. If things do go wrong, remember:
- To stay calm.
- It is highly likely that the majority of your delegates won’t even notice, so don’t be too disappointed and don’t beat yourself (Don’t sweat the small stuff!)
- Try to resolve the problem; this is when an event planner needs to be at his or her most resourceful and don’t be afraid to ask for help
- If the problem can’t be solved, then consider what contingencies you have in place or if all else fails, make relevant apologies and move on.
Once you are in the right frame of mind and ‘ready for anything’ you need to consider the practical elements:
- Arrive early so that you can be completely organised before delegates start to arrive
- Ensure you have all of your pre-packed equipment (lap top, name badges etc) either with you, or already at the venue
- Unpack all of your equipment in an orderly fashion so you know where everything is
- Re-brief all staff so they are clear about what is expected of them
- Ask your registration staff to start putting out name badges (these should already be in alphabetical order for ease on the day)
- Make sure you have a member of staff ready to welcome speakers, exhibitors, sponsors and VIP’s to the event (depending on the size of the event, you may need several people for this job)
- Reconfirm all timings and refreshments with the venue (don’t forget to schedule time for you and your event staff to eat/take breaks)
- Ensure conference bags/programmes/materials are easily accessible to give to your delegates as they arrive
- Check sound/light equipment and staging
- Ensure all presentations have been uploaded and that your AV technicians are clear on the order of the presentations/speakers
After the event:
- Evaluate the event’s success
- Did it meet the objectives set out at the beginning – if not, why not?
- Were budgets met?
- What did the feedback tell you?
- Write to all speakers, sponsors etc to thank them for their contribution to the event
- Do a de-brief with staff to evaluate what worked and what could be done better
- If the event is an annual event, write a checklist for the person who will organise the event next year
Maximizing your investment
To complete your event planning checklist, we take a look at how to maximise your investment. All too often people organise events and share powerful information that has a high value. Whilst the people in the room benefit from this shared knowledge, many people forget to maximise their investment and share the knowledge with a wider audience beyond the event itself.
With the rise of social media come lots of opportunities to share your message further. By using the information shared at the event you can use this to attract people to your website, promote your next event, or position you as an expert – here are just a few ideas:
- Film the event to make a show real/promotional video for your website
- Write an Article based on one of the presentations and give it away on your website in return for contact information (this will give help to build your database for future events)
- Put the PowerPoint slides from your event on http://www.slideshare.net
to help drive traffic to your website - Sell footage or Audio recordings from the event to generate additional income
