Event Planning - Event Management Checklist
- Alex Genadinik
- Jul 12, 2024
- 4 min read
“For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned.”
Anonymous
This blog serves as a high-level checklist for each event you host. Use it to be sure that you are not missing anything, and all the details are in place. Each of these topics will be covered in more detail in later chapters of this blog.
1. Set goals and objectives for your event series or single event
Do you want the event to make money as your main income? Or do you want the event to funnel customers to your business? Do you want the event to be purely social?
It is easy to say yes to all of the above, but you must identify your most important goal. That will help you focus all your planning, budgeting, and strategies around achieving that goal.
2. Great event concept
An event idea is more than a workshop or a hike. Think of an event as a tiny business that needs a tiny business plan.
You need an event concept that can be attractive to draw attendees and have natural promotion strategies. The event must also achieve other goals like generating revenue.
Plus, when planning an event, you must evaluate the costs and effort required to put on the event with sufficient quality. If the effort or budget needed is too high for the event's potential, the event idea might need to be reconsidered and adjusted until the outcome is more favorable or it is easier to put on the event without compromising quality.
3. Event-series name and branding
In addition to the titles of every single event, your event series should also have a name to reinforce branding. The name of the event series can be the same as your company name or contain your company name. For example, since my website name is Problemio.com, my events could be Problemio Business Events.
This helps people recall and recognize your events and your business because even though the event seems memorable to you, people are busy and forget. But if the logo, catchy and unique event name, or the name of your company pop up and repeat, that consistent branding will help people recall your events. Sometimes that makes the difference between retaining or losing an attendee.
4. Set an event date
From the beginning, set a clearly defined event date that is on a day that does not have major competing world events like the Super Bowl, Christmas, the Oscars, Emmys, Grammys, long holiday weekends when people might be out of town, or anything else that will compete with your event for attention and attendance.
This can also apply to the set time of your event. For example, the National Hockey League initially scheduled one of its playoff games for the same day as the show Game of Thrones aired its final episode. The National Hockey League knew that it was going to lose some of its viewers to Game of Thrones and was savvy enough to move the start time earlier in the day to avoid the conflict.
Since events are local, when you schedule your event, make sure that the local sports teams do not have a home game or are not in the playoffs, and there are no other major local events. This might feel like over-the-top-worrying, but all these events will compete for attention with your event and planning ahead can make a difference.
5. Venue
Most events need to be held somewhere. I ran events in parks and did not need to book an event space, but most events need to reserve space that can accommodate all the attendees.
Either find a way to secure free event space or find a way to have a sufficient budget to rent a venue. In many cases, the venue can be the most expensive part of hosting the event so this is a big challenge.
You must also make sure that people can easily get to the venue, understand carpool and parking options, make their way in without a big line at the door, and be comfortably seated once they get there.
Having an organization donate their space to your event is a great way to get your first sponsor without them having to spend money and without you having to pay for a venue.
6. Put together a team
For some events, especially when you are first starting out and the events are small, you may be able to put on the events on your own.
When you have 30-50 or more people attending an event, it helps to have additional staff to answer questions, help with organization details, and bring additional skills to the event like video recording, photography, or anything else that may be valuable. The staff members may also check people in, assist with a merchandise table, or make sure people are seated and know where to go. You can also have your staff help with marketing tasks like social media, publicity, SEO, or other marketing.
Even during my hiking events, which had no venue, no guest speakers, and no video recording, I needed additional staff. If I was leading a hike and walked in front of the group, that meant that there was no one to help the lagging people if they got lost, injured, or required extra personalized attention. Even for simple events, additional staff is still very helpful to ensure an event runs smoothly.
7. Speakers, presenters, and activities
Secure speakers, educators, guides, or entertainers who will be the main attractions of the events. Do not let anyone just come and present. Meet with them first and train them on what it will take for them to present well and for the attendees to have a good experience. They may be experts in their field, but they might not be expert presenters or easy to understand. It takes more than just knowledge of a field to command a crowd or room full of people. Make sure that they can present well, or your event will be unsatisfactory for your attendees, and they might never come back.
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