EVENT PLANNING, A BROAD OVERVIEW

Whether planning a huge extravaganza or an intimate get together, you need to have a plan in place. This can be formal, casual, or even roughly put together in your head.

Establish Your Event's Vision and Objectives

• What is the purpose?

  • Is it celebrating or honoring someone?

  • Is it memorializing someone?

  • Is it celebrating a holiday?

  • Is it a casual gathering?

  • Is it something else altogether?

Details to Consider

Guests Budget Venue

Decor Menu Entertainment

Supplies Special purchases Marketing and promotion

Set up Clean up Timeline

Develop a Project Plan (this can be more or less formal)

• FORMAL PLAN (a large wedding; holiday party at work…)

  • Should you hire out for a professional planner?

  • Establish a budget early on to better guide your decisions.

  • Put together a detailed timeline of when tasks are to be dealt with and who is responsible for what tasks.

  • If this is a large event, you may also need to make delegees aware of each other’s responsibilities in case they need to cross communicate.

  • As is appropriate, the timeline should include:

    • Approval process deadlines

    • Item selection deadlines (see “Details to Consider” list)

    • Contract signing deadlines

    • Ordering items (allow buffer time when appropriate and possible)

    • When to send out marketing and promotion (including invitations)

    • Any follow up dates that might be required

    • Set up and clean up schedules for the day(s) of the event

    • If this is to be a repeated event, it is a good idea to plan a post mortem to review and analyze the success of the event.

    • If a team worked together on the event, it is good to have a debrief on the effectiveness of the team and how they worked together.

• INFORMAL PLAN (small gathering of friends and/or family) - This can be accomplished ad hoc. Personal examples:

  • Family celebration:

    • Coordinate schedules to establish date/time/location

    • If going out somewhere, can we make a reservation?

    • If staying in, what is the menu?

      • If ordering food, do that as soon as possible

      • If preparing food, establish a purchase and preparation schedule

      • If doing it potluck, coordinate menu items

    • Are any special decorations?

    • Are we providing any party favors?

  • Backyard bonfire/cookout:

    • Establish a date/time and communicate (we have a neighborhood text group)

    • Be clear about what you will/won’t provide (food/beverage/seating...)

    • Make sure you have all the supplies needed that you have stated you will provide

    • In our case there are a lot of neighborhood kids, so they entertain themselves. If there are few kids, you might want to provide yard games/toys or reach out to the families to for ideas.

Execute and Manage the Event

Once you have all the planning completed, know that everything will not go to plan. Be ready the unforeseen, and try to fit it into your established budget and timeline as much as possible.

• Execute your own responsibilities in a timely manner.

• Regularly review the project plan for any alterations that need to be made. If working with others, make sure any alterations are clearly communicated and understood.

• If tasks have been delegated, make sure to check in with those responsible, and when appropriate, provide them with the support needed to be successful.

• If there is a team, make sure that everyone knows their responsibilities for the day(s) of the event, and that they know who they may need to coordinate with.