Checklists: The Event Planning Bible

My only experience of event planning has only been at university level, where students are given hypothetical situations and simulation clients. I could go extravaganza with ideas. With unlimited budget, the sky is the limit (actually, I've also had ideas involving outer space so there is no actual limit) when it comes to event planning. While hypothetical and simulation clients in university helped give me an idea about public relations campaigns and events, experiencing an actual event and the process of pulling it together cannot get more real than running an actual event with real life clients and involving an actual budget that I have to adhere to strictly.

For some, event planning and management is second nature, perhaps even talent. I'm amazed to see bloggers here at PR393 handling tasks related to event management so smoothly, while I can't help but feel more than a little scared about event management. The upcoming event at Identitywa is not the first event that I've supported my supervisor in planning and managing, but it's still rather daunting to me.

Fortunately, the staff at Identitywa are experienced and were willing to help me out whenever I had questions. Whenever I felt lost, or didn't know what else to do, I also found that the event checklist was my map to let me know where I am at, and how far I am from my destination.

I had the opportunity to do up a checklist for this event early in the planning process. As I thought about the checklist, I was reminded to consider a few things before starting on a checklist.

Budget
In a non-profit organisation, financial resources can be limited. Thinking about deliverables can go a long way. For example, I discussed with my supervisor to consider the option of in-house printing for invitation letters as opposed to printing agencies. This would save cost and time. Of course, the quality of the invitation cards should not be compromised to save cost. It's arguable that the quality of deliverables and presentation can go a long way as well, but that's another story.

Online versions of the invitation cards can also save cost, and this is a method that will be implemented for inviting guests.

Contingencies

Back up items and contacts
Perhaps at the last minute, the food and beverage caterer may not be able to make the trip for the event. Perhaps there might be more guests than expected. What if it rains? This may be included in risk management, but it is also important to consider back up items and contacts in a check list, just to overcome possible negative situations on the day of the event.

Time
Ideally, everything should follow a schedule and its deadlines. However, things may not always go as planned. Considering extra time, or having a deadline as soon as possible may save time in case there is unavoidable holdups in the process of planning.


Having thought about these aspects when writing a checklist have saved precious resources, even though there were a few bumps along the process of managing this event. Following the checklist has also prepared enough time to iron out unforeseen circumstances in the process of planning the event. I cannot stress enough how important it is to put extra time and thought into a checklist before managing or even planning an event.

This is what the event invitation looks like. It's a private event, so I'm only showing the front of the card, and not the details at the back :)

Have I missed out anything for checklists? Do let me know what you think in the comments section :)



Regards,
Debbie Goh
15007119
Curtin University, Bentley