Content Copyright © Lady Casey Louise Kingsland, 2013 Cover Image © Tom Green, 2013
All Rights Reserved.
About The Author
Casey is an Events Co-ordinator and Project Manager based in Sussex, England. She has worked with in various roles covering Events, such as Music, Hospitality and Charity Events. At just the tender age of 26, she has quickly made her mark in the Events world and has worked with various clients.
Casey received her Ladyship in 2012.
Foreword
This book is designed to help with those organising events for the first time or just as a look book for those with some experience that would like to branch out.
This guide will cover the basics in Events organising such as Venues, Catering, Promotion, Finance and more detailed information such as Insurance and Legal matters.
All of the information in this book is just a guide only, and not targeted to any specific type of event or individual organising them.
Some of the information shown has been sourced from professionals working in the Events Industry, so the most accurate information is sourced and provided for you at time of print.
You can find a Glossary at the end of this book to help you understand a little more, including lists of computer software you can use and a little more information about the unfamiliar terms used.
Insurance
Before any event can be organised, all employers must obtain and adhere to the Employer’s Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969. This covers all staff and volunteers (you need to check if your policy covers volunteers), whether working in your office or out in the field. It covers you and your staff if you are out of the office sourcing suppliers or attending meetings in connection with the Event. If you are planning a wedding, you don’t need this, all staff you hire will have this document, including your Event Planner if you choose to hire one. In conjunction with the Liability Insurance, you should have the legal documents: Risk assessment forms including Lone Working These forms can prevent any incidents happening, and also can be presented in court as evidence, so make sure you have these properly dated and signed by 2 members of staff or a witness if you are an Individual.
Finances
So now you are planning your event (or have the task of organising an event on someone else’s behalf). The financial aspect can be a tricky one, if you don’t budget correctly. On average, an event costs more than you bargained for, so putting a little extra in the pot is always a wise idea. The trick here is to haggle, research and get as much information about the things you need, a set of tablecloths you saw in one store could just well be much cheaper in the local supermarket or even online. This applies to most of the small things i.e Decorations. For the bigger things i.e Catering, this is where money needs to be spent. When you are booking a Venue or Catering, they expect you to haggle, they expect you to want to pick apart the menus to get a cheaper price, or tell the Venue Owners that you don’t need that 20ft x 20ft room on the side of the main room you are booking. If it’s not needed, then there is no point paying for it. If you are really clever, you could get extra rooms thrown in free or very cheaply, if you have a specific reason for it (if you need a small cloakroom to store attendees property or somewhere to hide expensive equipment from prying eyes, then simply ask, as you are using it for a genuine reason) Don’t be too disheartened if trying to haggle for extras doesn’t work out, a lot of companies are tied financially to only offer so much for the price of their packages. If in reality you can’t afford to use that venue or company without haggling, always keep a list of cheaper options in mind. You might want to explain to the cheaper companies what you ideally would like to achieve, they tend to be extremely capable and know how to create something very similar to your dream event.
The Venue So now you have your Liability Insurance in place, you have drawn up risk assessment templates, decided on your budget and in the process of becoming the next Dominic Littlewood. You can choose your venue. You may have specific ideals of what should be at/in a venue before finalising your venue choice. If you don’t have many restrictions then you can be quite free to choose whichever venue you like. Before booking to view a venue, it’s a good idea to see if their website has a blueprint of the interior. If this isn’t supplied on the website, then you can email or call the administration staff, they should be able to provide you with the blueprint. You need this blueprint before you can start making a seating plan or venue layout. After checking the Venue has everything you need for your event, you also have to consider the needs of the attendees and local residents Does the venue have Disabled Access and Disabled Toilets? Does it have adequate parking? What is the Public Transport like near the venue? Can your attendees reach you easily? Is it adequately fitted with suitable Heating/Cooling systems for extreme weather conditions? Are there suitable Audio/Visual systems? Will you have to hire an external professional? Is it a suitable size for the amount of guests you anticipate? Will you be disturbing local residents if your event is going to create a lot of noise? There are many factors to consider, and you may have to give yourself more time for planning than you might think you need. Once you have gone through all these factors, and found a suitable venue, make sure you are given a tour of the facilities, covering every nook and cranny of the areas available to you. This is when you take your Risk Assessment templates and Blueprint (if you have already obtained one) with you to fill out on the walk round.
I would also suggest taking a few more items with you on the walk around Measuring Tape- so you can be sure everything is going to fit inside the venue in the layout you planned. Any questions you have prepared – just in case you are unsure of something, or maybe you need to ask about things that were not mentioned on their website or on initial contact with the venue owner. Take a colleague or friend if you can – a second pair of eyes is going to be extremely useful, they may even think of something you hadn’t thought of.
Be sure to keep an eye out for Fire Exits and mark them on your seating plan/venue layout. You have to allow a lot of space for these, so people can evacuate if a problem occurs on the day. Make sure you allocate someone to keep an eye on these on the day of the event, a stray bag or wire can cause a massive issue if it isn’t cleared and something happened at the venue where Fire Exits need to be used. Once you have decided on your venue, there will usually be a few documents to sign, a simple booking form, and safety disclosure agreeing to adhere to their safety guidance whilst using their venue.
Health and Safety Now things are really coming together. We can now move onto the more serious side, which is the Health and Safety side of your event. Now you have chosen your venue, you need to risk assess it. You will need to fill out two documents, one standard Venue risk assessment and one Lone Working assessment. I’m often asked what a Lone Working risk assessment is and why it’s needed, if you already have a standard assessment. A standard assessment only covers two or more people, and any attendees to your event. Working alone can throw up more challenges than you think. You could be held responsible, if someone falls and can’t call for help either vocally to a member of Venue staff or via phone to you or to the Emergency Services. A Lone Working risk assessment covers all the aspects of working unsupervised in any venue or out in the field. This simple document can save you a lot of hassle. If your event is being held outside you need to contact your local Council and ask if they require any documents to be completed before your event goes ahead.
Planning the Event
Now you have all your legal obligations are in place, you can now put finer details on the planning of your event. A computer programme is a good way to track everything as and when it happens, if it is a shared document then others can update it regularly when each task has been completed or a phone call was made. You can track the dates and times of every task. This is essential with large companies who hire lots of staff and so can track things minute by minute. If you are simply planning a wedding, you can remind yourself of appointments you have or when you called the florist. Professional Event Co-ordinators use a Gantt chart to track this process. You don’t need to download this software, a simple Spreadsheet will do the same job, is much simpler to use and comes with most computers or are easily downloadable from the internet.
Speakers and Performers
You should now be finding or even booking the Speaker/Performer(s) for your event. Make sure you have spoken to them about what they require to attend your event. It could be something as simple as booking them a taxi to pick them up on time, but there may be other things to consider. Hotel Reservations Travel Meals/Drinks. A Quiet Room at your venue It’s always best to have a computer document detailing all the information to email over. Make sure you add everything they need, Booking References, Menu’s, and a Timetable for the day’s events. They may want to be present to see another speaker or performer. Please remember to send this information in plenty of time, too many times I have seen someone leave it until the last minute and someone didn’t show up, or they had a food allergy that nobody was aware of. With this information, add a note of gratitude, a small token of appreciation goes a long way and reflects well on you. Meaning if you want to book them again, they will happily attend another of your events.
Audio/Visual
It may now be a good time to talk to your AV Technician if you hired one, if it’s a large amount of work you are giving them they may need a lot of time to work on your specific requirements. A lot of time and emphasis needs to be put on this part of your preparation. On the day there isn’t a lot that can be done to fix any issues that have not been previously foreseen. The AV Technician will do everything to help but nine times out of ten they are limited by what kit they have on site. It is usually good practice to invite the AV Technician to the venue when you go for a site visit. This is so they are able to properly see your vision within the space you have provided, it is usually at this point that they can say Yes or No to your vision. They will also need to take measurements in order draw up scale CAD drawings for their preparation. Also get an estimate of time they will need before your event for setting up equipment, and if you are using an external company, contact the venue owners in case your technician needs to be at the venue before you do. They are usually happy to let a technician into the venue before opening hours or during another event as long as they feel they won’t be disturbing others. They will also need plenty of time for gathering up equipment at the end of your event (make sure you have clearance for your technician to be in your venue for a while after everyone has left).
Catering
If you are providing catering, check if your venue already has an in-house team (some venues won’t allow external catering companies) Be careful of venues who refuse to let you choose your own caterer, I have often come across venues who pick the most expensive caterers and expect you to shell out for this food (and forget asking for a few sausage rolls and sandwiches, it will usually be gourmet buffet or three course meals) Even if you don’t have this obstacle, getting catering done right can be a lengthy task and needs a lot of attention to detail. Caterers are notorious for hiding extra charges, taxes etc. Read their small print carefully, be vigilant and discuss anything with them that don’t look right or doesn’t add up in your head. If you find a good caterer, then you are off to a good start, a good caterer will be professional, will give you straight up prices, and will hire the best waiting staff who all hold Food Hygiene certificates. Feel free to ask to see copies, just to cover your own back if someone gets sick.
Promotion
With all of these tasks completed so far, you just might be able to start promoting your event. An easy place to start is if you have a current mailing list of people who have asked to be notified if you have an event happening. This is simply done with an email with flyers attached, and a link to your website. Your website/social network pages etc. are the essential places to advertise. These are your main information sources, your budget may even allow you to advertise on Radio, in Newspapers or on Television. This is entirely dependent on the size of your event and target audience. If it is a wedding or personal party then the traditional personal invites are the way to go. (You don’t want all and sundry turning up, if you didn’t want them there)
Be ready to receive endless phone calls and emails once your promotion starts. Be ready to answer lots of questions and make sure you have all the information to hand. This is why a simple Spreadsheet is your best friend, a quick click of the mouse whilst on the phone and you have all the information at your fingertips.
Booking
If your event requires attendees to book in advance, then you can use a simple booking website, they may charge a small fee but it can save you the long task of dealing with possibly hundreds or thousands of bookings. They do all the work for you, by creating a list of attendees, dealing with payments and providing tickets. You might find that despite having a booking system in place, some people like to ignore this and turn up on the day. This is fine if booking isn’t required, but if it is, then it causes headaches for you and your staff. To prepare for this, have a system in place for this eventuality, you could simply refuse entry or make them wait, until all those who booked in advance arrive first. In my past experience, I have noticed that attendees who don’t book in advance like to make your job difficult, I have had to deal with the following: Attendees loudly making a fuss, demanding entry. Attendees lying about booking in advance and trying to name drop to get in Attendees have even found a back door and simply walked in without paying The last one is very dangerous as having someone unaccounted for means if there is any incidents, no one will be looking for them. Be vigilant and prepare your staff.
Pre-Event Preparation As a pre-cursor to the event, you may need to make a few last minute calls or emails to a few people about arrival times for the companies you have hired or the staff you have taken on for this event. It’s a good idea to call the venue and ask for plenty of time to set yourselves up, and be around to guide others to where you need them with in the venue. Make sure you have gathered everything you need for the day, all paperwork and essentials that you must have with you. It’s best to have a mobile phone fully charged; the number should have been given to everyone involved. If there are any issues they can call you and make you aware if they are going to be late or if they are having any problems. Make sure you know how your staff is getting to the venue, and be sure to have a back-up plan just in case one of your staff members gets stuck in traffic or misses a train. If everything has been fully prepared and all possibilities covered then you should be able to deal with any problems with ease. During the event, you might want to hand out surveys or have a survey page on your website so you can gather information about the event. Now you can enjoy your event!
Event Review
Now that your event is over, you can take time to think about all the successes and any problems you had. This should be logged for the future. Firstly you should leave a review or testimonial of sorts with the venue or companies you hired, most websites now have a specific section for this or you could email them with your thanks. From the information in the surveys, you can decide if you want to repeat anything, tweak something to make it better for the next time, or scrap something altogether. You could create an Excel page to put in all the information to make it easier to read, and you can share it with your staff. Once all this information has been collated, and any notes made, you can now collect up all the paperwork you have relating to this event and file it away. The computer documents can now be saved and you can mark your event as complete.
Congratulations on a successful event!
Glossary Blueprint – This is a bird’s eye view of the venue, this should have accurate measurements of the parameter and area of the space. You can use this create your layout. Venue Layout – You need to be able to see how your tables, or equipment will fit inside the venue, you can create one in a simple Word processor or directly onto the Blueprint given by the venue. Gantt Chart – This is a piece of software aimed at Professional Events Industry staff, it is used to track every aspect of an event from the Planning to the Review. This is a complicated piece of software which normally requires training. It has all the basic aspects of a spreadsheet but with other tools such as calendars, tasks, calculators, and timelines. Just imagine your entire Microsoft Package in one document. Audio/Visual Systems – This could be anything from a simple projector screen to a huge stage set up, anything to do with image or sound and this is Audio/Visual systems. A/V Technician – Your A/V Technician or Audio/Visual Technician is trained in everything to do with image and sound, he can set up the most simple of laptop Power Point displays for your speaker, or he can build an entire stage set up, control the lighting and run videos behind performers. CAD Drawings – A CAD Drawing, or Computer Aided Design Drawing, is exactly that, a drawing of your A/V systems design on a computer, the Technician will use this to digitally create your system, using the measurements he has taken from the venue. He can create a 3D image of your venue and any equipment he plans to use. Booking System – These are websites easily found using any good search engine. You could try sites such as EventBrite or Eventzilla. Surveys – A lot of Event Organisers rely on feedback about the event, they need to know what went well, what attendees didn’t like etc. These are easily made, and there are websites dedicated to this such as Survey Monkey or Kwik Surveys.