Many event planners who start their career ask themselves: How do I start planning an event and what is my checklist of action.
Here I am helping you with a list of things I have wrote down while I was planning my events, most of them being on medical conferences, seminaries and workshops. This list can be open for many other tasks, so feel free to leave it open for additional items. Hope it will help you!
If your business is in need of event management and organisation, or just advice and support, get in touch with us at www.accmgroup.com.
CHECKLIST:
SAVE THE DATE
DETERMINE THE LOCATION
BUDGET
- Hotel(Conference, Seminar, etc)
- Exhibit Hall
- Audio/Visual
- Registration & Badges/Lead Retrieval
- Event liability Insurance
- Marketing
- Additional Stuffing(if needed)
- Security
- Travel (staff and speakers)
- Shipping
- Refreshments or Food & Beverage (F&B)
- Entertainment
HOTEL:
- Conference/Seminar/Workshop Contract( Includes meeting & sleeping rooms)
- Event Insurance
- Hotel Map/Guide
- Get acquainted with one of the hotel's people in order to coordinate all venue's needs for your event. It is much better to have same contact person, so your needs will be well know by this person. This will help you do your job much easier.
Room List:
- Meeting Rooms: make sure you ask for the right room set up (i.e. classroom/theater or classroom style)
- Sleeping Rooms: Book a block of hotel rooms for participants/staff and presenters. Negotiate a better room rate.
- Room Block Management: Get weekly room block reports from the hotel contact person.This will allow you to see how many rooms you have left in the room block and prevent overbooking.
OFFICE SPACE/STORAGE ONSITE:
- Book a Storage Room for all your event's tools( i.e. bags, bag inserts,printer, paper, badges, etc)
- Rent an office space on site for staff meeting, private meetings, etc.
EXHIBITS:
- Exhibit Hall Contract
- Floor Plan
- Exhibitor Names & Booth Numbers
- Exhibit Registration
- Lead Retrieval
PROGRAM PLANNING:
- Determine the Needs Assessments, title of the seminar, topics needed
- Learning Objectives
- Agenda Schedule
- Program Evaluation Forms
- Handouts/CDs
SPEAKERS:
- Abstracts Submission
- Abstracts Approval
- Speaker Invitation/Disclosure Form
- Speaker Agreement
- Presentation Submission ( usually this is the power point)
- Travel & Hotel Accommodations
ACCREDITATION: Secure continuing education credits for activity attendees. There are different types of continuing education credits, for example Continuing Medical Education Credits( this includes physicians, health practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, chiropractors), Education credits for all other non-medical professionals. All these categories require individual accreditation process, which can be obtained through different providers.
MARKETING:
- Send a "save the date" e-mail to potential participants, presenters, staff, etc.
- Create Promotional Plan: E-mail campaign, web site, print materials
- Place an announcement on website with preliminary details
- Plan the registration process- deadline for early bird and final registration fees
- Start planning brochure- printing deadlines, graphic artist booked
- Design welcome packages
- Order printing: brochures, t shirt, trinkets, banners/signage, etc
- Web page uploading/design- registration, information on the location(map, weather link), hotel room booking, conference schedule, keynote speaker and other info
- Mailing marketing materials
- Publish conference/seminar/workshop description and finalized schedule on the website
- Start early bird registrations
AUDIO/VISUAL (A/V): Of or relating to materials, such as films and tape recordings, that present information in audible and video form. Also it helps with audio system on stage (mike, screen).
There are 2 options to hire A/V:
**One using the hotel services. This option can be the most expensive in the case where you will rent only the meeting space. On the other hand it can come to a lower cost when you use more services carried by the hotel, such as, sleeping rooms, food & beverage( F &B), internet, etc. Usually you can negotiate much better with the venue when you intend to used a package of services for your event.
** Second using an independent A/V company. This option might cost less, but it all depends on what you need. My suggestion is to try and keep a long relationship with an A/V company. This way you will know how the team works, and they will know your needs as well. In the long term I believe is cost effective but at the same time feel free to explore other options in case you need to lower the costs. Remember lowering the cost might results in lowering the quality...not a rule tough.
REGISTRATION:
- Set up a Registration System, database with attendee list. This can be accessible online or via phone calling. There are many types of registration sources that can help you. For smaller business I used ACT database and later on when the list increased I used online registration through our website or through different sources. One source I worked with and I liked it was www.constantcontacts.com. They can provide great tools for online registration, saving you lots of time.
- Badges(before event and on-site). Alphabetical order -easier to manage.
- On-site Registration Set-Up
- Lead Retrieval for Exhibitors (if needed)
- Giveaways bags (list of insert providers & shipping dates)
SHIPPING:
- Signage/Banners
- Inserts/ Bags
- Books
- Forms: Books Order Form, Next Conference Registration Form, Membership form. There can be many other types of forms needed for your event. I listed few examples. These forms can be shipped from your office or to be printed at the venue location. Always check and see which option is cheaper. Explore the possibilities!
- Items for Registration: Registration binders(Attendee, Exhibitors)
- Office Supplies
- Attendee Badges ( for a small event is recommended to print the badges in house and ship them or to be carried by a staff member. For a bigger event, I would recommend onsite electronic registration system. This way you can take onsite registrations, manage attendee's file, or just make notes. You will need to have internet available.
- Speaker & Staff Badges
- Giveaways
STAFFING:
- Airfare Confirmations
- Hotel Room Confirmations
- Additional Staffing
CONTACT LIST:
- Staff Names & Phone Numbers. Make a small list with all this info ensuring a better communication between staff.
- Hotel Staff Names & Pone Numbers
- Lead Retrieval Staff Names & Phone Numbers
- Show Decorating Staff Names & Phone Numbers
- Temporary Service Staff Names & Phone Numbers
DECORATION:
- Meeting Room decoration
- Registration Area Decoration
If your business is in need of event management and organisation, or just advice and support, get in touch with us at www.accmgroup.com.
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