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From comedy to drama, musicals, opera, spoken word, and much more, the world's largest arts festival, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, celebrates performance art in August each year. With thousands of performers, hundreds of venues, and countless audience members to coordinate, not to mention all the marketing, media and promotional activity, planning such an event is a mammoth undertaking. [1]
While it's unlikely that you'll have to organize something as huge as the Fringe, planning for any event, whether it's a social evening, a training session, or a departmental meeting, may fill you with dread. But it can also be a fun and rewarding experience. These eight handy hints will help you keep your event plans on track.
1. Get a Clear Brief
Whether you're arranging the event on your own initiative or have been asked to do it by someone else, it's important that you understand its aims and objectives. Gather information on the type of event you're organizing (for example, a social gathering, a client dinner, a team-building day etc.), key dates and any other specific requirements as soon as you can. This means you can then start looking at potential venues and shop around for the best deal.
2. Set Your Budget
It might be that your organization covers the full cost of your event, or, in some cases, participants may be asked to make a small contribution. If you're putting together a budget proposal, a good first step is to find out what budget was allocated for similar previous events. You could also contact a couple of potential suppliers to obtain provisional figures for your event.
3. Ask For Help
Unless you work for a small company, try not to plan a large event single-handedly. Ask a couple of people to help you plan what is needed, or even put together a project team, and delegate tasks appropriately. Having a group to make decisions means that the responsibility for the event is shared, rather than resting on your shoulders entirely. It also means you can get ideas and feedback on what might work for your particular event.
If you're planning a social event with a small budget, it can be helpful to get everyone involved in contributing to it. For an office-based event, for example, you might ask people to bring a food dish in. You could also ask someone to look after the music, perhaps by bringing in an iPod or setting up a Spotify playlist, and asking someone else to organize party games or a quiz.
4. Create a Project Plan
A project plan will help you keep track of key activities and dates. For example, you may need to include some of the following tasks on your list:
- sourcing and booking a suitable venue
- paying a deposit
- arranging a caterer (if applicable)
- sending invitations and confirming attendees
- arranging entertainment (e.g. a speaker or a disco)
- organizing equipment (e.g. projector, PA system)
- creating a seating plan
- booking travel, transport and accommodation
Make sure you and your project team are clear on who is responsible for what, and by what date.
5. Monitor Progress
Get together with your project team regularly to monitor progress. It's a good idea to schedule a review date halfway through the plan, to check that everything is on track. Keeping in touch with your project team members will help you tackle any problems at an early stage. As things progress, remember that you may need to make new priorities or allocate additional resources to keep critical activities moving forward.
6. Send Out Reminders
As the big day approaches, build a sense of anticipation by sending out reminders about the event and encouraging people to get involved. For social events, it's also advisable to send out a short note about the expected standards of conduct, particularly if alcohol is involved. Ask for advice on what to include from your organization's HR department or advisor (if you have one).
7. On The Day...
If you're responsible for preparing the venue, then you'll have differing things to check depending on the type of event. Here are some of the most common things you'll need to check:
- Remove physical sources of distraction, e.g. telephones, televisions, or any other potentially noisy objects within the room.
- Ensure all technology being used has been safety checked and works effectively, e.g. microphones, projectors, laptops.
- Check the temperature and ventilation - not too hot, cold or drafty.
- Arrange seating and layout of furniture - comfortable chairs set out so that everyone can see the speakers/presentation, or seating areas for a party.
- Provide adequate table/desk space for writing, if necessary, at an accessible height. If writing surfaces are not at wheelchair height, do you have alternative provisions?
- Check for danger nearby - look for obstacles, e.g. trailing cables and wires.
- Remove physical barriers between the speaker and the audience, e.g. table or lectern.
- Make sure the room is well lit, but not too bright, with no shadows or reflections from the sun.
- Check that any catering arrangements have been made, and access provided to caterers if appropriate.
- Provide adequate time for comfort breaks and refreshments.
- Make sure that people have enough room to move - they should be comfortable and not squeezed together.
- Make arrangements for deaf/hard of hearing people and blind/partially sighted people (e.g. hearing loop, subtitled videos, transcripts, sign language interpretation, audio versions, Braille, font sizes and color).
- Ensure the venue is accessible for people with mobility problems (e.g. doors large enough to accommodate wheelchairs, wheelchair lifts/ramps, accessible bathrooms and break-out rooms). Also ensure that there is room for people with wheelchairs to maneuver - desks/tables should be set out at a height that is accessible to wheelchair users.
- Check that all signs are clear (preferably dark lettering on a light background and a mix of upper and lower-case and large print and/or universally recognized picture signs) at a level that they can be read by all attendees.
- Ensure sight/hearing lines to speakers are clear (e.g. for lip readers).
- If using any computer equipment, ensure that it is accessible to all participants (e.g. voice recognition software, predictive typing, large screens, alternative mouse etc.).
- Close all windows and doors (if applicable) once everyone is in the room.
8. After The Event...
It's important to review your event or function so that you and any others involved can apply any lessons learned next time around. As the event organizer, ask attendees for their feedback soon after the event. Document any details for future use, such as what was good or bad about particular venues, suppliers and speakers.
