The Event Planning Toolkit: 6 Essential Tools for Success

Don’t Settle For Less

Events are detail-heavy and deadline-driven projects. Managing them seamlessly and successfully calls for purpose-designed event tools. If you want to ensure a jaw-droppingly fabulous event every single time, don’t settle for less than the very best kit.

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If you want a jaw-droppingly fabulous event, don’t settle for less - get the free Event Planning Toolkit. Click To Tweet

Why You Need a Toolkit

First, let’s think about the main challenges for Event Professionals.

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Freeing up more time basically means getting stuff done more efficiently, unless of course a genie grants your wish for an extra pair of hands and/or more hours in the day.

Completing deadlines comes down to smart processes, allowing you to tear through your to-do list at top speed with not a hair out of place, or a single detail missed.

The Event Planning Toolkit will help you save more time and achieve deadlines even more efficiently than you already do.

Who Designed the Toolkit?

Our seasoned team of event management experts created the tools with a singular goal in mind: to make the job of staging brilliant events even easier for events professionals.

Every tool in the kit is event-specific, is easy to use and the relevant ones can be customised.

Download them all (highly recommended), or select your preferred tools individually.

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Event-specific, easy to use and fully customisable, The Event Planning Toolkit designed by event experts. Click To Tweet

What’s Inside the Toolkit?

Here’s a sneak peek of what’s inside:

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Tool #1:

Event Glossary

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Event management is a fast-paced job, and with that comes a bunch of terminology that seems like a whole new language. We need to learn to talk the talk before we can walk the talk… and then run, and then fly through tasks like Speedy Gonzales.

The Event Glossary will have you talking the talk, pronto.

When somebody tells you a guest ‘got walked’ you’ll know what they mean and what to do next.

You’ll know that a ‘serpentine setup’ has very little to do with snakes.

How to Use the Event Glossary

It’s a reference guide, so keep it somewhere handy for easy access:

1. Bookmark it to your web browser
2. Download the PDF and file it on your computer
3. Send the PDF to your mobile and swot up on the train home

Save yourself from awkward conversations not knowing what the other person is talking about. You’ll also save time knowing where to find definitions directly from an expert source.

Download The Event Glossary

Tool #2:

Event Acronym Glossary

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Acronyms abound in the event industry. It’s a by-product of the need to communicate lots of details efficiently. The Event Acronym Glossary is a natural extension of the Event Glossary, which covers the volume of industry-specific words and phrases.

Try our quick self-quiz: What do these stand for?

DOS _____________________
ROS _____________________
TRA _____________________

Get the answers here

The Event Acronym Glossary includes abbreviations for terms/phrases, as well as the key organisations you’ll inevitably come across in your career. If you’re fairly new to events, give yourself a flying start with the power of knowledge. If you’re a seasoned pro, keep up to date with new and emerging acronyms (hello, ever-changing technology!)

How to Use the Event Acronym Glossary

It’s a reference guide that goes hand-in-hand with the Event Glossary above. The same instructions apply:

1. Bookmark it to your web browser
2. Download the PDF and file it on your computer
3. Send the PDF to your mobile and swot up over lunch or on the bus home

You’ll love hearing the acronyms roll off your tongue like you’ve known them forever.

Tool #3

The Event Planner

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Now you’ve got the lingo down pat, it’s time to start ‘walking the talk’ with the ultimate event planning tool:

This Event Planner is seriously good. It’ll help you free up more time and complete tasks on time without missing a single detail. As we all know, little oversights along the way can quickly escalate to big problems on event day/night. Save yourself the angst and plan for perfection!

The planner caters for events with different lead times, which generally correlate to event size and complexity.

Event lead times:

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The relevant tasks for each are pre-filled, so you don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time you plan an event. Tasks are grouped by:

The planner allows you to enter the timeline and persons responsible per task, which is key to successful project management.

Small oversights in planning can quickly escalate to big problems on event day. Use the #EventProfs toolkit. Click To Tweet

Tool #4

Budgeting Tool

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Budgeting is fundamental to successful events. If you run out of money halfway through, big problem! Finish the project with wads of unspent money and you risk
a) having under-invested in the event, and
b) your boss happily grabbing some extra dollars out of your next event budget.

With that in mind, strategic budgeting isn’t the easiest thing to do if you’re not so inclined. Imagine if you could:

Have all budget items pre-filled
Crunch numbers easily and automatically
Use the same approach for all your events

Think about the time you’ll save, because tracking and sharing is suddenly so easy for:

Estimated costs (where you plan the project spend up front)
Agreed costs from suppliers
Variances (minor additional charges)
Actual vs planned spend

Everything is calculated for you, avoiding the need to faff about trying to remember where the money is going.

How to use the Budgeting Tool

There are two versions to download:

1. Small Event Budget – for smaller events (eg product launches, reward nights)
2. Big Event Budget – for larger, more complex events (eg expos, conferences, expos)

Download in either Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel.

Learn more about the Budget Tool

Tool #5

MC Checklist

For events needing a host or Master of Ceremonies (MC), it’s important to choose the right candidate for the job. The MC:

• Engages the audience attention
• Sets the right tone (serious/playful/funny) for the event
• Reads the audience and keeps them engaged with light relief between segments
• Bridges smoothly between topics and speakers
• Helps to convey your company or client’s desired message
• Keep everything on topic and on time

The MC Checklist helps you choose the right MC for your audience, making it a very worthwhile tool to have in your kit.

Download the MC checklist

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Tool #6

Run Sheet

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You’ve planned everything to a tee. Now to cap it off with superb execution. You need a run sheet that sets out all tasks, schedules and people responsible. That way, when Murphy’s Law pays a visit you’ll know what to do, who to call and be perfectly calm under pressure.

This Run Sheet is a gem because it lets you:

Store all information (running order, tasks, contact details) in one place
Quickly share the running order with all parties: venue staff, technicians, your boss, colleagues, speaker bureau and talent
Find that urgent phone number when you need it

How to use the Run Sheet

1. Download the Run Sheet in either Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel
2. Enter event details (name, date, time) in the ‘Contacts’ tab.
3. Include all contact details for stakeholders on the night (eg technical support, venue manager, speaker bureau) in the ‘Contacts’ tab.
4. Enter the event schedule in time order, including time, place and person responsible on the ‘Run Sheet’ tab

Share the Run Sheet with everyone involved so they’re all on the same page and are well prepared prior to the event.

Check out the Run Sheet Step-by-Step article to learn more.

The Event Planning Toolkit for Success

If you’re like most Event Managers, you’re driven to achieve outstanding results. The Event Planning Toolkit will help you reclaim more precious time and whiz through deadlines even faster, letting you focus on creating an event that’s even more amazing than your last fabulous production.

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Next steps

• Follow these 3 easy steps to run your event like a pro.
• How Event Managers lead the way in sustainability.
• If you haven’t already, download the Event Planning Toolkit here – you’ll be glad you did!

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