Event Planning Checklist

Have an idea for an event? Here's a checklist to make sure you don't forget anything in the planning stages.

Organizing events can be a massive task for any team, big or small. We've been a part of 50 person committees and organized festivals all on our own. After 6 years of planning and running events, we've come up with a checklist to ensure that we don't leave anything out and hopefully it'll give you a few things to think about as well when you're planning your next event.

Here's our event planning checklist for 2020 with some notes for each item on the list. Below the breakdown, you'll find a download link for the PDF version.

• What's the goal of the event? (Why are you planning an event? To do something fun for your employees, your city, or a specific group of people? To attract new customers? To build stronger relationships with current customers? To make money? )
• Theme for the event? (Is this event going to be strictly for entertainment? Educational? What's the overarching theme?)
• Event Timeline? (When will the event happen? Think about the best time to host the event and be sure to give yourself enough time to promote and plan everything out.)
• What's your budget? (How are you funding the event? Does it require $500 to pay for a DJ and some drinks or will you need $5,000 to cover your venue expenses and the cost of bringing in a couple speakers from out of town? If you're starting out with a specific budget from your marketing department or from your own bank account, that amount will be the best way to start planning what the event experience will look like.)
• Venue/Permits? (Is this event happening at your office or business location? Will it require an outdoor space? Will there be alcohol involved? What type of environment will reflect the theme of the event?)
• Marketing Budget/Plan? (What's your overall budget for the event? Now we need to get a marketing budget in place. If this is an event for your employees and that's it, this might be some signage around the office and a few email blasts. If this is a festival that's open to the public and you're hoping to attract 10,000 people over the course of the weekend, then you're going to need a serious budget and a real plan for spreading the word.)
• Community Partners/Sponsors? (Is this an event that your company is putting together by itself? Are we working on a big community festival celebrating a specific neighborhood or holiday? Where are there opportunities to partner with other companies and folks that fit with this theme and the goals of the event? Partners and sponsors can offer more than just financial or product support. It's great to find companies that share the same audience as your event or bringing in a local beverage/food component to support those that you care about. Where else are there opportunities? Is there another company that could help promote and casts a larger net to the audience you're looking to attract? Is there an opportunity to add more value to attendees by partnering with someone else?)
• Speakers/Performers (Is this an entertainment focused event or educational? Are you booking a DJ and some bands or are we looking at speakers on leadership or another topic that's going to be geared toward your audience?)
• Activities/Engagement? (You've got some speakers on a panel or a DJ booked, but what are attendees going TO DO? Think about the activities that could be added to the event experience to really create a memorable moment for them. If you're having an event for your team members as a way to build a stronger company culture, what can you have them partake in that encourages more one-on-one conversations as a way for employees to build stronger relationships with their co-workers?)
• Environmental Design? (What's this place going to look like? Is it a music and art festival that should be filled with art installations and instagrammable backdrops around every corner? Maybe we just need some clean and clear messaging on way finding signs so that attendees know where they need to go for the next panel on growing their business..)
• Customer Journey? (Visit the venue space, make a rough sketch that includes every area where attendees will be. Parking lots, entrances, bathrooms, main event areas, breakout rooms, etc. How will attendees travel from space to space and what makes sense to ensure that the flow will be easily understood and that it won't discourage people from exploring and getting the most out of the experience?)
• Set-up/Day of/Breakdown Plans? (You have an awesome day planned and the attendees are sure to have an amazing time from the time they arrive until you're kicking them out at the end of the night. What about setting up those stages, creating those crazy installations, and getting food and drinks to the venue? What happens to everything after the event is over? Planning out your time and process of setting up the event and breaking it all down is just as important as the running the event itself. Make a plan for everything from when the bathrooms show up to when the trash gets taken out.)
• Staffing? (So you have 2 entrances, 2 stages, 4 breakout rooms, and a food/beverage area. Where will your team members be located around the event space and how many people will be needed for those points of contact? Do you need a stage manager to get speakers/performers on and off stage? Do we have a few live bands playing where an extra set of hands will help keep set-up/breakdown times short? How many people will be in attendance and how many of them will be at the registration or drink stations at a time?)

There's a lot that goes into events. Some events require special permits and a ton of production equipment and some need a stronger focus in other areas of the planning process. We've had a passion for creating awesome experiences for over 6 years and this list is always being updated and improved. What type of items are on your event checklist?

matchbox_eventplanningchecklist_2020.pdf
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