EVENT PLANNING

A well-known businessman from Chicago had this good advice to give to his employees concerning the performance of a certain job. He said that they only needed three things: a gun, a getaway car, and a plan. If things went awry and they had to abandon one of those things, the gun was the first to go. If things got worse, the car could be done without. However, the plan could never be abandoned or they would never be successful at anything. Al Capone's advice was good for robbing a bank, and it will stand in good stead for any event you run at your school. Always have a plan!

Any event or performance that you run can be divided into three stages:

1. pre-event planning
2. the performance of the event
3. the post-event clean-up

Successful events are the result of careful planning and attention to all three stages.

You can make your events work by using the 3-P method of planning for each stage of your event. The three P's are: Permission, Publicity, and Performances.

STAGE 1 — PRE-EVENT PLANNING

It is helpful to use checklists at all stages of an event. If they are initiated during this stage, there is something to follow-up on during the next two stages.

• PERMISSION (and notification) — identify who must give permission for your event to take place, and who must be notified about the requirements of your event. Communication is the key at this stage, because everyone likes to know what is going on.

• PUBLICITY — assign the job of advertising your event and decide what types of publicity will be used. Make sure that the promotion is done, but that it doesn't become the event itself.

• PERFORMANCES — these are the jobs and assignments that need to be done before the event can happen. Put these jobs on a calendar with their deadlines and the person's name beside them. Give each person a checklist of what is expected.

STAGE 2 — PERFORMANCE OF THE EVENT

When an event has been well-planned, this is the easiest stage. Be aware that you have to be flexible at this stage, because no matter how much you have prepared, things don't always go as planned.

• PERMISSION (and notification) — this is the time to confirm that you are going ahead with your event.

• PUBLICITY — make sure that the participants and workers at your event know what is expected of them.

• PERFORMANCES — all workers should follow their checklists and your committee chairperson should know who is supposed to be doing what.

STAGE 3 — POST-PERFORMANCE CLEAN-UP

This is the most difficult stage because people are tired and happy when any event is over. This clean-up involves more than cleaning up the garbage and putting away the chairs. Successful completion of this stage will ensure that the event will happen again.

• PERMISSION (and notification) — now is the time to send thank you notes to all of those people who made your event possible. It may be the custodians' job to lock up after you, but they like a pat on the back as well.

• PUBLICITY — make sure that everyone involved knows how successful your event was.

• PERFORMANCES — take the time to put everything back from where you got it. A rule of thumb is to have twice as many people as you need to clean up after an event. Human nature, being as it is, will dictate that you will probably have just enough people. If they all do show up, then everyone is happy becaused the job is done quicker than you thought. Also, leave some conclusions and paperwork so that the group who follows next year can avoid making the mistakes that you've identified.

Successful events are the result of planning, preparation and hard work, but many people forget about what happens after the event is over. Don't be afraid to evaluate on paper what happened at all three stages of your event. It will be part of a learning process for yourself and your committee, and it will provide important information for the group that may attempt the same event next time.

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