Speaker 1: Are you familiar with event planning? It's a subset of project planning, and it requires organization, business knowledge, people skills, and a strong sense of mission. Every successful event, whether hosting a speaker at a business luncheon or staging a multi-day trade show, begins with a realistic event planning timeline that works backward from the date of the event. Basically, the longer the timeline for planning your event, the more realistic it is. No matter the size and complexity of your event, you should start planning as soon as you confirm the date of the event. Solidifying your event data usually coincides with confirming the availability of your desired venue. While there's no formula for how much time you should allot for event planning, it's good to dedicate a month to smaller gatherings and three to six months for larger events. Let's look at the steps to creating a realistic event planning timeline. I'm Raeed, here with JotForm. Let's get started. First, determine your budget and assemble your team. Any event requires a budget for a venue, event staffing, technical help with audio-visual equipment, and whatever amenities are necessary for the event to be a success. Are you providing attendees with meals or snacks? This could require a caterer or an improvised food court, depending on the event. However you meet this challenge, be sure to negotiate terms and pay deposits. Event planning is a team sport. It cannot be done alone. This is especially true for low-budget events that rely on volunteers to set up and put away chairs. Larger events require a team to assist with vendors, guest processing, marketing, sponsorships, and logistics. Successful event management is a matter of making countless separate but interlocking decisions that require delegating authority skillfully. Before you finalize the fundamentals of the event, like the venue, allow time for your key stakeholders to review the plan. This includes upper management and sponsors. Getting their approval is worth the time and effort. Next, structure your timeline around non-negotiable deadlines. Be grateful if you already know that you need to meet with your biggest sponsor a month before the gate opens, or attend a mandatory walkthrough with the venue managers a week prior. If you think of the time between now and the event as terrain that you need to cross, then these non-negotiable deadlines are essential landmarks. You can't control these non-negotiable deadlines, and sometimes due to contractual or licensing reasons, they are beyond any one person's control. Basically, it's up to you to set a deadline for when to choose a caterer, but it's up to the caterer to choose when they want your deposit and final payment. This is also true for your keynote speaker, the band or DJ, and logistics services like special lighting, tents, or portable stage. Event planning is stressful, but you can try dealing with what you can't control directly. This means acknowledging that your non-negotiable deadlines are probably set for a good reason, and meeting those deadlines is the best stress reducer of all. Next, allow for buffer time. Just as there are deadlines that you have no control over setting, there are deadlines that slip between the cracks, and you may not have control over the reasons for the delays. Events are all about coordinating human beings, and if that were easy, nobody would expect a raise being promoted to manager. A realistic event manager knows that no matter how diligent they are, many important things will take longer to accomplish than expected. Building in buffer time will help to keep the stress manageable, rather than if you schedule on the strict presumption that you'll meet every deadline on the plan. Attendees at business events usually leave with some sort of gift, souvenir, or memento with a marketing message or logo on it. It's a good idea to begin your search for the ideal gift early in your event planning timeline. Keep in mind that designing the item and reviewing samples are time-consuming tasks, and since some items may come from overseas, shipping may take longer than anticipated. Next, reassess your plan at the halfway point. No matter how long or short your event planning timeline is, the best time for a reality check is when you've reached the halfway point between the start of your timeline and the date of the event. Have you met all of your non-negotiable deadlines to date? Are you on track to meet those that lie ahead? Assess your budget now that you've secured your venue and primary vendors to determine how much leeway you have when hiring a videographer, florist, or a live band versus a DJ. Whatever your event size or type, certain amenities might make it more memorable for the people who attend, so work hard to get the best value for your budgeted dollars. A reassessment at the halfway point might reveal that you've been stressing more than the situation warrants. Organizing an event means that there's a lot to worry about and many details to track. It can be very reassuring to know if you're hitting your milestones, and if you aren't, then you can reassure yourself that you still have half of your timeline to get caught up. And finally, create a day of timeline. This is a separate plan for when the day of the event finally arrives. This is also where an inevitable avalanche of last-minute snags and logistics crashes on you. In the later stages of your event planning, you should start envisioning and planning for the day of the event. Maybe you're organizing a presentation to a large sales team. You should be the first one at the venue. Who will unlock the room? Who will set up tables and chairs? You've probably arranged for all that, but you still want your plan to unfold smoothly, or at least be present to fix anything that goes wrong. Figure out where you need to be and what must happen so that you can avoid just winging it when your attention is needed most. Okay, let's review these steps for creating an event planning timeline one more time. First, determine your budget and get your team together. Then, structure your timeline around a non-negotiable deadline. Work some buffer time into your plan and reassess at the halfway point. Finally, create a day of timeline for when the event actually arrives. Thank you so much for watching today. I hope this video was helpful. I'm Raeed, here with JotForm. Have a great day. ♪ Hey,