An event flow gives a broad sequence of events. An event flow sheet tracks the pre-event, during-event and post-event activities and puts them into a cohesive whole. A large number of people are involved in different capacities and a host of decision making situations is what management of an event is all about.
The following is the sequential process of documentation required to conduct an Event:
1) Proposal
- Creative Proposal
- Costing Proposal
2) Pre-Planning
- Check List (Work Plan)
- Production Design (Details of items required and their specifications)
3) Rolling out the Event (Depending on the occasion, some of the following documents may not be required in all Events)
- Agenda
- Event Flow
- Cue Sheet
- MC Script
- Control Document
The event flow breaks down the sequential elements involved during the show for the different people involved in the event.
For example, when you contact a wedding entertainment agency in London, they will first provide you with a proposal keeping in mind your ‘dream’ wedding idea. After your approval, the venue, date, and other things will be planned and finally executed.
Cue Sheet
This gives a sequential flow of events for all departments involved. Various core units constantly interact with each other to give an end to end result. Most events have core units that comprise of Concept, Creative, Production and Finance. Each unit/ team has several people working in delegated roles to provide an outcome. A cue sheet provides a start to finish sequence of events for each team. It gives a sequence of events at the micro level.
One of the most common fears in event management is what happens if the event manager falls ill. As long as the details of any event are in the head of one person, this is a grave risk. The results of the project management process are documented as various schedules, responsibility and action sheets. Each event company has evolved their own style of sheets. They are called by various names: Production schedules, task lists, output matrix, timelines, run sheets, cue sheets, critical paths, checklists, event order, milestone lists, show schedule etc. The all converge into six planning and control documents:
- Contact sheet
- Responsibility chart
- Task or Action Sheet
- Work Package
- Checklist Run sheet or Production schedule.
- Control Document
The control process in activity guides it towards some predetermined goals. Control is an element of the management process that can be defined as the process of analysing whether actions are being taken as planned and taking corrective actions to ensure that differences between planned and actual performance and suggests corrective actions where necessary.
A control document does the following:
- It communicates the plan of the event to the staff and volunteers
- The documents provide and ongoing record of the event’s progress
- They provide a history of the event planning which may be used in any liability issues
- They provide written basis on which to improve the methods of event management
- By standardising the documents, different events can be compared
- The production of the documents creates a discipline in planning
- The documents impersonalise the plan – that is, it takes it out of the hands of any one person and it becomes separate from any individual
- The documents provide a link to other departments within a corporation such as finance and with the client.