The event planner’s toolkit

No mat­ter how well you pre­pare, you’ll always have sur­pris­es on the day of your event. When things go wrong, you’ll kick your­self for for­get­ting your phone charg­er or your usu­al headache cure. They may seem unnec­es­sary when you pack your bag, but lat­er on, you will wish you had tak­en them with you. Bring these 7 types of items with you to be ready for any con­tin­gency.

Con­tents

1. Plas­ters
2. Back-up charg­ers
3. A note­book and post-it notes
4. A quick repair kit
5. A toi­letry bag
6. Elec­tri­cal out­lets
7. Med­ica­tion

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1. Plasters

You and your staff will be on your feet all day long, and no mat­ter how com­fort­able your shoes are, blis­ters may appear. Did you warn your intern not to come wear­ing their brand-new pair of shoes? Not sure your advice will be fol­lowed! For­tu­nate­ly, you will have a box of plas­ters with you to cov­er these painful blis­ters.

Tip: In addi­tion to plas­ters, bring a com­plete first aid kit to treat cuts and oth­er splin­ters that can eas­i­ly hap­pen when lift­ing equip­ment, unwind­ing cables, mov­ing fur­ni­ture, or walk­ing on uneven ground. So, think about anti­sep­tic spray, gauze, and sports ban­dages in case some­one sprains their ankle or wrist.

2. Back-up chargers

It is impos­si­ble for you to organ­ise an event with­out your phone, espe­cial­ly on the day. This is par­tic­u­lar­ly true when you have set-up an app for your event, when you have to man­age your staff, and when sup­pli­ers and ser­vice providers arrive at the event loca­tion. Your phone must be on at all times, so make sure you have an exter­nal bat­tery (or two).

Tip: Set up a charg­ing area for your team. This way, every­one can charge their phones at any time with­out hav­ing to look for a suit­able place.

3. A notebook and post-it notes

You may have infor­ma­tion to pass on to a sup­pli­er, instruc­tions to give to your assem­bly team, or a secret Wi-Fi pass­word to com­mu­ni­cate to your staff. How­ev­er, these peo­ple may not always be avail­able by phone when they are busy with their work. So, you may have to leave them a note in a place they will eas­i­ly see it.

And let’s be hon­est, you’re an event plan­ner, so you like to make lists, leave notes, and anno­tate every­thing you find. Don’t for­get the pens and mark­ers.

Tip: If you are the hyper-organ­ised type, a labeller can be your best friend. Also bring sev­er­al pho­to­copies of the day’s pro­gramme — with every­one’s con­tacts num­bers.

4. A quick repair kit

Whether you have some­thing to hang on a wall, to repair or fix on a booth, you will be delight­ed and proud to have brought a pair of scis­sors, tape or duct tape, string, super glue and a sta­pler.

Tip: While you’re at it, assem­ble a small tool­box with a screw­driv­er, a mea­sur­ing tape, pli­ers and a ham­mer.

5. A toiletry bag

Organ­is­ing an event is a phys­i­cal chal­lenge dur­ing which you want to main­tain a spot­less pro­fes­sion­al appear­ance. Deodor­ant, mints, and clean­ing wipes will help you fight sweat and unpleas­ant odours.

Tip: Spare clothes can save you in case of oil stains, fab­ric tear­ing, etc.

6. Electrical outlets

You nev­er know how many devices you will have to con­nect to the pow­er, even if it is pos­si­ble to make esti­mates. Always bring pow­er strips and exten­sion cords to ensure you’re cov­ered.

Tip: Flash­lights will be use­ful if you need to locate equip­ment behind a booth or under a stage — with­out deplet­ing your phone bat­tery by using the flash.

7. Medication

As an organ­is­er, events can be stress­ful, noisy and phys­i­cal­ly exhaust­ing. This means that headaches, throat or stom­ach aches are to be expect­ed. Antic­i­pate this by bring­ing med­ica­tions adapt­ed to the symp­toms you are used to expe­ri­enc­ing.

Tip: Earplugs can relieve headaches when the event is too noisy.

All this may seem exag­ger­at­ed, but event organ­is­ers will tell you that it does­n’t hurt any­one to be “too pre­pared”. Fill a bag with every­thing list­ed above and keep a small­er bag of per­son­al belong­ings with you. You will be ready to face any chal­lenge!

Apart from these prac­ti­cal details, greater chal­lenges await! Choose a great part­ner to sup­port you in the man­age­ment and suc­cess of your event. Click on the but­ton below and organ­ise your event in com­plete seren­i­ty:

Organ­ise an event