Some of the fundamentals of planning an event are the same, however depending on the type of event you are planning can have an effect on how you project manage the event, you can apply different techniques to planning an event depending on the size and scale of the event you are planning.

Overview of Event Planning

Depending on the size of the event, you can be working in a very small team arranging an event with a limited number of people attending, or you can be in a large team on a larger event where roles are divided between the team and it’s important to understand how the team works depending on the event.

On smaller events, event managers can be responsible for more or most of the elements of the event, from the operations and logistics to suppliers, registration, sponsorship and planning. Whereas in larger events you can have separate people taking on the responsibility of registration or sponsors, contents and speakers, or production, which means having to manage a larger team and make sure everyone is informed of what is happening with the event.

It’s not just the team size that can change depending on the size of the event, it can also mean the planning of the event can take longer and have more requirements that need to be organised before the event, so taking into consider the size of the event when initially planning deadlines is very important.

You will also have to take into consideration that some events may have a revenue attached which will have different requirements throughout the planning of the event, meaning you will need to allow time to sell the event and make sure you are able to deliver the requirements outlined in the sales agreements before and at the event.

Most Event organisers will use some form of project management spreadsheet or software, a favourite is a Gantt chart to keep track of the project and this is also for everyone involved in working on the event to see when certain tasks are required and by which date, these can be used for smaller events but to a lesser extent.

Event management is not formally always considered project management, but it is a form of project management and learning project management techniques can be really beneficial to event organisers, they can help formalise the way the event is managed.