Event Planning Questions to Answer First

The questions, by topic

Answer them in this order. A later answer often depends on an earlier one.

• Purpose

  Why are we holding this event? What should be different afterwards? Who decides whether it worked?

  Event strategy

• Audience

  Who should attend, how many, and what do they need to gain? Who must not be missed, such as executives, speakers or sponsors?

• Budget

  What is the total, who approves it and what is already committed? Which costs are fixed and which can move?

  Event budget

• Date and place

  Which dates are possible and which clash with other events? Does it happen in person, online or both? What does the venue have to provide?

  Venue sourcing

• Program

  What happens, in what order, and who speaks? What is the one thing attendees should remember?

  Event programming

• Registration and communication

  How do people sign up, and what do we need to know about them? How and when will we tell them things?

  Event communication plan

• Technology

  What systems will we need for registration, check-in, the agenda and meetings, and which are already in use?

  Event tech stack

• Risk

  What could go wrong, who handles it, and what is the backup? Which permits, insurance or contracts are needed?

  Event risk assessment

• Results

  Which two or three measures will we report, and how will we collect them? When will the review happen?

  Event KPIs

A one-page answer sheet

Fill this in with the team and share it. Anything left blank is a decision still to make.

Event name:
Date and place:

1. Purpose (one sentence):
2. Audience and expected size:
3. Budget total and approver:
4. Format (in person, virtual, hybrid):
5. Venue requirements:
6. Program outline and speakers:
7. How people register, what we ask them:
8. Communication plan (what, when, channel):
9. Technology needed and owner:
10. Main risks and backups:
11. Measures of success and review date:

Where Eventdex fits

Several answers point to tools: registration, check-in, the agenda and the mobile app. Eventdex's pages describe each of them. Eventdex's pages do not describe a tool that writes the answers for you, so the sheet above stays a team exercise.

• Event planning software

  See what Eventdex lists for planning and managing events.

  Event planning software

• Event planning checklist

  A checklist to turn the answers into tasks.

  Event planning checklist

Planning questions people skip

The questions that cause the most trouble later are the ones nobody asked at the start.

• Who decides?

  Agree who has the final say on budget, program and changes.

• What happens if it goes wrong?

  Ask early about weather, speaker cancellations and low turnout.

• How will we know it worked?

  Agree the measure of success before you spend.