Planning Your Event

Careful planning is the secret of a successful event, and this means starting well in advance - whether months ahead or even years. Remember you may be in competition with other events for visitors, preferred dates, facility hire such as marquees, 'portaloos' etc, so the sooner you book your requirements the sooner you can relax and start planning the details.

You may think you know what needs to be done in planning your event, but timing is often crucial. Your event is the deadline - it's no good finishing off tasks after this date!
If you have planned your event carefully, there should be few surprises on the day. However, nothing can be guaranteed, and you should always have a contingency plan to cover uncertainties such as weather.

One of the best things about being an event organiser is seeing plans realized successfully and receiving positive feedback. Evaluation is an invaluable means of measuring performance against planned outcomes, which will help you achieve this. Use it in the planning process, for keeping on track, giving a picture of the event in retrospect and helping you learn for the future. It is also something that you will be required to undertake for larger funders - these bodies will often supply specific formats and guidance for reporting.

North East England has developed a key set of criteria for monitoring and evaluation for events - this will assist in measuring the value of events to the North East economy.