Event Management Planning

Proper planning of an event beforehand leaves the host stress-free and allows for fewer surprises on the actual day. Various aspects pertaining to events are event management plan, event manual, contingency plan and operational plan.

The Planning Process

When planning events of a large-scale nature, a robust plan needs to be in place. The entire planning process when scheduling an event includes various phases. A successful event will necessitate being committed to preparedness and a good leadership.

Organisation Of The Team

When going through the initial planning phase, staff organization and setting up of an event planning core committee is essential. Since the planning stage requires a wide-ranging participation, information technology personnel and risk management professionals should be included during the planning phase.

In addition, SMEs or subject matter experts as well as emergency management experts should be included when planning. Since the event might mean shutting, down of some processes, affected personnel should be involved in the planning phase too.

Personnel who can look at the big picture when planning as well as those who have operational expertise should be roped in.

Assessing Risks And Identifying Threats

All planning efforts towards an event management activity should assess potential risks and threats posed to the safety of the event. Various areas falling within the purview of business operations, which can affect the event operation should be considered.

Facets like power disruption, failure on the part of suppliers or telecommunications should be assessed as well as the potential impact they can have in disrupting the event. Areas, which need contingency plans must be placed on a priority basis and then the scope of the entire project should be developed.

Proper Responsive System

Proper event management planning is more to do with the ability to handle threats and issues as opposed to ensuring the event goes smoothly. While the latter is important, the true robustness of planning will shine if there is a contingency or disaster.

Proper systems need to be in place for appropriate and timely monitoring of threats, notifying personnel in case of emergencies, control and command systems etc. Proper testing and simulation needs to happen to ensure that the plan is truly foolproof.

Plan monitoring as well as activation should be performed in a controlled and organised manner.

Managing The Execution

When the event operations are on, complete oversight is required. All the command centres should be kept open to make sure rapid decisions can be taken. The team responsible for the event management should rehearse and undergo training in case of various emergencies.

Surprise drills are always a good way to ensure preparedness amongst the team. Information pertaining to the event must be managed optimally and all resources as well as plans being developed should be deployed as per the response.

A proper information management system is critical in this respect.

Technology Concerns

Issues pertaining to information management will be one of the primary concerns when it comes to event management planning. Message tracking should be automated to the maximum extent and incident information needs to be logged and routed to the appropriate authorities.