Event Planning Checklist

Do be aware that almost all communities require a permit for many types of events. Fire marshals, for example, have very strict rules that must be adhered to. All applications must be filed early, perhaps months or a year in advance. But that's what event planning is all about.

You must begin at the beginning, although in some cases, you start with the scheduled date and work backwards, to see if you have time to get everything done. If not, the occasion will have to be postponed. To give just one example: if a city requires that the application for a permit be filed four months in advance, you cannot file an application on June 10 for a Labor Day parade to the park.

You will need to determine at the start whether you will be the lone event planner, or if you will have a committee to share the load. It helps if you have some say in the selection, since some events will simply bog down in committee infighting. The basic items for your checklist are:

• What do you want to stage?
• Decide who will be in charge.
• Get the details about required permits.
• Ask about the rules for security guards and first aid personnel.
• Set the date.
• Decide on the budget. (Will there be revenue to offset any costs?)
• Choose the location.
• If there is a committee, put the right people in charge of audio/video equipment, parking, food preparation, flower arrangements, table and chair set up and tear down, clean up, volunteer hosts and hostesses, speakers, invitations, and so forth.
• Choose helpers for each chairperson.
• Decide if you need costumes for the staff or volunteers.
• Choose the entertainers.
• Find the right photographer.
• Print programs or flyers.
• Make ID badges or brightly colored armbands, so people can find staff members.
• Plan to have several registration tables, to handle different parts of the alphabet.
• Have a dress rehearsal, or arrive very early.
• Put someone in charge of the duct tape. It will be needed.
• After the event, pay outstanding bills promptly.
• Send thank you letters.
• Display photos on the web, in a newsletter, or on the bulletin board. Let people order as many copies as they want, for a reasonable price, of course.
• Analyze what went right and what needs improvement.