Finally, got your first event planning gig? Well, congratulations on getting a chance to curate, coordinate and be in charge of an event. But, as you already know, this is where the actual job starts. Or wait, let’s not assume everyone reading this is a newbie to event planning. Although, it doesn’t matter much. Even if you’ve been planning events for years, you can always learn something new or get new templates to work with.
That said, we’ll provide an overview of different google sheets event planning templates in this post. But before that, let’s get into the basics of event planning.
Event planning is a practice that involves the organization of the various activities surrounding an event. For example, the event could be a festival, party, conference, or any type of gathering.
From the definition, it’s apparent that event planning requires key organizational skills and dedication to perfection.
Event planners will work on different aspects of an event, from finding a venue and booking presenters to sorting the catering, entertainment, and arranging the order of the programme. Of course, an event planning process should cover all of these areas while keeping to the stated budget. Not only that, an event plan will only be considered successful if it’s delivered on time and fulfills the event’s objectives.
Now that we have a good idea of what event planning entails let’s look at some event planning templates you may find in google sheets.
This event plan contains a general outline of the essential elements of an event. For example, an event overview template typically contains notations of strategic elements such as the event’s objectives, the messaging, and the target audience. Not only that, but it can also include logistical details like catering, audio-visual arrangements and programming.
This plan also encourages you to identify who’s responsible for each of the elements, what they’re expected to do, and the deadlines for completing their responsibilities. It’s a thorough template that will guide your planning process and summarize all the tasks to be accomplished before, during and immediately after the event.
An event schedule is an itinerary that primarily includes the location, date and time for an event. It may also include scheduled breaks during the event. This event one sheet template also works for an event that will take place over multiple days. In that case, it’ll consist of all the locations, dates and times of activities across the entire span of the event. The template is a simple spreadsheet you can share with your co-planners, staff or attendees.
The conference timeline template is a more specific adaptation of the event schedule template. It’s designed explicitly for planning towards the duration of a conference. The purpose of this template is to get you up and running fast regardless of whether your conference timeline is in days or weeks.
It’ll include a breakdown of all the activities to be conducted during the conference and the time allocated for each. It should also account for breaks and unprecedented interruptions to ensure accurate delivery.
A significant part of event planning involves marketing considerations if it’s an event intended to attract a large number or specific members of the populace. But, depending on your marketing efforts and the size of the event, you may need to use national advertising, digital marketing, and online research in your P.R efforts.
You’ll need an appropriate document/template to keep track of the efficiency of all these marketing avenues. The email marketing template provides a space for each marketing campaign and a timeline for weekly/monthly planning. Having a timeline for each campaign and its tasks makes it easier for you to gauge how actions overlap. Then you can plan for significant dates and an appropriate representation of the time needed for each item.
An event to-do list template is ideal for planning, organizing, prioritizing and executing all the necessary tasks for an event. This template will enable you to easily track the progress of each item and how far along it is towards completion. Plus, it includes space for notes and comments, which are particularly useful for making progress observations.
This template deals with all the financial obligations associated with an event. There should be a stated budget apportioned for the execution of all the planned activities in the event. The budget template contains all the essential elements of an event such as catering, logistics, venue, audio and video requirements, etc. It also includes the amount apportioned to each of them from the overall budget. This will improve accountability, and you can easily calculate the expected VS actual expenses for the event and the income.
Using a checklist is a foolproof way to ensure you’ve thought of and included all the key areas of the event you are planning. Below is a highlight of some key elements you’ll find in a free event planning checklist template.
Event contracts are essential for protecting yourself and clients from unfavorable developments or unprofessional conduct from vendors. It also ensures that you’re fully compensated for your duties and your clients get what they request. There are several examples of event contracts you may look into. But you want to pay specific attention to the client contract, venue contract, F&B contracts and speakers/performers contracts.
It’s important to get your event RFPs right before contacting the vendors and venues. You need to be sure of your RFPs so you can watch the venues and vendors’ ability to meet them. The response of the venues and vendors to your RFPs is an indication of how well they’re suited for the tasks you intend to give them. Pay attention to how they answer all your concerns and supply all the information you request for.
You can’t afford to make any mistakes when it comes to the event budget. Fortunately, even as event budgets are varied according to the type of event, there are a few things all acceptable ones have in common.
The run-of-show is the most critical document for the event planner on the day of the event. It contains the contact information of all the participants that are key to the success of the event. This may include speakers, venue managers, catering, logistics managers, A/V tech, MC, etc.
The run-of-show will also include a succinct schedule of all the items of the event, right from the opening time of the venue, to the event setup, the start of the event, cues for lighting and stage setup, refreshment service, etc. Of course, the sheet will list the persons responsible for each element.
Proper planning is imperative to the success of any event. A good plan is well documented in the appropriate format and the right medium. When thoughtfully designed, the plan will guide you, keep the wheels rolling, and help make things go smoothly.
We understand you may need a little bit of help creating the perfect event plan, So we want to help you with that. At Smart Works Agency, we specialize in developing detailed plans for all types of events. We also offer different professional event planning template google sheets. You can check out our professional wedding planner templates to see for yourself. If you’re convinced, Simply give us a call and let’s discuss the roadmap for the success of your event.