How to Prepare an Agenda for Event Planning (Free Templates)

sample of event planning agenda

Event planning is a task that starts at the concept idea of the event and does not end until the event occurs and sometimes even after. The event planning agenda deals with everything from the budget to the invitations.

When planning an event, coming up with an effective agenda for the event is a crucial step. An agenda helps ensure that the content and event schedule are well organized and easily accessed by all guests and attendees.

As an event organizer, an agenda serves as your roadmap. It helps you track all the activities going on while at the same time monitoring audience engagement and feedback. Drafting an engaging event agenda is key to the success of your event or conference. To that end, here are some vital things to include to help you create an effective event agenda that makes people feel like they need to attend your event!

A well-structured agenda includes:

Preparation

Once your meeting with the client is scheduled, you need to begin preparing. You can begin preparing by asking a few simple questions.

  • What are you and the client wanting to get out of the meeting?
  • What representatives of the client will be at the meeting?
  • How and where the meeting will take place?
  • How long will your presentation be?

When preparing for the meeting you must consider time restraints, who will be conducting the meeting, would it be beneficial to have a recorder at the meeting to take notes and alert you when time is almost up, when picking a recorder be sure it is someone that is capable of keeping up with the discussion, can recognize important information, and can assist in scheduling follow-up communication with the client. You must always be aware of your client value, time is money, be sure not to go over the allotted time.

Budgeting

As the Event Planner it is your responsibility to develop and maintain the budget. These budget planner templates can help.

Venue

You will more than likely have to give the client options on where the event will take place. To make proper suggestions you will need information (how many people, formal or casual, topic of the event and budget).

Hotel

You will be responsible for negotiating  and signing commercial contracts with hotels if necessary.

Vendors & Caterer

The event planner will be hiring any outside vendors and caterers that can provide the service required for the event. When selecting the caterer, you want to be sure it is someone you can work with because it is your job to plan the menu as well.

Speakers & Entertainment

Another job for the Event planner is to create a guest list and schedule any guest speakers and entertainment for the event. You will need to come up with multiple options, prior to making the arrangements in case your first selection is not available.

Transportation

The guest speaker/entertainment will require transportation to and from the event and that again is the job of the event planner.

After the meeting follow-up

You want to get the meeting notes sent out as soon as they are transcribed and ready. Delegate tasks and set deadlines for the completion of action items as soon as possible and keep a copy of the meeting notes in a secure location to prevent loss and make them easily referenced.

How can our free templates help?

Our free event planning agenda templates will help you to keep track of every step. The templates can help you organize your plan and ensure that you have everything planned and considered. They can help you plan how to handle a difference of opinion and other possible issues that may arise.

Our free templates will help you to develop a budget, select a venue, plan the menu, arrange guest speakers/entertainment, and keep tract of transportation needs. Some much goes into planning an event and using our templates will help you keep everything organized and on track.

Properly planning an event takes time, ideas, patience, people, and above all, it takes meetings. While it may seem like an easy task, running an event isn’t always the easiest task. There other people’s opinions and schedules that you have to consider. Your staff’s time needs to be well accounted for, people’s attention needs to be kept on track, and details need to be addressed appropriately.

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    Since meetings are the backbone of planning a significant event, you must know how to prepare to make sure that the event becomes a success. To ensure that everything comes together seamlessly for your event, make sure to follow the template structure provided above so that you can start running effective meetings right away.

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