Module 7 workshop: full production plan

For the gala: master timeline, run of show, load-in schedule, transport plan, seating and staffing in one package.

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Module 7 workshop: full production plan.

For the gala: master timeline, run of show, load-in schedule, transport plan, seating and staffing in one package.

One package, six documents.

By the end of Module 7 you have written six production documents for the Harbour Gala, each in its own lesson.

The workshop assembles them into one package that a venue, a client or a replacement planner could run the event from.

Cross-checking for conflicts.

Documents written on different days by one tired person disagree.

The cross-check finds the disagreements before the venue does.

Briefing the venue from the package.

The venue does not want six documents.

It wants to know what affects its building, its staff and its liability.

Worked example: the Harbour Gala package, version 3.

Version 1 went out at event minus 7 days.

The cross-check found four conflicts.

Common mistakes in this workshop.

Assembling the package without the cross-check. Six documents that disagree are worse than none, because everyone trusts their own copy.

Sending the whole package to the venue. Send the venue brief; keep the package for the people who run from it.

That is the lesson. The worksheet and the quiz are just below this video.

What you will be able to do

• Assemble a complete production package
• Cross-check documents for conflicts
• Brief the venue from the package

One package, six documents

By the end of Module 7 you have written six production documents for the Harbour Gala, each in its own lesson. The workshop assembles them into one package that a venue, a client or a replacement planner could run the event from. The package is only useful if the six documents agree with each other, so most of this workshop is cross-checking.

Add a cover page with the event name, date, venue, the client’s and planner’s mobile numbers, the version number and the date of the version. Every page of every document carries that version number in the footer.

Cross-checking for conflicts

Documents written on different days by one tired person disagree. The cross-check finds the disagreements before the venue does. Work through these in order, with all six documents open.

1. Times. Every time that appears in two documents must match. Doors in the run of show equals doors on the invitation equals doors in the staffing plan. The guarantee date in the timeline equals the contract. The florist’s strike time in the run of show equals the florist’s quote.
2. Counts. The guarantee equals the seating chart equals the dietary counts summed equals the number of chairs on the floor plan. The reserved parking equals the sponsor benefit list. The coach capacity equals or exceeds the shuttle list.
3. Owners. Every name in an owner column appears on the vendor contact sheet with a mobile number, and is on the briefing attendance list. A cue owned by someone who is not at the briefing is a cue nobody owns.
4. Sequence. Load-in slots do not overlap at the dock or the elevator. AV precedes décor. Sound check happens after the room is dressed. No stage cue overlaps a service window. Strike starts after the last guest, not after the program.
5. Accessibility. The three accessible seats on the chart are on the aisle marked on the floor plan; the aisle is marked clear in the lighting and florist briefs; the accessible return rides in the transport plan match the RSVP requests; the quiet room is in the briefing agenda.
6. Money. Anything in the package that costs money (overtime past curfew, validated parking, the rideshare cap, the coach waiting time, extra security hours) appears in the budget sheet. The package should not contain a single commitment the budget does not.
7. Permits and compliance. If the venue is licensed, the package says so and no SOP line is open. If there were a tent, a park, outdoor amplified sound or a raffle, the relevant permit or licence and its lead time would be in the timeline with a status. The gala has a paddle raise, which is an auction-style ask, not a lottery, so no lottery licence is needed; that note is in the package so nobody asks on the night.

Briefing the venue from the package

The venue does not want six documents. It wants to know what affects its building, its staff and its liability. Send the banquet manager a venue brief, two pages, drawn from the package: the floor plan with the stage, the aisle and the accessible seats; the load-in and strike schedule with every supplier, slot and vehicle; the run of show rows that involve the venue (doors, service windows, bar close, dessert, strike, room walk); the guarantee and dietary counts; the lighting and rigging plan with the venue’s approval referenced; the power tie-in and electrician booking; the parking arrangement and the coach stop; the escalation list with names. Ask the banquet manager to confirm by reply that their BEO matches, and read the BEO when it comes back, line by line, against the package. The BEO is what the hotel’s staff will actually execute. If the BEO says dessert at 8:45 and the package says 9:05, the package loses unless you catch it.

Worked example: the Harbour Gala package, version 3

Version 1 went out at event minus 7 days. The cross-check found four conflicts. The run of show had the florist striking at 10:00 and the florist’s quote said 10:30; the quote won, because the last guests leave at 10:00. The seating chart summed to 201 and the guarantee said 200; a duplicate plus-one was removed. The dock schedule had the lighting supplier and the staging company both in the 1:00 slot; staging moved to 1:30. The transport plan listed one accessible return ride and the RSVP file showed two; the second was booked. Version 2 went to every owner with the four changes highlighted. The hotel’s BEO came back with dessert at 8:45, which would have landed during the paddle raise; the banquet manager corrected it to 9:05 and version 3 carried the BEO number in the footer.

The venue brief ran two pages. The banquet manager’s reply confirmed the dock windows, the electrician at 1:30, the pin spot clamps approved on the ceiling grid, 40 reserved parking spaces at the flat rate, the coach stop with the doorman, and house security at the doors. The planner printed 30 copies of the run of show and 6 of the full package, and carried the version 3 PDF on two phones. At 8:08 the captain radioed that the main was cleared. The program started at 8:15.

Common mistakes in this workshop

• Assembling the package without the cross-check. Six documents that disagree are worse than none, because everyone trusts their own copy.
• Sending the whole package to the venue. Send the venue brief; keep the package for the people who run from it.
• Not reading the BEO. It is the only document the hotel’s staff will follow.
• Version numbers in the email but not on the pages. The page is what is on the floor at 8:24.
• A commitment in the package that is not in the budget. Overtime, parking, rideshare caps and coach waiting time are the usual ones.

Worksheet

Download the worksheet, complete it for your own event (or the running gala example), and keep it in your course binder. It takes about 21 minutes.

Download the worksheet (PDF)