Skip to content

The encyclopedia of event planning · Toronto & the GTA · Free and independentMy Planner Submit a listing Newsletter

Get quotes

Academy

Module 2: Discovery & Concept

Client discovery meeting, goals and success measures, guest profile, creative brief, writing proposals.

Discovery & Concept is part of the free Event Planner Academy. It has 7 lessons, about 1.8 hours of study in total, and every lesson comes with a narrated video, a printable worksheet and a short quiz.

How to work through it

Watch the narrated video at the top of each lesson, then read the lesson itself. The video covers the key points; the page has the tables, examples and checklists.
Complete the worksheet for your own event, or for the running Harbour Gala example.
Take the quiz and mark the lesson complete. Your progress is saved in this browser.
Finish all twelve core modules and pass the final exam to print your free certificate.

Planner's blank notebook on a lounge table with clients blurred across

The discovery meeting

Module 2: Discovery & Concept · 15 min

Forty-five minutes with a client decides the next six months. Learn the question order that surfaces the real goal, the real budget…

Two event planners seen from behind on a balcony overlooking a lively Toronto gala in full swing

Goals and success measures

Module 2: Discovery & Concept · 15 min

Every event needs a measurable outcome: leads, attendance, donations, survey scores, retention. Set it in discovery and it writes the debrief for…

Guest profile and the guest journey

Module 2: Discovery & Concept · 15 min

Who is coming, what do they expect, what will they complain about? Build the guest profile and walk the journey from invitation…

Hand placing a fabric swatch on a mood board with colour chips

Writing the creative brief

Module 2: Discovery & Concept · 15 min

One page that tells every vendor what the event feels like, who it is for and what cannot be compromised. The brief…

A planner's hands laying out fabric swatches, a small floral sample and a scale model of a tent on a café table

Proposals that win

Module 2: Discovery & Concept · 15 min

A proposal is a decision document. Eight sections, four pages, two venue options, a budget with HST shown, and a fee the…

Hand on a calculator beside a timer and blank invoice pad under a desk lamp

Pricing your fee: percentage, flat, hourly

Module 2: Discovery & Concept · 15 min

Ontario planners charge 10–20% of budget, flat packages, or hourly for consulting. Each model changes the client's incentives and yours. Choose deliberately.

Planner at a standing desk with blank sticky notes on the wall

Module 2 workshop: discovery to proposal in a week

Module 2: Discovery & Concept · 15 min

Take a mock client (a tech company, 180 guests, holiday party, $35,000) from discovery call to signed proposal.