ARTS MID NORTH COAST - HOW TO PLAN & MANAGE EVENTS 1 ARTS MID NORTH COAST Disclaimer: Arts Mid North Coast has made every reasonable effort to provide information that is as comprehensive, accurate and clear as possible at the time of publication. However the information provided is necessarily of a general nature and may not address the specific circumstances of a particular individual or organization. 2 ARTS MID NORTH COAST - HOW TO PLAN & MANAGE EVENTS CONTENTS GETTING STARTED 4 BREAKING IT DOWN 4 ROLLING UP THE SHIRTSLEEVES! 4 WHAT SERVICES AND ASSISTANCE ALREADY EXISTS? 4 RESEARCH 5 TIMING 5 INCOME 6 BUDGET 6 EXPENDITURE 8 LOGISTICS 9 RISK MANAGEMENT 13 PROGRAMMING 18 MARKETING 22 TEMPLATES 27 TEMPLATE 1 - BREAKING IT DOWN 28 TEMPLATE 2 - THE BUDGET 30 TEMPLATE 3 - THE VENUE & SITE PLAN 32 FURTHER REFERENCES 34 3 ARTS MID NORTH COAST GETTING STARTED BREAKING IT DOWN management, transport, and event promotion. At the very least, as a Event planning can be overwhelming courtesy, it is recommended that you when looked at in one go so notify the relevant local council/s of Planning Makes Perfect breaks down your event. both the planning process and its implementation into bite-sized chunks. Arts Mid North Coast has designed this guide to be as accessible and user- PLEASE SEE TEMPLATE 1 AT THE END friendly as possible but remember that OF THIS GUIDE. other agencies such as TAFE, community organisations and state agencies can also provide information and assistance. ROLLING UP THE References are provided throughout SHIRTSLEEVES! and in the Appendices of this document. Regardless of whether you are organising an arts market, a festival, GETTING IT RIGHT FROM THE an expo or showcase, workshops or a BEGINNING. combination of all of these, planning Planning is critical for a successful is essential and this planning needs to event and will save you enormous be done well in advance. This guide will headaches further down the track. This cover key planning elements such as guide may consider planning that is not purpose, timelines, budgets, partners, necessary for your particular event but and provides a checklist for you to tick take note of all the elements that even off as you go. By providing this guide a small event such as a workshop may Arts Mid North Coast aims to make the require. More complex events such hard work you’ve taken on just a little bit as exhibitions, expos, festivals, and easier. conferences are also covered by this planning guide. WHAT SERVICES AND Event planning includes all activities and ASSISTANCE ALREADY issues associated with the event and how you are going to plan for them. EXISTS? The planning phase is part of the event Lots of other community groups and itself and can often take longer than businesses organise events and there expected. Be sure to account for this are many resources that already exist in your event timeframe. Allow for a to save you from working from scratch. minimum of 4 months lead time but In many cases consultation with your the longer lead time the better. For Council and community will be a critical events that are held annually, a lot of element of your event planning. Your the planning and documentation you local council can assist you with local develop for your first event can be used laws and permits, traffic management, for future years. the hiring of council venues and spaces, equipment hire in those spaces, waste 4 ARTS MID NORTH COAST - HOW TO PLAN & MANAGE EVENTS RESEARCH ORGANISING GROUP/PLANNING Before investing a lot of time and COMMITTEE. money into an event, it is important It is important to establish a committee that you research its concept to or working group with identified evaluate the likelihood of its success. roles and responsibilities or share You can do this by investigating other the workload with professional staff similar events that have been held of a partner organisation. Once this locally or in another location. You committee is established it is important should consider any available market that roles and responsibilities, as well as research about these events in terms of communication protocols, are clarified audience participation and community and agreed to by all. acceptance. Through the process of researching, you will also get a feel for how viable the event is and what is the TIMING The timing of your event can be crucial most appropriate level planning and to its success. It is important to find out management for your specific. when other events are being staged in your region so that your event does WHAT TYPE OF EVENT ARE YOU not suffer from poor attendance. THINKING OF? Remember to find out when public You should also research what format of holidays are and to be mindful of the event is best suited to your purpose. school holidays. Spring is a particular Do you want people to network with popular to stage local events. To avoid one another? Is the event designed to disappointment, please consult with raise money for a particular cause or your local Council’s events’ co-ordinator organisation? What sort of audience or Arts Mid North Coast. are you trying to reach? Look at other events to see if that format appeals to Consideration also needs to be given to you: e.g. TED Talks, Pecha Kucha, Expos, the time of day your event will be run. Workshops, Festivals (links to some This must fit with your event concept of these formats can be found in the and target audience. For example, Further Reading section of this guide). you wouldn’t start a family event at It can be as big or small as you can 9pm or hold it during the heat of the manage. But it is ultimately what you day between 11am and 3pm in the can realistically manage that will also summer months. Also, be mindful of the determine what type of event you run. length of the event as this can impact significantly on costs and participation COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC numbers. Once you have identified a CONSULTATION. date, notify your key stakeholders and Consult with the stakeholders of your place it in their diaries. event. It can not only improve the purpose of the event but also the marketing and risk assessments that should be considered. Stakeholders might include your peers and colleagues, members, advisory groups, community, local residents, sponsors and key partners. 5 ARTS MID NORTH COAST BUDGET INCOME tickets about the event; and • Information you’d like to gather as In order to successfully plan your event, part of the ticketing process**. you will need to develop an accurate and comprehensive budget. *Some useful online ticketing systems include: Eventbrite, Trybooking, PLEASE SEE TEMPLATE 2 AT THE END Ticketebo. Some such as Eventarc can OF THIS GUIDE. also sell merchandise for your event at the same time as tickets. If you’re THE IMPORTANCE OF IN-KIND AND not sure, ask other organisations which ticketing systems they prefer. CASH CONTRIBUTIONS The pricing, systems, and collection In-Kind in your budget simply the value of purchaser data that is useful for of something (goods, commodities, reporting all vary so make sure you do or services) instead of money such as your homework. You might also contact reduced or free venue hire or services the venue and/or your council to see if your event will use. It is important to they have ticketing solutions for your include but have it carefully labelled as event. such in your budget in both the income and expenditure columns. If you get **What will your ticketing system tell the venue free of charge that normally you? Many online booking systems allow charges $300 for the day you would put for a survey of ticket purchasers which $300 note in venue hire income and provides you with data you can use $300 in venue expenses noting clearly for reporting and future planning. You that this amount is ‘in-kind’ and not an can do the same with a quick survey of actual cash transaction. sales made at the door or other outlets. Consider some of the things you’d like TICKETING to know about ticket buyers e.g. their As ticketing is an important means of postcode, their age, how they heard crowd control, you must consider a about your event etc. ticketing process that involves advanced ticket sales, tickets purchased at the NFPS AND THE TRICKY DECISIONS event or both. Your event management CONCERNING TICKET PRICES plan needs to address: If you are a not-for-profit or charity organisation you may like to refer to • Appropriate pricing (do you include this link on how to apply GST to ticket a pricing tier e.g. early bird, member, prices http://www.ourcommunity.com. concession, group ticket prices) au/management/view_help_sheet. and the costs of selling tickets do?articleid=38 Similarly you may want themselves* to consider a sliding scale for ticket • Whether the tickets are pre-sold prices or a subscription ticket to a online, at other outlets, sold at the range of your events. Members of your door or all of these; organisation may get a discount for • Information provided on or with the 6 example or group bookings or health event concept and target audience. care card holders or students. By researching their priorities and guidelines for sponsorship in advance, This raises of course whether or not you you can align your approach and intend to charge ticket prices or not. submission to these goals. It is The first point to consider is whether or recommended that you contact the not your organisation needs a certain appropriate manager in person to give amount of ticketing income to a) break your sponsorship request maximum even b) raise funds for your cause and/ impact.