Let’s say you’re planning an event. This can be a tricky and complicated business, but it can be streamlined. This article is intended to help you simplify the planning process as much as possible, such that on-the-night logistical stress is minimised and everyone knows exactly what’s supposed to be happening. The #1 takeaway here is to plan early and collect information first, but I’ll go into more detail on good processes to follow below!

I should note that I am writing this from the perspective of a sound technician that has worked on a wide range of events at Durham University, so a lot of the specifics will be geared towards that niche, but the general process outlined here is applicable to more or less any event. Essentially, your job as an event organiser is to act as a central party who communicates with all the involved stakeholders, collects all the information needed to run the event in one place and ensures everyone knows what’s going on.

Step 1: Establish what you have at the venue

Probably the first step of planning an event is to decide on a venue. This could be anything from a small local bar to a literal castle, but what they all have in common is that they will provide you with a certain base level of equipment for your event, as well as obviously the space(s) that it will take place in. In all likelihood, they will invite you to the location to have a look around, and this is the ideal time to discuss the first thing you need to know: what exactly they have. Bring a clipboard!

First off, make sure to start a conversation about what exactly comes with your booking - it may be that they will only provide power, or it may be that they have loads of lighting, a stage and a speaker system. Knowing this in advance will make life easier for technicians (as they won’t need to bring or set up equipment if it’s already in the room) and cheaper for you (as you won’t need to hire equipment that doesn’t get used because it’s already in the room). It will also ensure that there aren’t any gaps - everyone will be clear on who is providing what. While the representative from the venue will probably talk through it in person, and noting down these things is good, it might be worth asking for the list to be forwarded over email too, so you have this important information straight from the horse’s mouth.

As well as a list of the tech that comes with your booking, it’s also useful to draw up a quick map of the area’s expected layout. This might seem unnecessary, but remember that the people setting up the event probably haven’t visited the venue and therefore won’t have the insight that you do. As well as things like the room shape, stage area and table locations, it’s very important to show the locations of all power outlets and any other equipment that the venue is providing. It’s best to do this either whilst at the venue or straight after your visit to ensure that it’s fresh in your mind. I told you the clipboard would come in handy.

Step 2: Establish what your performers need

Next up, you’re probably going to get in touch with some people to provide entertainment at your event. Once you have people confirmed, get a rider from (or at least confirm technical requirements with) every single one. That includes dancers, speakers, photographers, karaoke machine providers and unicyclists. You may find that many of them want little things like background music, a green room or a power socket. Having all of this noted down ensures that there won’t be any surprises on the day when your extreme juggler suddenly remembers he needs 24 speakers, a DJ, a light show and an inflatable water slide for his death-defying performance in the middle of a field, 6 miles from the nearest electrical outlet.

You will also want to chat with the performers about when they want to come to the venue. It’s likely that they will want to come and figure out layout, execute soundchecks, and rehearse, and getting their timings down early will make planning the day’s logistics that much easier.

Obviously, riders are particularly important from musical performers, dancers and other stage-based acts, so make sure they get them sent over ASAP. Otherwise, you’ll have to chase them for riders when your technician asks for them in a few days’ time and you’ll lose a day or two of planning time while they get back to you. If you need something to point to, I have a handy blog post on that very subject.

Step 3: Establish what you want

Now comes the fun bit. You have all the information at your fingertips, so have a think about what kind of production value you want your event to have. If you’re technically inclned, have a look at various tech hires (if you’re Durham-based, the best place to start is durhamtech.org.uk), see what’s on offer and compare against your budget. If you’re not technically inclined, though, don’t worry! It’s still useful to think about how much you’re willing to spend - as a guide (at Durham college hire prices), a ‘basic’ setup (with minimal lighting, 1-2 main speakers, a mixer etc) will cost around £70 + VAT, a more advanced setup (with stage monitors, slightly more lighting and a digital mixer) will cost £150 + VAT and a really fancy setup (with posh lighting, nice light and sound desks and maybe some staging) will cost £200+.

These numbers will also vary depending on how much your performers are bringing - a band that brings their own amplifiers and drumkit will obviously need less hire spend than one that doesn’t. Remember also that you’ll probably want at least one technician, and these should charge £15-30 per hour. Finally, while it may seem like needless spending to hire out nicer equipment that will only service your technicians and band (things like nicer mixers or more stage monitors) these things will allow those people to perform better: as an example, pricier digital mixers feature really handy features like compressors and wireless control that will allow a technician to really fine-tune the sound versus a more basic analogue mixer.

You might want to establish contact with some technicians at this point, to make them aware of the fact that you’re interested in hiring equipment for your event, but you will probably want to wait before you send all of the information over, since there are a few more things to tie together.

Step 3.5: Transport & logistics

By this point, you’ve probably also established what transport you’re using. As well as transport for your bands, guests etc, you may need to move technicians and equipment to and from your event too. As a very rough guideline (again, at Durham college hire prices), a small car will carry around £70-100 worth of equipment. If you have coaches, obviously those will be capable of carrying much more.

The other thing to consider at this step is things like rehearsals, setup and soundchecks. Put simply, the longer you can leave between the start of setup and the start of the event, the more time there is to iron out any bumps in the road that crop up. If you’ve done all the above then those bumps are far, far less likely to appear, but there’s nothing wrong with planning for contingency, and allowing more time will allow everyone to get things exactly how they should be for your event.

Once you’ve got all of this planned out, write up a rough initial schedule for the day. Include everything from vehicles going back and forth to soundchecks and setup time. It’s nice to have things planned out in your head, but getting it down on paper will mean you have a nice table you can send to everyone involved and thereby reduce logistical miscommunication.

I’ve put this step as a half-step because it’s something that you’ve probably been working on at the same time as the above things - between step 3 and 4 is sort of the ‘deadline’ to have these details planned out (though it shouldn’t be 100% finalised until after step 4, just in case there are any complications).

Step 4: Fill in the gaps

Notice that actually hiring technicians and equipment is the last step. That’s because by this point you should have all the information that a technician will need in order to plan and execute your event. That means all you really need to do is send everything over in one go. If you’ve been thorough, it may well be that the person on the other end goes “Okay cool. You need this, this, this and this and that will probably cost you somewhere in the region of £120” with no further back-and-forth needed. This is the ideal outcome, but it’s also very possible they have one or two minor things to clarify with you first.

Step 5: Relax!

Congratulations! By this point everyone involved in your event knows exactly what’s going on. You’ll probably want to circulate final arrangements with everyone involved in order to ensure that everyone knows the situation, but otherwise your event is all planned out! Have a cup of tea and reflect on how awesome you are.

As a bit of an epilogue, I’m just going to quickly draw attention to what the alternative to this process is. As tempting as it may seem to get in touch with the people providing you with technicians and equipment first so they can help you through the process, sending emails back and forth with every new thing is a waste of your and their time. You would essentially be acting as a go-between, and they would have to go through the above and talk to performers/venue through you. That’s not your job or their job, and giving them the contact details for the other parties so they can liase directly cuts you out of the loop entirely, meaning there’s potential for things like spending decisions to be made without your consent. I should note that emailing technicians early to confirm that you would like to use their services is a perfectly reasonable thing to do, but you should make it crystal clear that you are collecting information in the background and will get back to them once you have it all in one place.