Course description

Been asked to organise the office party, the club dinner or the community fun day, and not sure where to start? This course takes you through planning an event from the first conversation to the final report: setting a budget that adds up, finding and booking a venue, choosing suppliers, inviting guests, keeping everyone safe and running the day calmly.

It's a full course, not a quick tour. There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons, each with a worked example, common questions and a short task. You follow Stephanie, an office manager in Crawley, as she plans her company's 30th anniversary evening for a hundred staff and clients, and leads a free outdoor fun day for her residents' association, including the mistakes she made and how she put them right. Every section has a practice pack with a worksheet, key points and templates: a brief, a budget spreadsheet, a timeline tracker, a site visit checklist, a quote comparison, an allergen sheet, a guest list, a risk assessment, a run sheet, a feedback form and a pricing calculator. All the diagrams are original.

What you'll learn

• Starting with the event: types of event, objectives and success measures, who does what, and a one-page brief the decision maker signs off.
• Budgets that add up: cost lines, contingency, VAT, cost per head, income and break-even, and a payments schedule, with a worked budget spreadsheet.
• Timelines: working back from the date, the critical path in plain terms, milestones, checklists, sharing the work and what to do when things slip.
• Venues: choosing a venue, capacity and layouts, site visits, checking accessibility, and venue contracts in general terms.
• Suppliers and catering: specifications, comparing quotes like for like, food hygiene, the 14 allergens and Natasha's Law, AV, decor, entertainment and transport.
• Guests and inclusion: guest lists and invitations, registration and RSVPs, data protection, marketing a public event, and making every guest welcome.
• Safety, licences and insurance: event risk assessments, fire safety and emergency plans, temporary event notices and music licensing, insurance, first aid, crowd safety and Martyn's Law.
• Running the day: the run sheet, roles and briefings, set-up, sound checks and rehearsals, running the room, and contingency plans.
• After the event, and online events: breakdown, evaluation, thank-yous, the final budget and event report, and virtual and hybrid events in outline.
• A side business and your final project: insurance, contracts, pricing and tax in outline, then a complete plan for a volunteers' afternoon tea, with model answers.

Who it's for

Office staff who've been handed an event to organise, volunteers running events for clubs, schools, charities and community groups, and anyone thinking about planning events as a side business. You don't need any experience. The course explains UK rules in plain words, says where they differ between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and tells you where to check. It gives general information, not legal, insurance or tax advice. Everyone in the course is fictional.

What will I learn?

• Agree an event’s purpose, objectives and success measures, and write a one-page brief the decision maker signs off
• Build an event budget with contingency, VAT and cost per head, work out break-even for a ticketed event, and track every payment
• Work back from the event date to a timeline, find the critical path, and share and track tasks with colleagues and volunteers
• Choose and visit venues, check capacity, layout and accessibility, and read a venue contract with confidence
• Write supplier specifications, compare quotes like for like, and plan catering with food hygiene and the 14 allergens in mind
• Manage invitations, registration and RSVPs, look after guests’ data, and make the event welcoming for every guest
• Write an event risk assessment and emergency plan, and know when you need a temporary event notice, music licence or insurance
• Run the day with a run sheet, role cards, briefings, a sound check and contingency plans
• Evaluate an event against its objectives, finish the budget and write a short event report, and plan online and hybrid events
• Understand the basics of insurance, contracts, pricing and tax for an events side business, and plan a complete event from brief to run sheet

Frequently asked questions