The Corporate Event Office & Documentation

8/7/2019 The Corporate Event Office & Documentation

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CHAPTER 3THE CORPORATE EVENT OFFICE ANDDOCUMENATATION


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INTRODUCTION

The event office is the organizing unit for the event

Size of the internal staff can range from a single

event coordinator on loan from other department to

full time team dedicated event

Event office may be a site operation office at an

outdoor exhibition or a room in a modern air-

conditioned office building It can be a virtual office, with the info residing on a

computer in another country


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FUNCTIONS OF EVENT OFFICE

PURPOSE provide centralized managerial and administrative support

to the event

Gives visibility to the planning (gives credibility to the event

as well) Sometimes called nerve center, command center, or central

processing unit of the event

Event office will concentrate on contracting, scheduling,and allocating tasks and resources more accurately

Event office becomes focused on dealing withoperational issues and responding to any suddenchanges


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DEDICATED EVENT OFFICE

The concept of dedicate event office is gainingacceptance

For a corporation:

Event office will support its internal seminars,conferences, exhibitions, award nights and sponsorshipevents.

Larger companies realize that to obtain maximum

return on investment(ROI) in sponsoring events, itwould be wise to be more than were observers ofthe events


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DEDICATED EVENT OFFICE Cont

Major corporation such as Coca Cola, IBM, Xerox

and Mars-have dedicated offices to manage their

events

A dedicated staff/ office can save costs if a

company holds up to five or six large event a year.

The event office consolidated all the expertise, skills

and knowledge that are often scattered throughouta company produce economy of scale


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DEDICATED EVENT OFFICE Cont

It is common for a company to have its event staff

work in partnership with an external event

management company

This method ensures the client company receive the

right promotion and opportunities will arise if it is

fully exploited

In an age of promotional clutter, having an activerole in the event offers a good ROI


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PHYSICALLAYOUT OF THE EVENT

OFFICE Event function uses graphs, diagrams and illustration to

communicated aspects of the event

It is the place to display all this information

The walls of the event office will be covered by anever-changing collage consisting combination of itemssuch as: Maps

Charts

L

ists and tables Reports and news

Communication strategy


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PHYSICALLAYOUT OF THE EVENT

OFFICE Cont

Event office walls may be used to assist

brainstorming and scenario building

Sticky notes with ideas, resources and timelines can

be moved around to create different scenario


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EVENT OFFICE FILING SYSTEMS

The filing systems should be:

Easily accessible and prioritized:

Divide into functions (such as finance, contract management,

operation, etc.)

Or by program elements (such as opening ceremony and

award night)

Salable:

the amount of work in both paper and digital format The filing system must be able to accommodate this increase

without being swamped by paper or data


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EVENT OFFICE FILING SYSTEMS

Cont

Consistency structured:

The paper and digital filing systems should be consistency

structured. The approach to filing information should have a similar

feel in both systems

In this way, the staff will be able to file and find

information in both systems


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MEETINGS,BRIEFINGS AND TRAINING

If there is enough space, the event office of its

associated conference is an ideal location for meetings

concerned with the event

It provides a facility in which the meeting participantscan make focused, well informed decisions

The standard rules of meeting procedures should be

followed if the meetings are to produce tangible results

It is essential to have an agenda, sent out several days

prior to the meeting, as well as desired outcomes or

goals for meeting


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CORPORATE EVENT OFFICE LIBRARY

The purpose of event office library is to store all the

info related to event

It should include the event manual, operation manuals

for the office and communication equipment, softwaremanuals, supplier catalogs, workplace safety rules and

regulations, meeting procedures, past event reports,

and industry association publications

The importance of data storage, easy retrieval andarchiving is apparent in the growth of the discipline of

knowledge management


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EVENT OFFICE REQUIREMENT

The equipment and services will require the following: Computers, peripherals and an integrated software system

Internet and intranet connections

Filing cabinets. Event the paperless office must store and have to

access to contacts Whiteboard. An erasable whiteboard is essential in the ever-

changing event environment

Video and or data projector for presentations to sponsors andtraining sessions

Communication systems. This could be made up of a variety ofcommunication devices, satellite mobile phones to handheldradios, all integrated with the computer system

Clean and light environment. The office must be a place wherepeople want to work


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DOCUMENTS

Accurate documentation is vital to managing aevent effectively and offers the followingadvantages:

The documentation communicates the plan of the eventto the staff and volunteers

The documents provide an ongoing record of theevents progress

They constitute a history of the event planning process,which may be useful in resolving any liabilities issues

They provide a written basis for improving the methodsof event management


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DOCUMENTS Cont

Standardization of documents enables different event

to be meaningfully compared

Producing the documents creates a discipline in the

planning process The documentation impersonalizes the plan- that is, it

takes the plan out of the hands of any one person and

ensures that it is separate from the individuals involved

The documents provide a link to other documents withina corporation such as finance, marketing, human

resources or some other event sponsor


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The Main Event Documents

The six (6) documents to plan and control the day-to-day aspects of the event:

Contact sheet, including telephone numbers and

addresses (both postal and e-mail) Responsibility chart, including key deliverables and

dates

Action sheet, including the dates required

Work package Checklists

Run sheet


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Contact Sheet

It may take many forms

From concise list printed on the back of

accreditation card worn around staff members

necks to multistage lists of staff or stakeholders

involved in the event

It should have a column for codes, since coding is

useful in sorting the list and will help staff membersquickly find the right contacts


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Responsibility Chart

Often as simple as a draft organization chart showingthe names of the various individuals involved and thejobs are assigned to them

The chart can be a matrix, with the names of the

persons, departments and teams. The level codes as follows: Rs: has sole responsibility

Rj: has joint responsibility

So: must sign off Cs:should be consulted for advice

Sv: supervises


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Task or Action Sheet

The basic element for getting things done by

assigning specific tasks responsibility

It is a highly targeted piece of information,

specifying the action to be done, by whom, when

and where

The action sheet is the finely detailed output of the

systems It can traced back to the overall work breakdown

structure


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Work Package

It is the consolidation of the various tasks assigned

to a supplier or staff member responsible for one

of the event outcomes

E.g.: an award dinner will need various pieces of

sound equipment

This responsibility would be assigned to a sound

specialist


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Checklists

Simple checklist represents the combined

experience and knowledge of the event

management team

It is the final document output of the WBS and could

be thought of as a list of mini-milestones

A checklist represents the detailed categorization

of all the work that has to be done


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Run Sheet or Production Schedule

Essentially describe who does what when, is known

by many names

The terms run sheet and production schedule

both refer to the event itself-the actual program

It describe what must be done or what will occur

during the event at certain times


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GENERIC EVENT SHEETS

The basics of this type document are: Heading

should have heading and show the event name

Legend or key Often easier to refer to people by their initials rather than their full names

If use this, should include legend or key showing to whom the initials refer

Code the need for coding depends on the complexity of the event

Help with cross referencing to other event areas such as budget

Version number

It facilitates correct communication by enabling all parties to be sure theyreusing the latest version of contact sheet, checklist or action sheet

Date An additional way to determine the version of a document and also helps to

establish the history of changes made to a documents


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OTHER EVENT DOCUMENTS

Memos, minutes and e-mails:

it should not be ignored in establishing a good internal

communication system

Includes commitment or to-do-lists

It should be concise and clearly written

Meeting and briefing minutes are another method of

making a public the decision and responsibilities

associated with the event


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OTHER EVENT DOCUMENTS Cont

Reports and newsletters

Formal method for monitoring the progress of the event

Snapshot of the various areas of event management

such as resources, schedule, cost.

For larger events, an event newsletter sent out on paper

or over the internet or intranet can be an effective and

useful method of communicating with the cilent,teams

members and volunteers and provide eventcohesiveness


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END OF CHAPTER 3

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