Day of Event Briefings

Staff Schedule

Several days prior to your event, confirm with staff members who are scheduled to work the event. This is especially important if you have recruited additional staff members who do not regularly work with you. Make sure there are enough people scheduled to cover tasks so the event manager can be free to handle any issues that may come up.

Create a phone contact card with mobile numbers for all staff who are working and distribute to them prior to the event. You should also list any department or local numbers that could be useful during the event.

Briefing Paper

Create a briefing paper and schedule a meeting to review with your key participants and staff one day prior to the event. If the university president is expected to participate in the event, contact the president’s office to schedule a briefing.

When creating the briefing paper, take the approach of presenting it to someone who has no familiarity with the event. You should not include every detail, but do incorporate the important details and information. Depending on the nature of the event, it might be helpful to list information about the guests, such as their professional affiliations.

The briefing paper should include:

• The event location (including room numbers)
• The event timeline
• Biographies of VIPs, key participants and speakers
• A guest list
• An event overview
• Parking arrangements
• Entertainment (who, what and where)