Event Planning template
Ayoa’s Event Planning template will help you to map out all the key elements of your event. This includes the pre-planning stage, such as guest lists, objectives and agenda, through to the post-evaluation stage where you can identify what worked well and what can be improved next time.
What is an event planning template?
Creating an event plan helps you to coordinate all the key elements of any event you are planning to hold. A typical event planning template allows you to map out all the different elements that will make up your event, from the agenda, venue and marketing plan, down to your attendee list and useful resources that your team will need access to in order to ensure your event runs smoothly.
An event planning template can be used to cover not just the stages prior to your event, but also to help you evaluate its success afterwards and what lessons you can learn and take forward in the planning of future events.
Why use our Event Planning template?
Whatever elements you have planned for your event, using our Event Planning template is a great way to keep you and everyone involved in the event’s preparation on track with the progress and easily determine what needs to be done. Depending on what areas you wish to focus your event plan on, Ayoa’s Event Planning template can cover all stages, including the pre-planning stage, elements during the event itself, and finally, the post-evaluation stage. Covering these bases allows you and your team to effectively manage all the elements of your event and keep track of their progress and how well they have performed. You can then use this information to improve the planning of future events.
Ayoa’s templates are collaborative in nature, making them a great tool to use alongside your team when pulling together your event. Be sure to add your colleagues to the template, so each member can update the template as and when they need to.
Top tip: You can also use our Event Brief template to help you map out a comprehensive overview of what your event will entail prior to the big day.
How to use our Event Planning template
Our Event Planning template is broken down into key sections that you may wish to map out before and after your event. Feel free to add your own sections depending on the areas you wish to focus on!
To access the template, sign up to Ayoa. Once you've signed up, navigate to the homepage to create a new whiteboard, mind map or task board and choose this template from the library.
AGENDA. Listing the agenda in your event plan ensures that you and your colleagues are aware of the event’s running order and proceedings. Listed as a checklist in the template, you can add items to your agenda and re-order these at any time to reflect the running order of events, whether this is keynote speeches, coffee breaks or anything else.
GUEST SPEAKERS. In this section, list any guest speakers that you have invited to attend and help with your event. Add their names to a checklist that you can tick off when people have confirmed their attendance. It can also be useful to list their contact information in this section should you need to collaborate with them prior to the event.
TEAM ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES. This section is where you can identify which people in your team will be responsible for different elements of the event plan. Add each person to the section as a checklist, where you can also list their responsibilities. By inviting your teammates to the template, they can then tick off each item once it has been completed, which will keep everyone involved in the event informed of their progress.
ABOUT THE EVENT. In this section, you’ll want to add a brief description of what your event is about. Is there a theme? Will it have a specific format? For example, is it an online event, or a corporate awards show? Here, it’s also helpful to list the date and time of the event so that everyone involved is kept in the loop.
OBJECTIVES / GOALS. Next, list what you want to accomplish from holding the event. What is your desired outcome? This will help to keep you focused on what you want to achieve when planning your event.
VENUE LOCATION. In this section, add the venue location(s) for your event along with any prices and contact information. This allows you to keep track of which venues you are actively looking at. Once your final venue is confirmed, you can make a note of it in this section.
TARGET AUDIENCE. Prior to setting up your guest list, it’s important to consider who your target audience is. What type of people do you want to attend your event? Will they have any special requirements that you’ll need to consider? Defining your target audience will help you to ensure your event’s location, agenda and any other elements that make up the event are focused and targeted to their wants and needs.
BUDGET. Setting your budget is key when it comes to understanding the practicalities of what will be possible to achieve with your event. Use the budget section of the template to list your overall budget and any specific areas you may wish to focus your budget on.
MARKETING ACTIVITIES. In order to gain publicity and exposure for your event, keeping track of the marketing channels you wish to use is key to ensuring your promotional activities run according to plan. In this section, add all the different activities and platforms you’ll use to promote your event, such as social media, email or paid advertising.
USEFUL RESOURCES. It’s likely that you may have a range of files and documents relating to the event that are useful for you and your team. In Ayoa, you can attach PDF files, documents, images, audio files, videos and more to your template, so everything you need is organized in one place. With this in mind, use this section to collate any important information that can be easily accessed by yourself and others working on the event.
WHAT WENT WELL. Once your event is over, it’s time to move onto the post-evaluation stage of the template. In this section, consider the things that went well during your event. Perhaps the event was perfectly timed alongside the agenda, or your guests felt like you had a varied range of speakers? Making note of what went well will help you understand which elements of your planning process were effective.
WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED? Finally, consider what elements of your event could be improved. Perhaps your guests felt you could have included longer breaks? Maybe you needed more time to transition between your guest speakers? Making a note of these in this section will help you improve your planning process for your next event.
