How to Create a Master Calendar

How to Create an Event Master Calendar

How do you ensure that your event is organized, runs smoothly, and has the most impact for those participating? How do you determine where, when, and how to coordinate activities, schedule speakers, or teach content? No matter what type of event you are planning, whether it is a business conference, weekend retreat, charity event (or any other type of event!), creating a master calendar will help you coordinate an incredibly successful event.

There are so many benefits to having a master calendar—I can’t imagine running an event without one! First, it gives you and others a snapshot of your event or seminar. Providing your team members or vendors with a master calendar gives everyone an opportunity to get an overview of your event. Also, it is a great tool when brainstorming ideas and having a document to lay them out—it’s easy to play around with and strategize the structure of your event.

Note: If you reference any of my event ideas and themes, the first thing you will want to do to make them practical is to begin putting them into a master calendar, and then customize it with your time frames, speakers, and activities.

Five Keys to Creating a Master Calendar

1. Determine and outline the seminar/event theme(s), outcomes, and desired results you want to achieve. Make sure you consider who your audience is, or who you want it to be. What are the promises to the customer, and what are their expectations? What do you want the customer to achieve or experience when they leave? For example, if I want to create a seminar about relationships, the themes, outcomes, and expectations will be very different if the event is geared towards those already in a relationship versus those who are not. You may be planning an event where you have an empty canvas and can create your outcomes from scratch, or you may be planning an event where there are pre-determined themes and outcomes. If you are planning an event for someone else, ask questions about their outcomes!! By getting on the same page early on, you will ensure that you can deliver what is expected. If you are planning your own event, take the time to get clear of your own outcomes and results—this will only help you as you move forward in making decisions.

So, if I haven’t stressed this enough…..it is VITAL to take the time to brainstorm your outcomes and results in the beginning. In other words, how do you know where to aim if you don’t even know what your target is?

One of the biggest lessons I have learned over the years is that often times what a customer thinks they want, may not actually be what they really need. So many times I have experienced that at the end of an event, a customer will come up and say, “I came to this seminar expecting ‘abc’, and instead ‘xyz’ was the most valuable thing I could have experienced.” The lesson….consider what the customer wants or what will get them to initially come to the seminar, but also consider what will give them the most amazing experience—even if it’s not what they thing they need. You will want to consider the outcomes and results of ALL involved (the outcomes from a company standpoint, from a customer’s, etc).

2. Create the shell and basic foundation for your master calendar. After you are clear on your outcomes, determine how many days your event is going to be, approximate time frames for each day, and fill in any set activities, speakers, or content. For example, if I am planning a 3-day event, I will create a one-page document that has three columns (a column for each day) and then I begin to play around with where I want certain activities or speakers to go during the event. If any, I will fill in set times or events I need to work around (i.e. meal breaks, specific activities, etc). I usually will end up creating 2-4 rough versions of a master calendar before I finalize the content, speakers, activities, etc.

Often times, you may want to assign each day with a daily theme as well. I’ve found it works best when I have an overall event theme, and then sub-themes for each day or segment of the event. This allows me to strategize and optimize the best placement for speakers, content, and activities, as well as creates an overall good flow to the event.

Also, keep in mind your logistics as you work on the master calendar. Make sure you account for times to get to and from places, etc.

3. Make sure you consider the energy and experience of the participants when determining where to place speakers, content, or activities. What I mean by that is, for example, if you have a speaker talk for 2 hours on a very dense topic, you may want to break it up by creating some sort of exercise or activity to get participants moving and out of their chairs before bringing on the next speaker.

Give them an experience they will never forget. At events, people will not remember everything they have been taught, but they will remember how they felt throughout your event. Entertain while you educate! What will make your event stand out? What is something unexpected or unusual you could surprise them with? What is an experience they will have that they would not get somewhere else? What can make this more fun and interesting?

4. Brainstorm and create different textures and varieties throughout your event. Connect with all your participant’s senses! Give them a variety of experiences! Is there any music you can use to create a deeper texture to the event? Or are what variety of visuals can you use (videos, power points or keynotes, photographs, etc)? Some people are more visual, while others may be more auditory or kinesthetic, so speak to a variety of learning styles to have the most impact.

Generally, people learn best when they don’t realize they are learning. Can you demonstrate a certain point through a story? Or maybe there is a video clip you can use as an example?

5. Be resourceful, creative, strategic, and flexible! Each event or seminar is unique and different—and you can almost be guaranteed you will run into some challenges as you plan the event. However, if you approach any challenges with a resourceful mentality, you can over come it. Think outside the box! Balance strategy with creativity. And lastly, be flexible. You may need to move around segments of your event, but as long as can be adaptive to these changes, you will have a successful event.

One last note on the master calendar….for some conferences, events, or seminars, a master calendar may be all you need. Once it's created, you will want to share this to key members of your team. However, you may want to consider creating a daily syntax as well for some of your events. See my blog coming soon on how to create a daily syntax!