“Developing a Festival” Appendix “Q” – Plan of Action Checklist

 To plan a successful event, you need to prepare a detailed plan of action. This allows all team members to know exactly what the plans are and when they need to be accomplished. Preparing a detailed plan will keep everyone one the same page. Here are some items that should be included in your plan:

€    Committees need to determined and chairs appointed

€    Committee Members need to be found and duties assigned

€    Date needs to be decided upon and firmed once facility booked

€    Number of attendees needs to be estimated

€    Locations (facilities) need to be investigated then approved facility needs to be booked

€    A site plan needs to be developed

€    Admission prices needs to be determined and approved by committee

€    The timing of the festival needs to be determined (night or day event; duration of event; etc)

€    The theme of the festival needs to be decided upon and approved. This needs to happen now so that the program (events and activities) can be developed

€    Advertising and promotion plans have to be developed and executed

€    A plan to obtain sponsorship dollars needs to be prepared and executed

€    Website domain name needs to be decided on and registered

€    Website needs to be developed and hosted

€    Benefactor Program needs to be developed and marketed

€    Budget need to be prepared and approved

€    Tour packages needed to be developed and marketed

€    Vendors to be contacted and confirmed

€    Contracts need to be prepared and executed

“Developing a Festival” Appendix “P” – Finalization Checklist

 A finalization checklist should be prepared and completed before moving on. You want to make sure you have all the key elements in place. Here are a few ideas to start you off:

€    Is there a firm contract in place for the use and rental of your festival location?

€    Are you sure there are no conflicting festivals and events nearby?

€    Will your town and its residents support your festival?

€    Are all your committee members ready to work and are in it for the long haul?

€    Do you have sufficient start up funding in place?

€    Is your financial control system in place?

€    Do you have a strong key management team in place?

€    Do you have a detailed written description of what the final festival will look like?

€    Are you sure you will have enough manpower for the actual festival?

€    Are you sure your festival idea and theme will attract enough attendees to make your festival a success?

€    Has festival insurance been arranged?

“Developing a Festival” Appendix “O” – Meeting Sample Minutes

 

Event Name

Meeting Minutes

Location: ________________________________________

Date: ___________________________________________

Start Time: ______________End Time: _______________

 

1.   Meeting Started: (Time)

2.   Approval of Minutes from Previous Meeting (Approved or changed and approved)

3.   Correspondence (Tabled)

4.   Treasure’s Report

·        Outstanding Invoices (Approved)

·        Budget Review (Reviewed and approved)

1.   Old Business (Normally arising from previous minutes)

·        A

·        B

·        C

2.   Committee Reports (Best in they are received prior to meeting and in written form) (Reviewed and approved)

a.   A

b.   B

c.   C

3.   New Business (New business tabled and discussed; motions introduced when necessary and voted on)

·        A

·        B

·        C

4.   Adjournment (Time)

Developing a Festival ~ Planning (Appendix “N” – Meeting Sample Agenda)

 

Event Name

Meeting Agenda

Location: ________________________________________

Date: ___________________________________________

Start Time: ______________End Time: _______________

 

1.   Welcome

2.   Approval of Minutes from Previous Meeting

3.   Correspondence

4.   Treasure’s Report

·        Outstanding Invoices

·        Budget Review

1.   Old Business

·        A

·        B

·        C

2.   Committee Reports

·        A

·        B

·        C

3.   New Business

·        A

·        B

·        C

4.   Adjournment

Developing a Festival ~ Planning (Appendixes)

 Festival Planning

Appendix “N” – Meeting Sample Agenda

Appendix “O” – Meeting Sample Minutes

Appendix “P” – Finalization Checklist

Appendix “Q” – Plan of Action Checklist

Appendix “R” – Budget Checklist

Appendix “S” – Critical Path Chart Sample

Appendix “T” – Financial Control Checklist

Appendix “U” – Possible Sub-Committees

Appendix “V” – Manpower Coordination Checklist

Appendix “W” – Job Description Checklist

Developing a Festival ~ Planning

       8. Sub Committee Job Descriptions

Each committee will need a hierarchy and its member will need to know what is expected of them. Now is the time to develop specific job descriptions for each position. 

9. Sub Committee Action Plans

Each sub committee should prepare its own Action Plan, Budget and Critical Path. The format should be similar to the overall plan and budget and should reflect the actions and figures detailed in the overall plan.

10. Contingency Planning

Contingency planning is an important part of your overall festival planning. Who knows what problems could arise? Taking all or as many eventualities in to consideration is just common sense. Problems will occur during both the planning and implementation phases of your festival. How you handle each problem (opportunity) will affect your festival’s final success (or failure). All problems should be considered and alternative plans should ready. Unplanned circumstances can easily come about. Weather, manpower, strikes, war, fire, etc can all happen. Have an alternate date available. Make sure you have more manpower available than you actually need. Have a cancellation strategy in place in case the event has to cancelled or postponed. These all seem simple and obvious, but considering them before the event could save a lot of embarrassment later on. One last word, if you do need to cancel your festival, make sure you have a plan to notify potential attendees that it has been cancelled. Place an ad in your local newspaper; take out radio and/or TV ads and place a notice on your website. There is nothing worse then traveling for several hours to attend a festival only to find that it has been cancelled.

Developing a Festival ~ Planning

 6.  Formation of Sub Committees 

You have you plans and budget in place. Now it’s time to divide your festival up into manageable sections (committees). The type and number of committees will, again, depend on the size and scope of your festival.

7. Co-ordination of Sub Committees and Activities

Like with the financial controls, you will need to be a committee/manpower control plan into place. The larger the festival, the more critical this step will be. With so much taking place, it will be easy for people to step over one another or to duplicate efforts. Your key management team must be in full agreement during the planning stages so that everything proceeds smoothly and efficiently. When people are at odds, costly mistakes happen.