The Corporate Event Planner’s Notebook – Items to not Forget

To avoid last minute panic — or for that matter panic at any time — here are a few things you absolutely must not be caught without:

  • Two-sided tape for affixing messages and notices to whatever they need to be attached to. Also Scotch and masking tape.
  • Duct tape, the handyperson’s best friend, for fixing almost anything, for taping unsightly and potentially hazardous electric wiring and computer cabling to the floor or podium, and other endless uses.
  • Stapler, staples and staple remover.
  • A small toolkit. Screwdriver with assorted blades. Small box of screws.  Scissors and pliers, for cutting and tightening. A utility knife.
  • Extra name tags—someone is always a last-minute addition, and people, inexplicably, routinely lose their name tags.
  • Markers in various colors and pens/pencils.
  • Whiteout.
  • Your cell phone and/or beeper—and phone charger or extra battery. If you don’t have a cell phone—rent one. Invaluable for checking reservations, and transportation emergencies.
  • Parking vouchers for the venue.
  • An easy-to-carry notepad or notebook, with several pens.
  • Mini first-aid kit.
  • Kleenex.
  • Breath Mints. Maalox for nervous or dyspeptic keynote speakers.
  • Air-bills for shipping materials to and from the office, if it’s out-of-town. Courier slips or cab chits for in-town meetings or conferences.
  • Your laptop computer, fully charged, with charger and phone cord for your modem.
  • At least one diskette with backup copies of the agenda, and all the signage etc. for last-minute changes or extra copies at Kinko’s.
  • An easily accessible printed list of important phone numbers and all contacts for all planned activities, and emergency numbers for computer repair/rental, cab company, etc.
  • Rubber bands.
  • Note cards to make extra place cards in a pinch. Also for guests who use note cards for last-minute speech changes.
  • Cash for tipping.
  • Comfortable shoes, an extra jacket, especially in summer, to deal with over-vigorous air-conditioning. Wear something with pockets for quick tipping and easy access to business cards.
    © 2022Yvon Douran

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