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A Closer Look at Document Updates, Burnout & Smarter Planning for 2026 Event planning is repeatedly described as one of the most demanding professional roles across industries; with planners juggling multiple moving parts, long hours, and seemingly endless administrative work. Data suggests that event pros frequently work 15–20 hour days (or sometimes over 24 hours) during peak project cycles, often sleeping as little as five hours per night just to keep up with the workload

At some point, most event professionals have the same realisation: “This could actually be my career.” Maybe you started by helping at festivals, coordinating registrations, running backstage, assisting with production or organising events for friends, brands or local businesses. Then suddenly, what started as “helping out” turns into a genuine passion for creating experiences, solving problems and bringing large moving parts together under pressure. The question then becomes

Event professionals are the people who build the collective and collaborative experiences we rely on. They manage budgets, calm stakeholders, coordinate teams, solve last-minute crises, and design moments that create measurable business outcomes. And yet, in many markets these roles are paid less, on average, than other management jobs that require similar levels of responsibility. Beneath the polished surface of the events, festivals, conferences, and corporate programs that

You know that sinking feeling when you realise your beautifully crafted conference program is falling apart because nobody told the AV team about the panel discussion format change? Or when your keynote speaker arrives expecting a lectern, but the program shows an interview setup? That's the invisible problem plaguing events everywhere—the gap between the people who design programs and the teams who deliver them. It's not the dramatic stuff that gets talked about at industry

The Inevitable Reality of Event Changes There's one certainty that seasoned event professionals have come to accept: your carefully crafted event program will change. Speakers fall ill, flights get delayed, sessions run overtime, and venues occasionally become unavailable at the last minute. These changes are not merely minor inconveniences; they trigger a cascade of costs that many event planners fail to fully account for in their budgets and timelines. Quantifying the Hidde

In event management, time is perhaps your most precious commodity. Yet, countless event professionals continue to squander hours upon hours wrestling with spreadsheets to build and manage their event programs. If you've ever found yourself painstakingly adjusting session times, hunting for the latest version in your email, or manually copying information to your website, you're familiar with what we might call "spreadsheet hell." The Hidden Costs of Spreadsheet-Based Event Pl

It goes without saying that it is a priority for most events to make the program available to attendees. Pre-event this normally means you need the program published to a website. Then, at the event, you need that same information in an event app and on digital signage. Joi can help with all of this, but this blog is about the website. The old, manual way of managing the website The program changes and so the website needs to be updated, and we are never talking one or two ch

When starting out in events there are many options for specialisation. Not only event type but also event role. The high level breakdown of event type is commonly private, corporate or public. Beneath those banners are a myriad of different events with many event profs specialising in just one type. Wedding planner, conference producers, festival managers etc. Then there is ‘role’; planner, manager or producer? While there is a fair amount of cross-over between roles, and pro

We all use AI. It's great but never perfect…or even close to perfect. If you search a topic you know well you will always find holes or misinformation. So I asked the question... What should be in a Corporate Speaker Brief? I tried 3 generative AI platforms and they were all pretty much the same. Below is one of the answers: Have a read and see if you agree with my comments at the end! The AI Answer to What should be in a Corporate Speaker Brief? A well-crafted speaker brie

An MC can make or break an event. Having produced numerous conferences, product launches, and social gatherings, I've seen firsthand how the right MC can elevate an experience from good to exceptional. Why Does the MC Matter? A skilled MC plays a crucial role in: Engagement: Captivating the audience and keeping their attention throughout the event. Influence: Shaping key takeaways, reinforcing messages, and fostering networking. Emphasis: Ensuring central themes are highlight

This article covers the principal documents required to deliver an event. Who creates them and when and what they should contain. Documents Onsite schedule Run of Show Floor Plans Banquet Event Orders 1. Onsite Schedule The on-site schedule serves as a crucial roadmap for the event, detailing the timing and sequence of all activities required for the set up, running and pack down. By providing a clear and structured framework, the on-site schedule facilitates smooth executi

Insanity: 'Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results'. Sure, it’s an overused quote, but January is a time of reflection. A time to reflect upon what you have learned from 2024, what do you want to take with you into 2025 and what do you want to change. Event management is a fantastic job. Big or small events are rewarding to organise. But it’s a career that comes with a cost. Long hours, stress, burnout. Does that sound familiar? The question i

What is your contingency plan? We all know in the world of events we need to have a plan B, luckily we rarely have to put it into action. The recent Hurricane in Florida was, however, an example of when plan B was needed. We would like to thank i3 Events for sharing their experience. Guest Blog by i3 Events: Reacting to Hurricane Helena Hurricanes are a force to be reckoned with, especially when you’re in the middle of planning a 400-person conference in Orlando. When Hurrica

The event is over. It's been a great success and you [the organiser] are exhausted. The presenters and performers have had that adrenalin rush and are now on a bit of a down. Energy is low. But the event is over and there is nothing left on the task list so that's fine...or is it? What about the audience, how are they feeling. Hopefully pretty pumped. If all has gone well they will be filled with new ideas and itching to act. Unlike the event team, they are primed to talk. We

Many corporate presenters are just happy not to make an idiot of themselves. This is Level 1 presenting. Level 2 is to be engaging ie don't send the audience to sleep. Level 3 is taking the audience on a journey. Level 3 is where the power sits. I have done a reasonable amount of presenting, even been paid to present. Moving from level one to two was relatively quick. Moving to level three took an age. But once you are there you realise just how powerful your position is as a

One of the fabulous things about the world in which we live is that technology gives us the ability to work with people anywhere. We haven't quite got to the multi lingual bit at Joi so our global conversations are restricted to English. You would think this would mean understanding each other wouldn't be a problem, right? Well, no. It turns out everyone we talk to may speak English but they use different words to describe elements of event planning. It's like talking about

Would you ever buy a tee shirt saying you had streamed a Taylor Swift concert? Surely the answer is no. But if you went to a concert you would buy the merch and wear it with pride for years to come. Unlike the streaming, the attending will be a memory that you will cherish forever, and, (this is really important), want to retell to other people. You get bragging rights. It's being there that counts. Your events may not quite have the kudos of an A-list celebrity, but they wi

Run of show, also known as a cue sheet is a detailed run down of what is happening on stage. No theatre or TV production would go ahead without their equivalent of a run of show, it would be chaos and look very unprofessional. I suspect the majority of business events are delivered without a run of show. A big shout out to all those magnificent AV techs out there The reason business events can often get away without doing a run of show is becuase of our industry's magnificent

Event planners are the most 'can-do' people on the planet. We are never daunted by a challenge and we are not scared of long hours. Anything to get the event across the line. We work hard, but sometimes we have to ask ourselves, do we work SMART? Here's a story that is repeated a thousand times over We were asked to support a client. They wanted assistance in finalising the program and creating the event app for a conference 3 weeks from the show. We get sent a load of spread

Music can make an event, it must be the most cost effective tools for creating a mood. All you need is to set aside the time to curate your soundtrack and you can turn an also ran event into a life long memory. Licensing You need to check music licensing for your jurisdiction but as a rule of thumb if it a private event and you are not synchronising the music to recorded material, just playing over the sound system, then you can play whatever you want without licensing issue