Build a budget and a run of show

Two documents that keep the night on track: a budget with a buffer, and a minute-by-minute plan anyone on your team can follow.

The Valore team · 2 min read

You don't need software for either of these. A spreadsheet and a shared doc are enough. What matters is writing them down, so the night doesn't depend on what's in your head.

The budget

Start with the categories, even the ones that look like zero:

• Venue: hire fee, minimum spend, deposit, cleaning, security.
• Food and drink, including service charges, tips and anything for vegetarians and non-drinkers.
• Production: AV, lighting, furniture, decorations, signage, name tags.
• People: speakers, performers, photographers, staff, volunteers' food.
• Marketing: paid promotion, printing, design.
• Ticketing and payment fees, if you're charging.
• Buffer: 10–15% of everything above. You'll use it.

Then write down your cut list: the order you'd drop things in if sponsorship falls through or sales are slow. Making that call ahead of time is far easier than making it a week out.

Charging for tickets

If you're charging, work out your break-even: total costs divided by the number of tickets you expect to sell, not the room's capacity. Even a small price on a normally free event can sharpen turnout, because people value what they've paid for.

The run of show

A run of show is a timeline for the whole day, with an owner for every line. It begins with load-in and ends when the room is handed back. The program in the middle is just one part of it.

• 4:00pm: Venue access. Furniture and signage (Sam).
• 5:00pm: AV check with the speaker's slides on the real screen (Priya).
• 6:15pm: Check-in desk ready, guest list loaded on the phone (Jo).
• 6:30pm: Doors. Music on, host near the entrance (you).
• 7:15pm: Welcome, 3 minutes max (you).
• 7:20pm: Talk and Q&A (speaker, Priya on time cues).
• 8:00pm: Open mingling, food out (venue).
• 9:30pm: Last call; thank the venue staff (you).
• 10:00pm: Pack down and venue handback (everyone).

Share it with everyone helping, and walk through it once together a day or two before. The questions people ask in that walkthrough are the problems you would otherwise have discovered at 7:14pm.