'Ten Point' live events checklist
Few weeks back, we ran our second live, in-person event for the year.
Frankly. It was a big success. A bunch of eager creators made it. Engagement was frothy. The kingfish for lunch was on the money, and everyone walked away with a few more friends, and a full belly and bubbling mind.
These in person events are a key for us. Partly because they are fun. And partly because there’s a much deeper level of learning and engagement than anything you can get on a computer screen.
Anyway, I tried to make an effort as we went along, to document the process.
I did a couple of podcasts and emails…
Kept notes in my diary…
But since we finished we’ve had a lot of questions about events. And, I know a lot of people want to run an event, but ain’t sure how, or maybe are afraid it will be boring or nobody will show up.
Fear not my friend. Here I’ve compiled a kind of a ‘checklist’.
A list of steps or tasks that made sure everything ran smoothly, and that help make sure the whole thing is unique, and not another one of those ‘business mastermind, stand on the stage and feel important’ things. How boring.
First, a short note on the idea of having a ‘theme.’
There’s a line from the late Herman Melville, who wrote Moby Dick:
“To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.”
A theme is critical.
In fact, there could be a whole article on picking a good theme.
It’s how you get that ‘X-Factor’. And this is something that people struggle with, because it’s creative thinking. You can’t really copy another event, because the theme has to align with your overall business story or theme.
The first time I saw this played out (in a customer service setting, no less), was at Disneyland as a little kid.
I don’t know if it’s changed since then. But Walt Disney was known for his hard work (borderline obsessive), and attention to detail. In particular, with this whole idea of ‘theme.’
And basically is realising that it’s the vision and emotion that drive a memorable experience, much more than it is the facts and information.
So while the content of the event is key, the context, or experience the person has when they’re learning is just as important.
At Disneyland, you got lost into these unique worlds, and everything down to the music, costumes, backstory, and smallest character or ride details was planned out. In fact, each ride had its own theme too.
And so it is with your live event.
As you go through the checklist, keep in mind that tying it together with a theme that matches your business will make the big difference you might be looking for…
The Checklist
The first five points are a little more macro. This is the stuff that I like to think about a couple of months out.
The second half are more specific, and will vary with each event.
I’ve tried to focus on things that most people forget, but that are super important to have the whole thing run smoothly.
1 - Who is it for?
It’s impossible to run a live event that everyone that everyone in your audience will froth over.
Much better to choose a sub-set of your audience.
This could be people in a particular area. People with a particular interest or passion.
For example, in our last event, it was for Creator Club members, who wanted to travel to Newcastle, and learn a business leadership framework to grow their business. People came from Canada, Germany, and all parts of Australia. But not everyone. Some people couldn’t make it. It sounds simple, but by designing the event only for those who could show up, we didn’t have to organise live streaming or any online delivery.
This question seems basic. But it’s always worth covering, because now you can tailor every detail of the event to bring a better experience for your specific crew.
Here you can also think about how many people you can fit, or what the capacity of the event might be.
2 - What is it for?
An event can be tough to run. People travel. You burn a bunch of energy. It’s hard work on the day.
So, what are you doing it for?
To feel important?
Because you feel like you’re supposed to do one?
These may not be great drivers for success.
What is the change you want to make with your event?
To do this part well, try to get to one core thing. That sounds crazy, I know. Because hey, everyone is in the room, you could teach a million different things to people… And it would probably feel great too.
But that ain’t going to help anyone.
When there’s too much content, or vague content, whatever went in one ear will just fly out the other as soon as they leave.
In the last event we ran, the one topic was the ‘New Game Framework’. This is a business framework with six questions. In other events, we’ve covered ‘content creation.’ In another one, it was ‘character building’ for personal brand (i.e. a subset of personal brand).
Frankly. This wasn’t always the case for me. I used to try and ram too much into events and retreats. But the problem was, I would get exhausted, and people didn’t implement.
Since I’ve stripped it back to one core ‘function’, people now know why they’re in the room, it’s easier to teach, and it’s much easier for them to implement.
3 - How do you want them to feel?
The type of experience people have will be what sticks with them.
Think of this.
Going back to Disneyland - I don’t know if you’ve been… and if not, think of another theme park. Which rides do you remember the most easily? The rollercoaster? The big drops? The waterslides? Usually we remember the events that have one strong, core emotion attached to them. This penetrates our mind more powerfully, and it’s almost like our memory has something to hold on to.
Clothing brands are great at tying a particular emotion to their product, and we can do the same with events.
Do you want them to feel excited? Grounded? Thrilled? Connected?
What is the core emotion (typically in line with your overall brand).
For us, it was ‘energised.’ - which is fairly typical of our events.
Then once we had that emotion, we picked the colours (gold, white), venue, activities (improv storytelling, speaking et cetera)… everything else falls into place.
4 - What’s the one big idea?
This taps back into the theme, or the ‘what’s it for’. Reiterate the core big idea for your event. Meaning, when people walk away, if they have this one thing, the event will be a success.
For us, the New Game framework was about uniqueness. It’s a way to own a particular ‘story’ for your business, and stand out in the crowd of same same businesses that saturate every market.
Uniqueness ain’t the emotion. The emotion is ‘energised.’
Uniqueness is the big idea.
What is your big idea?
5 - How will they learn this and the ‘all important’ runsheet
There’s a type of learning called ‘LOPI’ - learning by observation and pitching in. It’s a style of learning used in Central America a lot with kids. And, to be honest, it’s how you and I tend to learn best, especially when we were growing up. Even though it’s the opposite to how a lot of school was set up.
So for our event, we picked this as a learning style.
This means from the beginning, the event was interactive. People were speaking with each other. Sharing ideas. Coaching each other. Speaking, et cetera. We had an interactive exercise within every hour.
Then we had a framework booklet.
And I did something different this time. I kind of filled the booklet with interesting quotes and ideas from related authors, heroes, or other creators. But we didn’t go through all of that on the day. I knew that for those who were interested, when they went home, they would have something to read over, making the booklet more interesting over time.
Once you have this clear, you can set up your run sheet.
This is probably the most important thing you’ll do before you kick off, because it outlines everything in one place.
When the event starts, how the day unfolds, when lunch breaks are et cetera. The run sheet gives participants clarity, and it gives you something to stick to as the day unfolds, taking a huge amount of stress off of your shoulders.
This is one of the biggest parts of setting up for a successful event.
6 - Signup form
This wasn’t relevant for our event, because we already knew everyone. But for a lot of events, it’s important, and something a lot of people miss. For example, when I first started out doing live events with a new audience in gyms, I used to just hand a clip board around where they could sign up to my email list. Now you can do it digitally. But if I hadn’t done that with the clipboard and paper, I would have never had their contact details.
To reiterate. The email addresses from the event participants typically go into your email list.
Now if you use an event hosting company, or sell tickets or whatever, you’ll get the email addresses automatically.
But it’s still a good idea to check, because a lot of people miss this step, and the emails never end up getting onto their list.
7 - Email reminder sequence
A lot of people sign up to live events on a whim. Then what happens is, something pops up, they change their mind. Whatever. And then they don’t want to go, or can’t make it. This is a massive thing with online events. Sometimes only 30% or so will turn up.
Now in our last live event, everyone made it. But that’s rare. And probably because we went so hard on this step.
Basically, you want to set up emails to remind them that the event is coming, and continue to ‘sell’ the event.
I did this by writing the reminder emails live, then telling stories as we went.
For example, when we were a week out, I sent an email, with a short story on the behind the scenes of the prep work et cetera. Then in the last 48 hours, the reminders (24 hour, 12 hour… and sometimes if it’s an online event you can even do 1 hour) are done automatically.
8 - Event location (or zoom location details), food, parking et cetera.
This sounds so basic it hurts, but what I recommend is about three days out, sending an email titled ‘All the event info you need to know’, or similar. Something very obvious.
Then in that email, spell out exactly where everything is.
The address. Where the entry is. The carpark details. How far the walk is from the carpark. Exact details. Any include tips on traffic times, the best spot for coffee on the way in, et cetera.
Then have a clear map.
Basically, you want to give everyone an easily searchable email that has everything in one place, so they don’t end up lost without a clean the last 24 hours.
Online events are the same. Make sure to have any zoom or online meeting details very clear (even highlighted).
People are moving fast. They’re stressed. And you need to meet them where they’re at. This one email is key.
For big events, it’s a good idea to include other details of the day here too (food to bring, amenities, weather et cetera), and even another outline of the day so they know where the breaks are.
9 - Protocols on recordings
Is your event recorded? If so, when will they get it? What format will they get?
Now, we make a point of recording most of our events. But it doesn’t mean that it’s right, or that you have to.
You could make a blanket rule not to record as well.
But you need to be clear either way.
Why?
Well, some people may (or may not) want to take notes, depending on the recording situation.
Also, if the recording is video or photos, they’ll want to know if they are going to end up on camera, or in social media.
Usually people are OK with this, but not always. You want to check beforehand by outlining all the recording protocols.
10 - What is the next step for them after the event?
This kind of comes from Dan Kennedy, who used to say “Always know what you want to happen next.”
When people go away from your event, what do you want them to do?
Is there a follow up action you can give them?
Do they have a workbook?
Or a way to keep in touch so they can scheme up their own ideas or events together?
In a business mastermind I was in once, one of the coolest things was how closely a few of us kept in touch.
We kind of did this off our own back, but it’s certainly something that you could facilitate by having a directory of contact details.
You might also end the event with some kind of action or commitment.
If so, is there an accountability system you can bring in to help make sure there’s follow through?
Tell us what actions could lead to even greater success when we finish up, and that makes it easier for us to do them.
Summary
Live events are a great way to bring existing clients together, or meet new people in your business world around a topic. In fact, for most of the businesses we work with, we strongly recommend attending, co-hosting, or hosting live events.
And while every event is different, having a checklist or process to go through can make the whole thing easier, and, therefore more repeatable or tempting to run.
And that’s the whole goal.
Once you’ve gone through this checklist, you’ll be fairly close. You’re still going to have to figure out smaller logistics - decorating the room to match the theme. Making sure there’s the gluten free food for the gluten free people. Making sure you eat enough food to make it through the day et cetera.
But a lot of that stuff falls into place when you have the major pieces locked in.
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