Company Summer Days — the checklist

Before you book anything

• Have you set a date, and have you checked it against the Baltic holidays and the midsummer week when half the country is already away?
• Do you know your headcount, including family if they are invited?
• Have you decided whether this is a day event or an overnight?
• If overnight: have you counted beds, or are people doubling up?
• Have you written down one sentence about what this day is for — team bonding, celebrating a milestone, just getting everyone outside?

The venue

• Does the venue have a covered space large enough for your whole group if it rains?
• If the plan is a tent: have you confirmed the ground can be pegged, and who is providing and erecting it?
• Is there three-phase power on site, and where exactly?
• Does the venue require you to use their in-house caterer, their bar supplier, or their approved contractor list?
• Who holds the keys, and when can the crew access the site the morning of?
• Is there a noise curfew, and who enforces it?
• Is there phone signal, and does the venue have wifi that works with fifty people on it?
• Where does the crew eat, and is that part of the venue catering or separate?

The programme

• Have you built a realistic running order, with contingency for the activity that overruns?
• If you are doing team games or outdoor activities: have you named someone to lead each one, and have they done it before?
• If there is a sauna: have you scheduled it so people are not expected to be sober and punctual immediately after?
• Is there a gap between the daytime programme and the evening party, and what happens during it?
• Have you planned what happens if it rains during an outdoor activity?
• Does someone have the running order on paper, with timings and the supplier contact numbers?

The technical side

• Have you walked the site and identified where the stage or DJ booth will go?
• Do you know how many kilowatts the sound and light rig will draw, and have you confirmed the venue can supply it?
• If the performance is outside or in a tent: have you planned for dew, dust and wind?
• Does the venue have loading access for a truck, and is there a load-in route that does not cross the guest area?
• Have you confirmed who is providing the sound, the lights and the staging — the venue, a subcontractor you have never met, or a crew you have worked with?
• Will there be speeches or presentations, and have you specified a radio microphone and a confidence monitor?
• If there is a projector: have you checked the room can be darkened?

Food and drink

• Have you collected dietary requirements, and have you sent them to the caterer with enough notice?
• Is the bar pay-as-you-go, or is there a drinks package?
• If there is a drinks package: have you set a limit, and have you told the venue who is authorised to extend it?
• Is there food available after the party, or do people go to bed sober or hungry?
• Have you planned breakfast, and does it happen early enough that people can make the bus?

Guests and transport

• Have you booked the bus, and have you confirmed the pick-up point and the departure time?
• Does the driver know the venue address and have a contact number for the organiser?
• Is there parking on site for people driving themselves, and have you told them not to?
• Have you sent a pack with the address, the schedule, what to bring and what not to?
• If families are coming: have you been clear about which parts of the day are adults-only?

The last week

• Have you confirmed final numbers with the venue, the caterer and the bus company?
• Have you called every supplier and confirmed the day, the time and what they are bringing?
• Have you sent the crew the running order, the site plan and the power spec?
• Does someone have a printed copy of everything — schedule, supplier contacts, venue emergency number, the organiser's mobile?
• Have you checked the weather, and if it has changed, have you activated the rain plan?

The day

• Is someone on site when the crew arrives, and do they know where the power is?
• Have you done a line check and a sound check before guests arrive?
• Does the venue know who to call if there is a noise complaint, and is that person sober and reachable?
• Is there drinking water available all evening, and does someone know where the first aid kit is?
• Have you agreed with the crew what time the music stops, and have you told the guests?

After

• Have you confirmed the bus departure time the night before, and have you reminded people at breakfast?
• Is someone staying until the last case is packed and the venue is handed back?
• Have you collected feedback while it is still fresh?

Two kinds of event company will quote this day. One plans it, then forwards the brief to subcontractors it has never worked alongside, earning a margin on every line. The crew who quote, the crew who build and the crew who run the night are all meeting for the first time in your car park.

The other kind owns the truck, rigs the stage and performs the evening — the same people, start to finish. After 5 Events is the second kind. The crew writing this guide is the crew on site at seven in the morning.

Before you call anyone, settle three things: the date, the venue and whether the plan survives rain. Everything else is negotiable. Those three are not.