The Essential Pieces of a Fantastic Event Overall Event Management Best Practices
The Essential Pieces of a Fantastic Event – Overall Event Management Best Practices
The event management breakout session involved the discussion of some helpful hints for overall management and logistics of an event. The following is a summary of the tips that were shared. Thanks to everyone who joined our conversation.
A special thanks to Mary Ann Brown (Davidson County) and Debbie Overby (Harnett County) for sharing their own best practices and for helping facilitate the session. If you would like additional advice or resources from them, you can email them at or respectively.
You may also request resources and training from the SONC office through Kelly Vaughn at . We have several staff who run events week after week and we are more than happy to lend a hand at the local level where needed.
Event Management Tips
1)Delegate everything.
You are fabulous. You know everything that needs to happen to make your spring games a success. But if you try to do it all yourself, it will not be a success no matter how great you are. Use your volunteers for all major responsibilities; this leaves you free to direct and to address issues that come up as issues always do.
2)Stay in your operations tent.
You don’t know how much time people spend trying to find you at a spring games because you are too busy running around. Let your volunteers be your eyes and ears and stay in one spot so you are available and easy to locate for those trying to help you.
3)Use radios.
Many people don’t like using walkie-talkies. Don’t give them a choice. Identify who needs to have one, insist that they come to the operations tent first to get theirs and make sure they know how to use it. This will save you so much time and trouble.
4)Color code!
This may be putting each competition division in their own color T-shirts, color-coded nametags, or event color-coded wristbands (one suggested vendor is Some local programs have the volunteers hold the matching color flag (on very tall poles) to help guide participants.
5)Place T-shirts and drinks carefully!
If you do not have put these items in a location where people cannot walk by and pick them up, they will be gone before you know it and you will be out of everything!
6)Maximize use of the delegation signs.
Many programs use them for the Opening Ceremonies and that is it. If you have schools/groups that are going to stay together throughout competition, have them carry the sign with them wherever they go. If schools/groups are setting up tents or areas to sit, have them put a sign by their tent so they are easy to find.
7)Plaster your venue with signs.
You cannot identify key areas enough. Walk through the venue and think about all of the places you need a sign and put one there. You ideally need someone who does this with you and who can be in charge of putting the signs out the day of the event. SONC uses a very affordable signage vendor if you do not have a source locally. You can contact Jason Barlow at Hyperformance Graphics to get pricing ().
8)Create a good map of your event.
We refer to this map as a venue layout. It should show all where all major activity is taking place – volunteer check-in, Opening Ceremonies staging, awards, competition staging, lunch, concessions, restrooms, etc. Send copies of this out to your schools/groups beforehand, put copies in the hands of your volunteers, and make a few blown-up versions to post around the venue. You cannot have enough!
9)Plan your entrances.
There is no rule that says everyone must park in the same parking area and come in one main entrance. It is much more manageable to have volunteers use a completely different entrance from your delegations and then to have a totally separate entrance for families and spectators. See if this is feasible for your venue.
10)Treat lunch distribution like a military operation!
Feeding folks should be simple but it just isn’t. Train a group of dedicated volunteers on how to manage the lunch operation from beginning to end. You need to emphasize that volunteers in this role must be firm but polite. SONC has lunch distribution instructions that you can use and adjust to fit what you are serving for lunch. Whenever possible, bag/box lunches by school/group and distribute them in this manner rather than individually.
11)Be heard!
Having a good sound system is essential to managing an event. Make sure a sufficient PA is used for the Opening Ceremonies. Additionally, ensure that all staging managers in the competition and awards areas have either bullhorns or portable PA’s so they can easily call athletes. Make sure to test all sound systems before you need them!
12)Make sure everyone can see the important elements of Opening Ceremonies.
Ensure that your emcee is visible so everyone has a focal point for the Opening Ceremonies. Add something to your script such as “Now please direct your attention to center field…” so people know where to find them.
And don’t forget to make sure you have a U.S. flag available and visible for the National Anthem!
13)Use a Project Unify school group to put together and run your Olympic Town area.
This is a great way to involve them and to completely take one responsibility off your plate.
14)Carefully plan out your competition schedule.
SONC sport staff are always available to advise you on how to create a competition schedule that fits your size event. Contact Andrea Stamm at for more information.
15)Have a designated awards team that has been trained.
Awards is not an area where you want to put individual volunteers. Have a team that knows each other and has no other responsibility but awards presentations. Give them a thorough training that must include a full mock presentation complete with staging, music, stand-in athletes, and medal presentations. There is a great training for basketball team awards presentations on the SONC You Tube channel that you can also use.
16)Visit another local spring games.
You’ll be amazed what you notice and learn when you are a spectator at a spring games and not the person trying to run it. Learn from your peers and take a moment to think through how your event compares and use some of the great ideas you see implemented.
17)Make sure you have enough restrooms.
This is a detail that will make a big difference. And don’t forget the handicapped accessible restroom needs. Here is a sample chart to help you determine how many port-a-johns you may need (pulled from
