Every booking gets a planning call. It runs about thirty minutes, it happens two to four weeks before the event, and it is where most of the things that would otherwise go wrong on the night get caught. This is what we ask on that call, why we ask it, and what to have in front of you so that thirty minutes is enough.
When the planning call happens and who should be on it
The call is scheduled after the contract is signed and the venue is confirmed, usually two to four weeks out. Earlier than that and the answers are guesses: the run of show is still moving, the speakers have not been chosen, the venue has not sent a floor plan. Later than a week out and there is no time to fix what the call turns up, like a freight elevator that closes at 5pm for a 6pm event.
Who should be on it: the person who booked us and, if there is one, whoever is running the room on the night. Those are often two different people. The office manager who signed the contract may hand the evening to a planner, an EA, or a colleague with a clipboard. If that person can join, they should. If the venue has assigned an event manager or an AV lead, we usually speak to them separately rather than putting everyone on one call.
If you have a planner, they may prefer to run the call themselves and send us a cue sheet afterwards. That works. How we work with planners is its own post.
What we ask about the room, the schedule, and getting in
The first half of the call is logistics, because the music cannot be planned until the room is understood.
- The venue and the specific room. Not just the building. A hotel's ballroom and its rooftop bar are different jobs. We ask for a floor plan if the venue has one, and we ask where the bar is, because the crowd stands where the bar is and the speakers need to face the crowd, not the middle of the drawing.
- Load-in. What time we can reach the room, which entrance, whether there is a freight elevator and what hours it runs, whether the loading dock needs a booked window. In Manhattan this is the question that decides the day. A venue that says "load in any time after 3" and a venue that says "the dock is yours from 3:00 to 3:30" require different plans.
- House system or ours. Some venues require you to patch into their system. Some have ceiling speakers that are fine for dinner and useless for dancing. We ask who the venue's AV contact is so we can confirm this directly instead of relaying questions through you.
- The timeline. Doors, dinner, program, floor, hard stop. If it is a draft, a draft is fine. We want to know whether the hard stop is the venue's curfew or the client's preference, because those are handled differently in the last twenty minutes.
- Power and space. Where the booth goes, whether there is a dedicated outlet within reach, and whether the space is shared with a stage, a step-and-repeat, or a buffet line. A booth placed behind the buffet line is a real thing that happens, and it is easier to move on a call than on the night.
What we ask about the program and the music
The second half is the part people expect to be the whole call.
Who speaks, in what order, and how they get the microphone. We need a list of everyone who will be on a mic: names, the order they go up, roughly how long each speaks, and whether they walk up from a table or are already at a podium. We ask whether anyone is being introduced by someone else, because that is two mics live at once, not one.
Names to pronounce. If we are introducing anyone, we ask you to say each name out loud on the call, and we write it phonetically and read it back. Award winners especially. Getting a name wrong in front of someone's colleagues is the mistake people remember, and it is entirely preventable with ninety seconds on a phone call.
What we say and what we do not. We do light mic work: welcome, dinner call, introductions, cues, last call. If the program needs someone to run games, work the crowd, or fill time, that is an MC, and we will say so on the call so you can book one. The distinction is explained here.
Music direction. The tone of the room: background for a client event, or building to a floor for a company party. Any must-plays, with the reason if there is one (the company anthem, the CEO's request). And the do-not-play list, which is more useful than most people expect: artists, songs, and themes you do not want, and anything that would be awkward for this specific room. A short guide to writing one is on the blog.
Clean edits. We default to radio edits. We ask whether the event is being filmed and whether there are clients in the room, because the default can tighten further.
Who says go. One person on the night whose word moves the program: dinner is served, the CEO is ready, open the floor. We ask for a name and a mobile number. If two people are giving cues, the program stalls while they agree.
What to have ready before the call
None of this needs to be final. All of it helps.
- The venue's event contact, and the AV contact if they are different people.
- A draft timeline, even if half of it says "TBD."
- The speaker list, in order, with how long each one talks.
- Any name we will be asked to say out loud.
- Must-plays and do-not-plays, however short.
- The venue's insurance requirements, or the person who has them, so the certificate of insurance can go out right after the call.
- Whether anything happens in a second space: a cocktail hour on a terrace, an after-party in a separate bar.
If you have a planner, they will have most of this. If you do not, a fifteen-minute pass through the list the day before the call is enough.
What happens after the call
Within a day or two we send back a one-page timeline with the music state for each block (background, off, up), the cue that triggers each change, and every name we are announcing spelled the way we will say it. You check it, correct it, and forward it to whoever needs it. We confirm load-in, power, and the house-system question with the venue directly. If anything changes in the last week, a speaker drops out, dinner moves, the hard stop shifts, an email is enough. The timeline is a working document, not a contract.
The planning call is part of every package. To check a date, send the date, the venue, and a rough headcount through the contact page. We reply within 24 hours.