A run of show is the one document on a corporate event that everybody reads and nobody writes for the DJ. It tells the caterer when to drop entrées and the AV lead when to fire the slides, and it usually mentions the DJ once, at the bottom, next to the word "dancing." That leaves the person on the music guessing at the thirty small decisions that happen between doors and the last song. This is the template we use to stop the guessing, with the DJ columns built in and notes on how to fill each one.
Why a run of show needs a music column
Every segment of a corporate event has a music state, whether or not anyone chose it. When the CEO walks to the lectern, the music is either down, off, or still playing under her first sentence. When the awards start, the winners either have walk-up music or they walk up in silence. When the caterer clears the last plate, the floor either opens or the room drifts toward the bar and the coat check. A run of show that names the music state for each segment turns those from accidents into decisions.
The other column that is usually missing is the cue trigger: the thing that actually happens in the room that tells the DJ to act. "8:05 PM, welcome remarks" is a time. The trigger is "planner gives a thumbs-up from stage left" or "house lights drop to half." Times slip. Triggers do not. A DJ working from a trigger column can hold a bed for the ninety seconds the speaker spends looking for her reading glasses, and nobody in the room notices anything happened.
The template
This is a realistic evening for a company celebration of about 150 people: one room, dinner, a short awards block, then dancing. Change the times and the names. Keep the columns.
| Time | Segment | Who is on mic | Music state | Cue trigger |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4:30 PM | DJ load-in and setup | Nobody | Off | Venue confirms room is set and power is live |
| 6:15 PM | Sound check | DJ (test only) | Test at dinner level, checked from the far table | Planner in the room; catering finished setting tables |
| 6:45 PM | Doors, arrival and networking | Nobody | Bed, conversation level | Planner text: "doors" |
| 7:30 PM | Call to dinner | DJ, one announcement | Bed dips under the announcement, back up after | Catering lead tells planner tables are ready; planner texts "dinner" |
| 7:35 PM | Welcome remarks | CEO | Off from the first word | Planner hand signal from stage left as CEO stands |
| 7:45 PM | Dinner service | Nobody | Bed, dinner level | CEO leaves the mic; DJ fades in over eight to ten seconds |
| 8:30 PM | Awards block, five awards | Head of People, then each winner | Walk-up track per winner, 15 to 20 seconds, out under the handshake | Presenter reads the name; track starts on the name, not the applause |
| 8:55 PM | Closing toast | CFO | Off | Presenter hands the mic to the CFO |
| 9:00 PM | Floor opens | DJ, one line | Up; first song on the floor | CFO says the agreed last line: "enjoy the rest of your night" |
| 10:45 PM | Last song announced | DJ | Up | Planner text: "last song at 10:55" |
| 11:00 PM | Music off, house lights up | Nobody | Off | Venue manager brings the lights up |
| 11:00 PM to 12:00 AM | Breakdown | Nobody | Off | Room clear of guests |
How to fill in each column
Time
Write the time you hope for, then accept that everything after the first speaker is an estimate. The useful thing about the times is the gaps between them. If the awards block is scheduled for twenty-five minutes and there are five awards, that is five minutes each, which means short walk-ups and no speeches from the winners. If someone wants the winners to speak, the block needs forty minutes and the floor opens later. We would rather have that conversation on the planning call than at 8:40 PM.
Segment
One line per thing that changes what the room is doing: arrival, call to dinner, remarks, dinner, awards, toast, floor, last song, out. Do not list the dessert course unless dessert changes something. The sheet is for the people who have to act on it, and a sheet with forty rows gets skimmed.
Who is on mic
Name the person, not the title, and count the microphones. Two presenters who hand off on stage can share one handheld. A presenter at a lectern and a winner who accepts from the floor need two. A panel needs more than we bring by default, which is why this column decides whether Additional Microphones goes on the quote. It also tells us which mics to mute between speakers, and that is the difference between a clean handoff and a hot mic picking up "is this thing on" from the wings.
Music state
Four words cover almost everything. Off means silence, for speeches. Bed means music under conversation, low enough that the far table can talk without leaning in. Up means dancing volume. Walk-up means a short, specific track that starts on a name and ends on a handshake. If a segment needs something more particular, such as a specific track under a slideshow, write it in this column, because this is the column the DJ reads while the room is live.
Cue trigger
Something visible or audible from the booth. Text messages work when the planner has a free hand; a hand signal from a fixed spot works better when she does not. An agreed final sentence works best of all for the speech that opens the floor, because it means the first song starts on the speaker's last word instead of three seconds of dead air later. Tell the speaker the line is the cue. Speakers who know their last line is a cue tend to actually say it.
What planners get wrong, and how to fix it before the day
- No trigger for the floor opening. The most common gap. The speech ends, the presenter looks at the DJ, the DJ looks at the planner, and the room goes to the bar. Agree the last line.
- Walk-up music listed as "TBD." Walk-ups need the winner list in advance so tracks can be matched to people, or at least to a tone the head of People signs off on. We ask for names a week out and treat the list as confidential. More in walk-up music for award winners.
- Sound check scheduled during load-in. A sound check needs the room set and quiet; load-in is neither. Give it its own row, fifteen to twenty minutes, after catering has finished dropping tables and before doors.
- The venue's hard out missing. If music has to be off at 11:00, that is a row, and the last-song row lives fifteen minutes before it. Ending on time is a music decision as much as a catering one.
- No name next to "who says go." One person on the night cues the DJ. Not the client, not the presenter, not whoever is nearest. One name and one phone number, on the sheet.
Where this fits in our packages
A program like the one above, with a speech block, five walk-ups and a specific floor-opening cue, is what the Corporate Celebration package at $3,500 and the Corporate Premier package at $4,500 are built for; the difference between them is how much scheduled-cue preparation the program needs. A mixer with a toast and no awards fits the Corporate Mixer at $2,500 and a much shorter sheet. Details are on the pricing page. Either way, we build the music column with you on the planning call and send the sheet back with the DJ rows filled in, so the version your venue and caterer receive already has us on it.
If you have a program in a spreadsheet already, send it with the date, the venue and the headcount through the contact page and we will return it with the cues marked. We reply within 24 hours.