South Africa Event Planning

When organising a big event, it’s never a bad idea to assemble a committee to help organise the event and make it a reality. The structure of an event committee might vary from event to event, depending on what the needs and requirements are, but here follows a basic breakdown of the key members of the team:

Chairperson: Just like the CEO of a company, the chairperson is the most important person in the mix, overseeing the operation and organisation of the event from start to finish. It’s usually the chairperson’s job to make a speech and represent the committee at the actual event.

Treasurer: This is by far one of the most important pairs of shoes to fill, as this person will be responsible for keeping track of the money. The treasurer needs to be very responsible with good morals, and should ensure that all teams stay within the budget, holding every member financially accountable.

Project Manager: From scheduling committee meetings and basic admin to taking minutes at the meeting and working out the timeline – the project manager is the main brain that holds everything together. Generally all other teams and committee members will work via the project manager, keeping him/her up to speed of where things are at so that said manager can ensure that everything happens when it’s supposed to.

Sponsorship and Fundraising: This person or group is responsible for sourcing sponsorship and doing fundraising projects, as well as approaching companies for financial support – generally in the case of a charity event. Duties can include: Harvesting food donations for the event, getting prizes for auctions and raffles, acquiring endorsements from companies, and doing whatever it takes to generate funding for the charity event.

Marketing, PR and Communications: As the official spokesperson for the event, the person in charge of PR and Marketing should communicate with the media and public in order to generate hype around the event. What’s more, this role also involves overseeing the design of the website, brochures, goodie bags, program booklets, T-shirts, pens and any other promotional items. While traditional advertising like newspapers and radio is a good starting platform, online channels like social media sites and blogs are excellent ways of promoting an event.

Logistics: From organising the catering and getting council permits to finalising sound and lighting and coordinating the setup – the logistics manager and his team essentially ensure that things get done. While other “departments” might have the creative vision, the logistics guys get the job done, sorting through the nitty-gritty to make sure that the event goes off without a hitch.

Volunteer Management: Especially for charity events, volunteers can play an extremely valuable role in practical respects. The volunteer manager is therefore responsible for looking after the volunteers, from recruitment phase right through to training and assigning jobs.

Technical: While every event doesn’t require a full-on technical team, you really can’t go wrong with having one on board. The technical gurus can be responsible for building the website (if required) as well as sorting out lighting and audio visual equipment for the event.

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