What Is an Operations Manual and Why Do I Need One?

Community Festivals and Events

Operations Manual Template

INTRODUCTION

What is an operations manual and why do I need one?

An operations manual should contain all the details of your event in one place. It is a “how to” guide for running the event with all the contacts, forms, and information needed to ensure that your event runs smoothly.

Having an up to date operations manual serves a number of purposes:

It captures information for others to use.
It saves “reinventing the wheel” every time the event is staged.
It forms part of your succession plan – making it easier for others to come on board
It may be a requirement of funding bodies
It is a valuable communication tool ensuring that a standard is set for the running of your event

Once a basic operations manual has been set up, it should be constantly updated and kept current. This should be done shortly after each event is staged.

To ensure that everyone is working from the latest and most current document, there should be some sort of ‘version control’ in place. The simplest is to clearly show the date on each page.

When a new version is produced, old versions should be destroyed or archived, and everyone should be aware of which version they should be working from.

The following pages outline some of the basic components of an operations manual and how it should be compiled.

Each event will be different and have its own specific requirements, there may be sections that are irrelevant for your event, or others that you need to add in.

The operations manual along with other documentation is a necessary part of running an event. It can be time consuming to set up initially, but the benefits far outweigh the cost.

History of the Event

Give a brief outline of the history of the event. How long has it been going, what have been the milestones etc.

Aim & Purpose of the Event

Define why you are doing the event and what you hope to achieve by it. This might change slightly from year to year, but needs to be stated to ensure the event is fulfilling its aim.

Organising Committee

Structure of Committee: Incorporated/ non incorporated

Overview of committee – organisational chart

Names and roles of committee members, Key responsibilities, additional responsibilities, contact details for each member

Position description or duty statement for executive roles + templates that would assist each role e.g.Agenda, letter head,

Sub –committees

Name of sub committees

Purpose or role of each sub committee

Reporting requirements

Names and contact details of each sub committee member

Stakeholders

Who are the people who have a stake in your event? This can include other community groups, businesses, sponsors, funding bodies, participants etc. Who will benefit from the event? Listing the stakeholders gives a broad idea of the breadth of the event.

This can then be broken down further to identify:

Participants or likely participants
Paid staff
Volunteers
Funding Partners
Sponsors

Venue Details

Where will the event be held? If there are multiple venues or locations, list each one with:

Name of venue/location
Map reference if necessary
Booking or permission to use details
Contact person for booking
Cost of using venue
Conditions attached to use of venue e.g. bond required
Lead time needed to book venue
Any particular features or requirements of venue e.g. alarm system, heating or cooling etc.
Map or layout of venue

Program

Break program down into its various elements. The nature of your event, the length of it and the way in which the program is scheduled will dictate how you detail these elements.

You should list all the elements of your program in a table and you may wish to add any specific requirements relating to that element of your program.

List as much information as you can for booking and budgeting for the program. (see attachments)

Then you will need a running sheet or a separate program that will be available to participants to see what is going to be on at your event.

This should be broken down into a description of what is on, when, where, and cost if applicable.

This might be accompanied by a brief description and even a photo if appropriate.

Budget

Keep a detailed list of all income and expenditure.

Income should include Grant monies, sponsorship and in-kind donations, as well as income from ticket sales, fees, sale of merchandise etc.

Expenditure should include anything that money was spent on – from cups of coffee for volunteers up to major expenditure.

Sponsorship

List all sponsors – what they are sponsoring, a contact person, and what they expect in return for sponsorship.

Funding Partners

List all funding bodies, the amount they have funded you for, conditions of funding, a copy of the Grant agreement, Application deadlines, and a copy of any funding application forms or a weblink to download)

Marketing and Advertising Schedule

Draw up a marketing schedule (see attachment) Include in this schedule:

The types of marketing and advertising you will be using (free and paid)
Where that advertising will be
Contacts for each advertising or marketing occurrence
Any associated costs and payment details
A calendar of when each advertisement or marketing opportunity occurs and deadlines.

Some of the options to consider are:

Printed publicity material

e.g. Newsletters, brochures, event program, flyers and posters, mailouts and letterbox drops.

Attach sample of previous advertising

Mailing lists – *mailing lists are an important resource for any organisation. You must protect peoples privacy and only use mailing lists for the intention for which you have collected them. It is not acceptable to pass on personal information to third parties for any reason.

Signage and Billboards.

Check with council for local laws governing these. Attach any relevant details.

Print media.

Local & daily newspapers (events pages, editorial etc) Specialist magazines and publications,

Attach sample media release, advertising copy, editorial copy.

Radio

Local radio station will usually be happy to mention community events or even do interviews. Larger radio stations often have programs and segments where listeners can feature their event. Keep a list of possible opportunities.

Television

Paid advertising is very expensive, but special travel and lifestyle shows may mention your event if it fits in with their programming. It pays to ask! Keep a list of any contacts you have obtained.

Internet

Council will list events on their website under calendar of events, as will locality based websites.

List your website address wherever possible and try to get a link onto other website Try to get events listed on special interest websites.

Attach sample internet listing

Local Businesses &Tourism

Talk to local businesses and tourism operators to include your events when they are marketing their own business. Keep a list of those that you have been successful with and those you may try in the future.

List of suppliers

List all the suppliers you need to make your event happen including contact details and any relevant brochures or price lists. If you have any recommendations or warnings about suppliers include these comments.

Waste Management

Outline details of your waste management plan, including any strategies you have for reducing waste, Suppliers for bins. Schedule for delivery, schedule for emptying, rosters for cleaning up etc.

Include issues if there are any, for removal of waste water.

Facilities

Describe the facilities that are available e.g. 3 phase power, toilets, access to water.

Outline extra facilities that need to be brought in such as generators, lighting, stages and toilets. The suppliers should be listed in your suppliers section but some extra detail around the delivery and installation of these might be required.

Permits/ Notifications required

List any permits or notifications that are required, and the timelines for these. e.g. road closures/traffic management plans, alcohol permits, raffle permits, signage permits, notifications to Police etc.

Attach any relevant forms or weblink to download them.

Insurance details

List the insurance coverage, with any special relevant information. If you need to check certificate of currency of any stallholders, performers, etc, make a note of that.

Occupational Health & Safety

List First Aid arrangements and procedures

Attach a copy of the Risk Management checklist and Plan

Attach Emergency Management Plan

Identify any forms that need to be filled out by participants prior to or during attendance e.g. Medical details for children, permission to obtain medical assistance, Sign in-sign out sheets.

* Personal information such as medical details about your participants should be securely destroyed after each event.

Meetings

You may like to attach minutes of relevant meetings. A template for minutes is handy, with template action sheets

Develop a standard form for recording telephone conversations.

Timelines

Develop timelines for all activities associated with the event.

You will need a broad timeline for the development of the event, from inception up to the staging of the event and this may then be broken down into stages.

Action Plans

Use the timeline to develop action plans for the different components leading up to and on the day/s of your event

Template attached.

Running Sheets

You may need several different running sheets for your event depending on the complexity and how many different components there are to it.

An overall broad running sheet for the whole event is essential, and you may need separate running sheets for different components or different days. Example attached.

Speech Notes

If there are speeches to be made at your event, develop a speech note template to keep some consistency, and to ensure that people making speeches know that they are meant to and why.

Staging of Event

Include as much information as you can about the staging of your event to inform others and to ensure consistency from year to year.

Documents, Forms, Lists and Templates

Include copies of all the documents forms or templates that are generic or can be re-used.

This might include standard signage, permission forms, maps, checklists, sign in- sheets/attendance forms, evaluation forms, letters, etc. If any of these are not date specific, consider laminating them so that they can be re-used from year to year.

Evaluation Plan and Templates

Develop a plan for evaluating your event. Keep standard forms that you use, and include in here any conclusions or recommendations that are drawn from previous years.

Include statistics that may have been drawn from your evaluation.

Include any feedback particularly any that is either very good, or very bad.

(The good needs to be promoted, the bad needs to be followed up and acted upon)

Develop a plan for how you will action any feedback gathered from the evaluation process.

Follow up

Include any follow up required such as thank you letters, media, releases, celebratory event, acquittals for funding etc.

File any media coverage, where possible burn images to disc and store for future reference, future funding applications etc.

Attachments:

Speech notes template

Incident Report form

Running sheet template

Parent/Guardian authorisation form

Sample marketing schedule

Incident report form

Project timeline template

Sample program table

Event committee structure

Writing a Media release

Name labels template