The important factors to consider in preparing the

The important factors to consider in preparing the official programme are:
 Consultation with all parties directly involved in the programme
 Calculating the time of each and every activity
 Ensuring that the programme has time for "ceremonial" activities e.g. opening and/or closing
ceremonies, speeches, the presentation of awards, entertainment
 Ensuring that the venue is available for the FULL duration of the event
 Choosing the date(s) so that the event does not clash with other major events
 Allowing for a little "slack" time between activities
 The order of activities
 How the printed programme will be published
Event Ceremonies
Ceremonial aspects of events should not be underestimated in importance. They include opening and
closing speeches, musical fanfares, playing of national anthems, presentation of awards and flowers, visits
from dignitaries, flag raising, and special displays.
While not a necessary component, there is an increasing trend to add ceremonial activities to the event
programme. They add greatly to the emotion, symbolism and entertainment value of the event. The
inclusion of ceremonial activities is more common where events are of national importance, are televised
and have major sponsors. Nevertheless adding a little ceremony to the event programme, which often costs
very little, should be considered for smaller events. A failure to include ceremonial activities is an
opportunity lost for the organization hosting the event.
Some points to consider in adding ceremony to the event programme are:
 Dignitaries that fail to show or arrive late - make contingency plans
 Capturing and positioning the crowd to witness the ceremony - they tend not to be effective if the
people are dispersed too widely
 Ceremonies that are not well organized may backfire badly - include rehearsals
 Consider carefully the best time for ceremonies in the event programme - try to avoid dignitaries
arriving at bad times or when there a few to witness i.e. crowd at its smallest.
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Page 4 of 10

PROGRAM
 A program is a schedule of activities and performers during the days of the event
 The program usually refers to an external document which organizers, performers and attendees
can refer to
 A sequence guide on the other hand, is an internal, more detailed document which includes
contingencies and further explanation to serve as organizer guide/ manual
 It indicates where a staff should be a certain hours as well as his/ her assignment during the days
of the event
MAJOR CATEGORIES OF ACTIVITIES
1. Main Event Focus
 In line with the theme of the event, the main entertainment or event focus is what attract
the audience
 It is agenda in meeting, the games in a sporting event the winners in an awards night, the
arts in an arts exhibit, the product in a product launch and so on.