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Event-Week Runbook

Status: Pre-formation operational draft. The Producer will own this runbook for each event once seated. Until then, the Administrator runs it.

This is the operator-side companion to programs/events/README.md (the operating doc with the full T-180 timeline, role table, and CE-awarding logic) and the event-brief template, run-of-show template, and close-out template. Where those documents define structure, this runbook defines what to do, day by day, in the last week of the event window through 24 hours after.

Scope

This runbook covers T-7 through T+1. It does not cover the long-tail items (T+7 survey, T+14 debrief, T+30 public report) — those are tracked through the close-out template against the standard timeline in programs/events/README.md.

It also does not cover code-of-conduct procedure, incident response wording, or any sanction or escalation flow — those are routed through counsel and the Safety / CoC Officer named per the event brief.

Pre-week sanity check (T-7, end of day)

Before the runbook starts, verify these are all green. Anything red is escalated to the Event Director before the Sunday-night go/no-go.

Check Owner Green if
Final headcount in hand Marketing Lead Headcount delta from registration is ≤5%, or variance has been priced and approved
Catering count locked Producer Headcount sent to caterer; vegetarian / GF / allergy counts confirmed
Run-of-show v-final published Producer + AV Lead RoS signed off by AV Lead; distributed to all named roles
Speaker prep complete Producer Every speaker has had their prep call; slide decks received or a deadline acknowledged
Volunteer briefing scheduled Volunteer Coordinator Brief is on the calendar before T-1 setup
Sponsor fulfillment list sent Sponsor Lead Per-sponsor list (logo files received, signage approved, comp passes issued, intro copy in the RoS)
Safety / CoC Officer identified and on-site Event Director Named in the brief, present at venue or virtual room, briefed
Stripe / Xsolla payment paths working Administrator Test transaction in the last 7 days
Cloudflare cache rules sanity-checked for the event registration page Sysadmin Cache purge confirmed if the registration page changed in the last 48h

T-1: Setup day

Time block Activity Owner Notes
AM Venue load-in begins; sign delivery received Producer Walk the floor with the venue contact; verify breakouts, registration desk, green room
AM AV walkthrough — sound, video, recording, streaming AV Lead Test every input that will be live; record a 60-second test stream and play it back
Midday Volunteer briefing on-site (or virtual for hybrid events) Volunteer Coordinator Hand out volunteer-brief.md (event-specific version); cover safety, CoC pocket card, comms channel
Midday Speaker rehearsals — opening keynote and any high-stakes panels Producer Mic check, presenter view, slide advance, click-test for any video embeds
PM Registration desk dry-run Marketing Lead Test badge printer, scanner, walk-up payment path
PM Sponsor signage placed and verified Sponsor Lead Photo each placement; share to sponsor for early-warning fixes
PM Producer's final pre-event huddle with all named roles Producer 30 min, on-site, end-of-day. Cover RoS, comms channel, escalation contacts
Evening Quiet time. RoS pinned in the event comms channel. Event Director on-call. Event Director If anything is still red at this point, Event Director makes the day-of call by 8 PM

T-0 (event day): Run-of-show execution

The RoS itself is the document the Producer follows. This runbook covers what wraps around it.

Pre-doors (60–90 minutes before opening)

Activity Owner
All-hands huddle on-site (or virtual room open) Producer
Comms channel test — confirm every named role is reachable Producer
AV final-final test, including streaming if hybrid AV Lead
Registration desk staffed and live (15 min before doors) Marketing Lead + Volunteer Coordinator
Safety / CoC Officer at registration desk for first 30 min, visible Safety / CoC Officer
Sponsor liaison sweeps booths to confirm sponsor staff are on-site Sponsor Lead
Speaker green room is staffed and stocked Producer (or designee)

During the event

The Producer runs the RoS. The Event Director is in the room or in the virtual room — not running anything, present to make decisions when something deviates.

Operational reminders:

  • Comms discipline. One channel for "happening now" issues; a separate channel for non-urgent. The Producer is on the urgent channel; everyone else watches both.
  • CE attendance capture. For sessions awarding CE: per programs/events/README.md §5, attendance is captured by the Volunteer Coordinator (in-person) or AV Lead (virtual). The 80%-of-session-duration threshold is enforced; the awarding logic runs after the event, not in real time.
  • Sponsor moments. Every contracted sponsor moment (logo on-screen, intro copy read, booth time announcement) is a row in the RoS with a Cue. If a moment is missed, log it in the post-event sponsor scorecard so service-recovery can be planned.
  • Speaker no-show. Producer's call. Default response: the session moderator runs an interactive Q&A with the audience filling the time, or the slot is reformatted as a panel with available speakers. Do not restructure the RoS without the Event Director's awareness.
  • Tech failure. AV Lead has a 15-minute window to recover before the session is reformatted (paper-and-pen Q&A, walkthrough without slides, etc.). The Producer makes the reformat call.
  • Concerns raised about conduct, safety, or harassment. Routed to the Safety / CoC Officer, full stop. The Officer has the playbook (counsel-drafted, owned by the Ethics Committee). The Event Director is informed; the Producer continues running the room.

End-of-day handoff

Activity Owner
Final session ends; closing remarks per RoS Producer
Tear-down begins per the run-of-show flagship template tear-down table Producer + Volunteer Coordinator
Recording masters secured (downloaded to local + uploaded to staging Drive folder) AV Lead
Lost-and-found collected, logged, handed to venue Volunteer Coordinator
Sponsor materials returned or boxed for shipping Sponsor Lead
Volunteer thank-you (verbal, on-site) Volunteer Coordinator
Producer + Event Director closeout — 15-min standing huddle, what fired, what didn't Producer + Event Director

T+1 (the day after)

T+1 is the most-skipped day of the event lifecycle. It's also where the close-out gets seeded; if T+1 is sloppy the close-out 14 days later is reconstructed from memory.

Activity Owner Output
Recap email to attendees Marketing Lead Sent within 24h of session end (per the events README); template lives in template-library/communications/ once authored
Sponsor thank-you to every sponsor primary contact Sponsor Lead Personal note (not a generic blast); referenced photo of their signage; renewal-conversation-soon flag
CE attendance data uploaded for processing CE / Education Lead + AV Lead Per-session attendance log + attestation responses entered; CE awarding runs within 14 days per §5
Sponsor scorecard draft seeded Sponsor Lead First-cut against the sponsor agreement; what was delivered, what wasn't, with owner-of-fix
P&L draft seeded Finance Lead Day-of expenses captured; vendor invoices marked as expected/received
Code-of-Conduct concerns log finalized for handoff Safety / CoC Officer Concerns count + status (resolved on-site / referred to standing process / pending), per the close-out template's Code-of-Conduct section. Concerns themselves stay with the Officer and the Ethics Committee, not in the close-out body.
Volunteer hours logged Volunteer Coordinator Per hours-certification.md; thank-you note queued for T+7
Asset handoff begins Producer Recordings, photos, slide decks moved from the staging Drive folder to the per-event folder with the right ACLs (Form O); embargo dates noted
Producer's three-up reflection captured (informal) Producer What worked / what didn't / what to change — drafted now while it's fresh, refined into the close-out

If any single item above slips past T+1, the Producer flags it to the Event Director the same day. Most slips are recoverable within the close-out window; recoverable doesn't mean "ignore until day 13."

T+1 evening: The Event Director's note

The Event Director writes a short internal note (300–500 words, no template — voice memo if that's faster) covering:

  • Did the event meet its concept-brief goals?
  • Anything the close-out report must capture that an outsider wouldn't see in the data?
  • One thing to start, one thing to stop, one thing to keep doing.

This note isn't published. It's the seed for the formal close-out and the input to the next event's brief.

What this runbook does NOT cover

  • Conduct or sanctions response. Safety / CoC Officer + counsel-drafted policy + Ethics Committee.
  • Medical emergencies. Venue protocol + 911. Producer and Volunteer Coordinator are briefed at T-1; the action is "call 911, clear the area, escalate to Event Director" — not anything written here.
  • Press response if something goes wrong. Communications Committee chair + Director + counsel.
  • Long-tail close-out work. That's the close-out template and the events README §7 timeline.

Cross-references