What's in a name

One of the fabulous things about the world in which we live is that technology gives us the  ability to work with people anywhere. We haven't quite got to the multi lingual bit at Joi so our global conversations are restricted to English. You would think this would mean understanding each other wouldn't be a problem, right? Well, no. It turns out everyone we talk to may speak English but they use different words to describe elements of event planning. It's like talking about furniture and not all using the same word for 'table'.

Let's start with the fundamental elements

It would be great if everyone in the event industry used the same terminlogy for the fundamental elements of planning. It would cut down on a lot of explanations. This is where we need your input. We have had to commit to terminolgy in building our software, but we are open to change. From our perspective the fundamental elements are Program, Onsite schedule and Run of Show. Google these elements and you will get loads of slightly different interpretations.

So, what do you call them?

Program aka event schedule, agenda, itinerary, run of show: Essentially the audience experience.

Onsite schedule aka run sheet, production schedule, run of show, event sheet, event schedule [ yes, used to describe the program as well]: This is the chronological list of activities to set up [bump in] , run and packdown [bump out] your event.

Run of Show: Event schedule [again] cue sheet, show flow, run sheet [yes] show script, call sheet: List of cues, the most common of which are lighting, audio and vision. Like sheet music, it lets you write your show so everything happens on stage at the right time ie play video, lights down, performer to stage with walk on sting music etc

Why it matters

I think our lack of clear terminology has an impact on how quickly new event planners learn our craft. I have spoken to many who don't know what a run of show or cue sheet is [but are very happy when they see it - it's like finding a missing jigsaw puzzle piece]

Give us your feedback 

Do you agree this is an issue? Do you have your own terminology? Let us know...