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Writing on major events

Programme planning, host city bidding, economic retention and the structures that keep large events on track. Written from 25 years of running them.

Strategy & the first 100 days

What an organising committee has to decide before the organisation grows too complex to change direction.

Major event strategy vs company strategy3 Sep 2026
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Pre-production & change control

What happens between a confirmed plan and event day, and why plans drift there.

Why event plans fail before the event starts11 Aug 2026
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Building an event planning app: what failed and what worked11 Aug 2026
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Tools & systems

Replacing fragile spreadsheets with small, honest tools that do one job each.

Why spreadsheets fail for event management21 Jul 2026
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10 event management jobs you can do without Excel21 Jul 2026
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Programme & project planning

How major events are structured: programmes, projects, task groups and tasks.

The five kinds of event work3 Sep 2026
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Event programme planning: from idea to value26 Jan 2025
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Why the smartest event plans still collapse13 Aug 2025
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The structure that makes 40,000 tasks possible3 Aug 2025
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The fundamentals of programme planning25 Jan 2025
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Essential programmes for major sports events25 Jan 2025
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Mastering major event planning structure25 Jan 2025
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Economic impact & retention

Stop asking how much people spent. Start asking how much stayed.

The hidden truth behind event economic benefits6 Oct 2024
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How to estimate economic impact in event bidding2 Oct 2024
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The problem with economic impact: retained money29 Sep 2024
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Economic impact vs economic retention23 Sep 2024
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Event bidding

What host cities decide before the bid book is opened.

Why event bidding matters23 Oct 2024
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The major event funnel: why cities can't afford to get it wrong19 Oct 2024
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Evaluating event owners' needs in a feasibility study3 Oct 2024
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The secret to winning event bids15 Sep 2024
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Leadership & priorities

Why capable teams still end up planning the same thing three times.

Why even the smartest event leadership teams falter13 Aug 2025
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When everything is a priority, nothing gets done13 Aug 2025
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Customer experience

Grouping the audience before designing anything for them.

Customer grouping: the foundation of event success9 Oct 2024
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Event planning customer experience tips18 Sep 2024
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How to enhance customer experience at events10 Sep 2024
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Event planning fundamentals

The basics, written for people who run events for a living.

Fundamentals of event management20 Sep 2024
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What do we need for better event planning?19 Sep 2024
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The secret to event planning success12 Sep 2024
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Event production: the key phases11 Sep 2024
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Event planning warning signs9 Sep 2024
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How to explain event planning7 Sep 2024
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Essential steps to successful event planning5 Sep 2024
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Why become an event organiser5 Sep 2024
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Event management is like solving a Rubik's cube4 Sep 2024
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Questions

Frequently asked

What subjects do the articles cover?

Programme planning, host city bidding, economic retention and the structures that keep large events on track. The writing is grouped into sections: pre-production and change control, tools and systems, programme and project planning, economic impact and retention, event bidding, leadership and priorities, customer experience, and event planning fundamentals. All of it comes from 25 years of running events.

Where should I start reading?

Start with the section that matches the problem in front of you. If structure is the issue, read the programme and project planning articles, which set out how major events are built from programmes, projects, task groups and tasks. If the money question is the issue, start with economic impact and retention. That section asks how much of the spending stayed, not how much moved.

Is this written for beginners in event management?

No. Even the fundamentals section is written for people who run events for a living. The articles assume you already carry responsibility for delivery, and each one takes a single structural idea: why smart plans still collapse, why capable teams end up planning the same thing three times, what host cities decide before the bid book is opened.