The situation

Winning the event is only the beginning. The first months shape everything that follows.

Your board, host city, rights holder, partners and delivery team all need answers, and they need them before the organisation grows too complex to change direction.

The danger is not a lack of activity. There will be meetings, plans, budgets, presentations and project lists. The danger is building all of them before the event has a clear strategic core.

The roadmap gives the leadership team a practical order for the work. Not one large strategy document. A sequence of decisions that build on each other.

What is this event trying to achieve? What should guide decisions? What has to go right? How will strategy become real work? What should the organisation build first?

The roadmap

Ten steps. One clear route from ambition to action.

Vision

Define the future the event is meant to create. Not only what happens during event time, but what should be different because the event took place.

Mission

Set the daily purpose of the organising committee. A useful mission tells people what should drive the work when time is short and priorities compete.

Strategic objectives

Turn the vision into clear results. These objectives become the bridge between ambition and action.

Values

Define how people are expected to work, decide and behave, especially when pressure rises and the answer is not written in a manual.

Critical success factors

Identify what must go right. This forces the team past broad goals and into naming the conditions that cannot fail.

Key performance indicators

Decide how progress will be seen. The strategy becomes measurable, reviewable and easier to manage.

Zero point

Define the real starting position. Before setting targets, the organisation needs an honest view of where it stands now.

Programme and project framework

Turn strategy into organised work. Programmes, projects, responsibilities and workstreams link back to the strategic objectives.

Business model and revenue strategy

Define how the event creates value and income. This connects the ambition to commercial and financial reality.

Brand platform

Define how the event should be seen, felt and remembered. The brand grows from the strategy instead of being created beside it.

The order matters. Each step creates the foundation for the next.

Why events, not companies

A company can refine its direction over years. A major event gets one opening day.

A major event is a temporary organisation with a fixed moment of truth. It brings together people from different organisations, professions and interests, under public attention, hard deadlines and rights-holder requirements, with limited time to build a common way of working.

That is why strategy has to become useful early. The roadmap helps leaders create clarity before the organisation becomes more complex.

Start with the strategic core

VisionWhere are we going?

MissionWhat drives the work each day?

ValuesHow do we work while getting there?

Compare competing ideas
Set priorities
Explain the event clearly
Guide departments and partners
Make decisions under pressure
Protect the original purpose as delivery grows

These are not statements for a wall. The first book, The First 100 Days, is built around this strategic core: the early period when a newly awarded event has its best chance to create clarity before complexity takes over.

Ways to use it

Choose how far you want to take it.

The same method, three levels of support. Start where your team and your timeline are.

Level 1

Learn the roadmap

Build the strategy with your own team.

The guides, books and workbooks explain the method step by step. They are built for organisers who want a practical structure they can use without bringing in an outside consultant. Begin with the first part of the system and continue through the full roadmap as your event develops.

What you get

The First 100 Days guide
The Major Event Strategy Roadmap books
Vision, mission and values workbooks
Strategy exercises and planning templates
Programme and project planning framework
Practical examples from major event work

This route suits you when

Your leadership team wants to own the process
You already have suitable facilitation skills
You want to move at your own pace
You need a shared method before starting the work

View the guides → Browse the books

Level 2

Run the one-day workshop

Give your leadership team the method, tools and starting structure.

Not a day of presentations. A working session built around your event. I introduce the full roadmap, explain the purpose of each step and show your team how to run the process internally, using your existing material, questions and current situation as the starting point.

By the end of the day your team understands

The ten-step sequence
What each step must produce
What should be done first
Who needs to take part
What existing material can be used
Where the important gaps remain
How to organise the next phase of work

Best for

Newly formed organising committees
Leadership teams preparing their first strategy
Host cities moving from bid to delivery
Events with documents but no single structure
Teams that want direction without outsourcing the process

Workshop outcome: a practical action plan for running the roadmap internally, with agreed next steps, responsibilities and a clearer view of the work ahead. You also receive the supporting workbooks and tools needed to continue.

Ask about the one-day workshop →

Level 3

Build the strategy with me

A tailored process for your event.

No two organising committees are the same. Bid promises differ. Stakeholder structures differ. Funding models, host city goals, rights-holder expectations and delivery conditions differ. That is why the full strategy cannot be sold as a standard product. The roadmap provides the method; the strategy is built around the event.

Depending on scope, the work may include

Review of the bid book and existing commitments
Leadership and stakeholder interviews
Context and gap analysis
Strategy workshops
Vision, mission and values development
Strategic objectives and critical success factors
KPIs and baseline work

And through to

Programme and project structure
Revenue and business model work
Brand platform direction
Final strategy roadmap
Leadership presentation and implementation guidance

The result is not a generic consultant document. It is a strategy your organisation understands, owns and can use.

Discuss your event →

Proven in current work

The method comes from 25+ years inside international events, and it is in use right now.

Developed through work with international sporting events, host cities, organising committees and conferences. Recently applied in strategy work connected to:

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2029

The roadmap was used to shape the strategic direction of the newly awarded event and create a clearer route from winning the bid to building the organising programme.

Winter World Masters Games 2028

The same sequence was used to develop the event's strategy, direction and planning logic. A different event, a different stakeholder group, a different ambition.

The method stays consistent. The content changes to fit the event. That is the point.

What it prevents

Without an agreed sequence, the pieces get built in isolation.

A vision that does not guide projects.

Projects that do not support strategic goals.

KPIs without a clear baseline.

A brand promise disconnected from delivery.

A long list of activities without clear priorities.

A programme structure that grows before the team agrees what success means.

Direction → objectives → success conditions → measures → starting point → programmes and projects → value → brand

One chain. It makes the strategy easier to explain and much harder to ignore.

The output

What you should have when the work is complete.

The final output depends on the route you choose and the needs of the event. A complete roadmap may include:

A clear event vision
A working mission
Values linked to real behaviour
Defined strategic objectives
Critical success factors
Measurable KPIs
A documented starting point
A programme and project structure
Ownership and governance links
Business model and revenue direction
A brand platform rooted in strategy
An implementation roadmap

Where are we going?
What matters most?
What must go right?
How will we know?
Where are we starting from?
What work needs to be organised?
Who owns it?
How does each project support the event strategy?

More important than the documents: your leadership team can answer those questions the same way, on the same day.

When to begin

The best time is soon after the event is awarded.

Before departments grow too far apart. Before project lists harden. Before the original bid promises become disconnected from delivery. Before the organisation becomes too busy to step back.

The first 100 days offer a rare window: enough information to begin, and still enough time to shape the way the event will work.

Questions

Frequently asked

Can we use the bid book as our strategy?

The bid book is an important starting point. It contains promises, ambitions, commitments and early assumptions. But it was created to help win the event; the organising strategy must now help deliver it. Some material stays useful. Some needs to be sharpened, tested or changed as the event moves from bid to delivery.

Do we need to complete all ten steps immediately?

No. The roadmap is a sequence, not a demand to finish everything at once. The strategic core should come early. Later steps can be developed as the organisation gains people, information and delivery detail.

Can our team run this without outside help?

Yes. That is the purpose of the books, guides and workshop. The method should be usable by organisers themselves. External support becomes valuable when time is limited, the stakeholder group is complex, or the leadership team wants an experienced facilitator to move the work forward.

Who should take part?

Usually the core leadership group. Depending on the step this may include the CEO, Secretary General, Event Director, host city representatives, rights-holder representatives, board members and selected functional leaders. Not everyone needs to join every session.

Is the workshop enough to complete the strategy?

The one-day workshop gives your team the method, tools, shared understanding and a clear route forward, so the work can continue internally. A complete strategy usually requires further sessions, decisions, drafting and approval.

Can the roadmap be used for smaller events?

Yes, but the depth should match the event. A smaller event may complete the steps with a lighter process. A major international event may need broader consultation, more evidence and several rounds of leadership work. Start at the level that fits your organisation.

Choose your starting point

Your event already has a deadline. Now give it a direction.

The sooner the organising committee agrees where it is going, what matters most and how strategy becomes action, the easier it is to build everything that follows.

Learn it

Use the books, guides and workbooks to build the roadmap internally.

Explore the resources

Run it

Bring your leadership team together for a one-day workshop and leave with the method, tools and next steps.

Book the workshop

Build it with me

Use the full roadmap as the structure for a tailored major event strategy process.

Start a conversation

Major Event Strategy Roadmap: ten steps, built in the right order, applied to your event.