A Sign of the Times

I originally planned to post this entry on the day that the iPhone 4 became available for purchase, obviously because of it's relevance. Everywhere around the country, techies gathered early at Apple stores to be one of the "first" to own the new gadget. It was a big day for technology, and since we live in an increasingly technologically advanced society, I thought that this post was fitting. But alas, time got away from me, and I'm posting this much later than I intended. ::Sigh::

Nevertheless, this is still as important today as it was a few weeks ago when I started to write it.  Just as there are constantly new developments and trends to keep up with in terms of the technology we use every day, the same is true for event planning. New and veteran event planners alike must keep abreast of the newest event planning software, which is meant to improve efficiency and productivity.

While reading the Spring/Summer 2010 issue of Best Events magazine, I came across an article in the "Best Practices" section titled, "By the Book: An exclusive peek inside Microsoft's first-ever event planning Playbook." I've been planning on writing about event planning software for a while now, and the first paragraph of the article mirrored my thoughts exactly: "For new event planners just starting out, there are few resources to turn to in order to learn the many nuances of the job. Unlike more established disciplines like p.r. and advertising, events have traditionally been one of those jump into the deep end and learn-as-you-go type of gigs. This year, Microsoft is changing that."

Basically, Microsoft is creating a Playbook, which is a "centralized guide where new and long-term employees can follow a basic framework of steps and actions and quickly locate the templates, information and resources they need to launch and manage Microsoft events...A typical section in the Playbook includes an org chart that explains who does what, helpful tip boxes, links to templates and other process documents and a snapshot of key activities and outputs required at each step in the event management process." Essentially, it is meant to save time and increase efficiency while following this basic structure:

• The information is organized into three sections that mirror the three main phases of event management: Plan, Execute, and Evaluate.
• Each section is further broken down into event components that include event marketing, services, and event programs.
• Each section includes an account workflow chart that lists major stakeholders in each step of the process and whoever is responsible for doing certain portions of the event. 

The overall goal is to distribute the Playbook to other event stakeholders across the company and around the world. Although still in its early stages (two of the 32 chapters are completed), the book is pretty revolutionary. Vivian Eickoff, leader of the Playbook project said, "We just found that many times we were wasting a lot of our practices and examples that were already done and people were spending time trying to sit there and rewrite stuff." Despite it being a simple idea, it hasn't been done before. Can you imagine being a new employee at Microsoft and having a tool like this at your fingertips!? If every company were to adopt something like this, it would save so much time and energy!

Needless to say, I think it is an amazingly wonderful idea, which will only benefit the event planing industry in the years to come.  For newbie event planners like myself, it makes it just a bit easier for us to get a foot in the door of the industry. I only wish I could get my hands on it now!