Event run of show template.
Turn an agenda into the minute-by-minute document the producer, show caller, stage manager, AV team, venue and client can actually operate from.
A useful run of show is not a prettier agenda. It records what happens, when it happens, who owns it and what must already be true for the cue to work. This workbook reflects the way production teams prepare conference rooms, rehearsals, presenter movement, playback, remote guests, records and strike.
Download the event run of show.
The workbook includes a blank 39-row schedule, automatic duration formulas, status menus, timing-error highlighting, a completed conference example and a Read Me sheet.
Download the XLSX templateWhat belongs in a run of show?
Begin with the audience-facing agenda, then add the work around it: room access, crew call, system checks, content load, rehearsal, doors, transitions, stage resets, backup checkpoints and program clear. A cue should be specific enough that someone can call it on comms and another person can confirm it happened.
If a moment changes lights, sound, video, microphones, people, furniture, records or audience movement, it probably deserves its own row.
A real completed example
The included example covers a leadership summit from a 6:00 AM crew call through the post-program media backup. Notice that the public agenda does not begin until 9:00 AM, yet the operational run of show begins three hours earlier.
| Segment | Time | Owner | Production detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stage rehearsal | 7:30–8:15 AM | Show caller | Walk the opening, awards and panel entrance; confirm confidence monitor, music and microphone handoffs. |
| Standby opening | 8:58–9:00 AM | Show caller | Standby lights, opening film, audio and cameras; confirm the presenter is at stage left. |
| Panel reset | 9:57–10:05 AM | Stage manager | Place four chairs and water, mic the panelists, hold sponsor loop and verify cable paths. |
| Remote guest check | 10:48–11:03 AM | Remote producer | Reconnect the guest, verify the return feed and keep a backup dial-in ready. |
| Media backup | 12:00–12:30 PM | Record engineer | Verify program and isolated recordings, then checksum primary and backup drives before strike. |
How to use the template
- Enter the event, venue, date and a visible version timestamp.
- Add every operational milestone, including parallel work that happens offstage.
- Use one row per callable cue and one accountable owner per row.
- Enter start and end times; the duration column calculates automatically.
- Use technical notes for dependencies, backups and handoffs, not for burying several separate cues.
- Review every row marked At risk with department leads before doors.
Common run-of-show mistakes
Copying the agenda verbatim
An agenda describes the audience experience. It rarely includes crew calls, rehearsals, doors, room resets, records or strike. Add those operational moments explicitly.
No time for transitions
A session ending at 10:00 and the next one beginning at 10:00 leaves no time for applause, presenter exits, microphone changes or furniture. Schedule the actual movement.
Owners such as “AV” or “team”
A department can support a cue, but a named role should call or confirm it. “Show caller,” “stage manager” and “playback operator” create usable accountability.
Multiple versions in circulation
Put a revision time in the header. Nominate one person to publish changes and make old copies obviously obsolete.
Need a production team to turn the plan into a show?
LiveFocus provides conference AV, live production, broadcast video and technical crews across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Discuss your event