eventru
Run of show vs agenda
The agenda is for attendees: sessions, rooms and speakers, in a form they can plan their day around. The run of show is for the crew: every cue, to the minute, with the technical instructions needed to make it happen. One event has one of each, and they must agree. When they are kept in separate documents, they drift apart the first time a session moves.
The columns every run of show needs
A template that works for most live events:
- Time: the planned start of the cue.
- Duration: how long it runs. Derive the next start time from it rather than typing it again.
- Item: what happens (walk-in, welcome, keynote, panel, award, break).
- On stage: presenter, host or panel members.
- Sound: which microphones are live, plus walk-up and play-off music.
- Screens: which slide deck, video or holding slide is on screen.
- Lighting: the state or cue number.
- Notes: standby calls, props, and anything the stage manager needs to say out loud.
Build it from the agenda, then add the detail
Start with the agenda's sessions as your first rows, then split each one into its cues: the walk-up, the speaker, the Q&A, the play-off. Add the technical columns last, once the content is settled.
Plan microphones per cue, not per session. A panel of four with a host needs five microphones live at once, and a sound engineer needs to know that before the doors open, not while the panel walks on.
Keep one live version
On the day, the run of show changes: a keynote overruns, an award is moved, a presenter arrives late. If the run of show is a spreadsheet that has been emailed out, every change needs a new version and everyone needs to know which one is current.
Share it from one place instead, so the stage manager, sound, lighting and the client all see the same timings as they change. Give each presenter only their own item to check, not the whole document.
Opening keynote: Atlas in 2027
Day 1 · 09:15–10:30 · Thrale SuiteHow eventru handles it
In eventru the run of show is built from the event's agenda, so the two stay in step. Cues carry timings, presenters, AV and automatic mic planning. Presenters can be invited to manage their own item, and the crew follow the live running order on their own devices, with Run of Show Live available for show-calling over the venue's network.
Questions
Who needs a copy of the run of show?
The stage manager or show caller, the technical crew (sound, lighting, video), the host, and the client lead. Presenters usually need only their own section, along with their call time and walk-up cue.
How detailed should a run of show be?
Detailed enough that a crew member who missed the briefing could run their part from it. For most corporate events that means a row for every change on stage, timed to the minute.
When should the run of show be finished?
Lock the content a few days out and run the technical rehearsal from it. Expect it to change on the day; the aim is that every change is made in one place that everyone can see.