Writing a Brief for an Awards Ceremony
An awards event is the perfect platform for bringing industry leaders together as well as celebrating company milestones and individual achievements. If you’ve ever watched an Oscars ceremony, you probably understand how much planning goes into such a spectacular show. From entertainment for the guests to speeches for hosts and participants, there are many pieces to this puzzle.
So how do you ensure that nothing gets lost in the shuffle? As Marilynne Robinson once said, “Writing through your problems is much more powerful than thinking through them.” A well-written and comprehensive brief for an awards ceremony will help you create the full journey and ensure that your action plan is carried out.
What is an event brief?
The document that provides a full overview of your awards ceremony can be called an event brief. Basically, it’s where you answer all the key questions and address potential needs, from event objectives to post-event engagement planning.
Not only is an awards ceremony brief important in terms of your personal progress tracking but it’s also a great instrument for maintaining team synergy. Here’s how you can make a good brief work for your event team:
- Set up your work plan at least six months before an event. (If it’s a large-scale ceremony, start working on your brief no later than six to nine months before the event.)
- In the first stage, it’s enough to create a list of the key goals and ideas on how these goals can be achieved.
- Send the brief to your team members five to six months before the event, and encourage them to choose the roles and responsibilities they’d like to embrace.
- Conduct a team meeting to discuss the tasks in more detail three to four months before an event. At this stage, you should give people one last chance to opt in or out, based on whether they can handle specific tasks or not.
- Assign responsibilities, and make the final changes to your awards ceremony brief.
How to write a brief for an awards ceremony: basic structure
The anatomy of your awards ceremony brief will differ depending on the type and format of your event. Obviously, if it’s an online contest, it will take you a few hours of planning versus months of preparation for an in-house gala ceremony. While you’ll definitely have many variables to accommodate, we’ve created the basic structure that can serve as your cornerstone. For this event brief template, we chose the structure of questions to help you build a well-paced decision-making model:
- Event name
- Target audience
- Who are your guests?
- Have they already attended your awards ceremonies before?
- Is your target audience limited to a specific industry or niche?
- Do your guests have any special needs?
- How many guests/speakers/participants will be at the event?
- Objectives
- Why are you organising the awards ceremony?
- What’s the end goal of running the event (staff recognition, picking an industry leader, annual recognition, etc.)?
- What are the benefits of running a ceremony for your organisation?
- Terms
- Have you developed a clear set of contest rules/entry requirements for participants?
- Are there specific criteria by which a winner/winners will be selected?
- Does your event ensure compliance with legal requirements and conditions?
- Event details
- When should your awards ceremony start, and when should it end?
- Do you have a detailed timeline for the ceremony?
- Where’s the event location?
- Will it be easy for your guests to get around the area?
- Do you have the contact details of venue hosts?
- Do your team members/participants/guests/speakers have a comprehensive schedule?
- Is there a good mechanism for responding to guests’ questions in real time?
- Key message
- What’s the key message you’d like to share with your audience through an awards ceremony?
- What channels are the best for communicating your message?
- How do you expect people to interact with your message?
- If you want to promote your awards ceremony, do you have a detailed plan for marketing activities?
- Do you have the resources to communicate the event agenda, RSVP details, and participation requirements?
- Is there a dedicated platform for interacting with nominees/contest participants?
- Budget
- What is your budget estimate?
- Can you ensure that you will budget 5–10% over the anticipated expenses?
- Do you have any capabilities for increasing your budget through sponsorships?
- Can you plan for emergency funds?
Tips for creating a brief
Dictated by a specific occasion, an awards ceremony brief should be a logical, task-targeted overview of your event. Writing a brief for an awards ceremony is a responsible step as it shapes your event planning and sets specific expectations for every involved party. We’ve curated a short list of tips that will help you make it work:
- People come first. Decide on your target audience before writing an awards ceremony brief. This is the fundamental rule that most event professionals seem to understand. Still, the concept of “understanding a target audience” is a very broad one. If you run a recognition program in the field of fintech, for example, it’s not enough to invite everyone who works in the industry. Do more extensive research, exploring demographics, professional interests, involvement in crypto programs, or any other aspects that you consider important. This will help you target your audience more effectively.
- Engage non-winners. A common mistake in awards event organisation is putting the entire spotlight on winners. Since 80% of the guests at any awards ceremony are usually observers, catering to their interests is essential. Start your planning with the activities that non-winners can engage in during the event.
- Make your event brief a recruitment tool. A comprehensive overview of event activities and goals can be extremely helpful in terms of assigning responsibilities. Use the power of your brief to choose leaders who will take charge of awards event activities.
Conclusion
Strong planning is the first step to excellent execution. Effective samples of briefs for awards ceremonies are the best learning materials for those who want to excel in event planning. Whether you want to recognise your team for exceptional performance or put the spotlight on industry leaders, a detailed brief made with awards planning solution will help simplify the process.