Behind the Template: Perfectly Handwritten

Aug 4

Header Image: Behind the template — "I've never been interested in creating templates that simply ask you to fill in the blanks."

- Rachella Thomas

What I kept coming back to was how I could get years of experience onto the page. The little reminders that experienced event planners carry around in their heads, but rarely write down. The kind of notes you wish someone had left in the margin before you started.

So I started adding them.

Some are prompts to make you stop and think before filling in a section. Others explain what information you need to collect, what to consider, or what might become important later. And sometimes they're just little notes from me about something I've learned along the way.

The idea was never to turn every template into a lesson in event planning. I just wanted to put more of the useful stuff on the page.

What Makes It Onto the Page

This was actually harder than it sounds.

After decades of working in events, there are plenty of things I do without really thinking about them anymore. Questions I automatically ask. Details I notice when I walk into a venue. Things I know need to happen three weeks out because they'll cause problems three days out if they don't.

When you know something that well, you forget that at some point you had to learn it.

So while building Event Kit, I've had to keep pulling apart my own process and asking: what would I want someone to know here?

That's where a lot of the notes and prompts come from.

A run sheet might include a reminder about information that needs to be confirmed before event day. A site inspection document might prompt you to look at something you could easily walk straight past. A budget might include categories you hadn't thought to allow for yet.

Not every piece of advice needs a paragraph. Sometimes a few words in the right place are enough.

So while creating Event Kit, I kept pulling apart my own process and asking: what would I want someone to know here? What would I want them to feel about their work in events?

The Result

The result is that Event Kit templates aren't blank templates.

They're working documents with a little bit of my experience left behind in them.

You can delete the notes. Change the prompts. Ignore the bits you already know. They're there to help when you need them, and disappear when you don't.

And I think that's much closer to how event knowledge is actually passed on anyway. Not through enormous manuals or perfect step-by-step instructions, but through someone leaning over your shoulder and saying, “Oh, and don't forget this.”

Shop Event Kit templates here.

– Rachella

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