Planning an event? If you are, you'll need to have a way of tracking what needs to be done every step of the way. And what better way to do this than with a tool that most people already have on their computer: Excel.

Excel not only provides extensive calculation and charting capabilities for visualizing and manipulating data, it allows you to store lists of information, such as mailing lists or inventories.

By creating an Excel spreadsheet you can have at your fingertips a ready-made list of what steps need to be completed by when, in addition to having a method of calculating associated costs in order to keep your project on budget. And once you create your spreadsheet, you have a tool that you can use over and over again for future projects.

Where Do I Begin?

Before your fingers ever hit the keyboard, start by creating a list of important items you will need to consider for your event. Here is a sample:

• Location
• Catering
• Music
• Entertainment
• Guest speakers
• Advertising
• Decorations

You will probably have additional categories specific to your particular event; however, these seven will get you started. Once you have completely identified all the categories you will need to consider, you will then need to plan what steps you need to take to get your event going.

What Are My Next Steps?

As you think about what it will actually take to move the planning of your event along, ccooonsider major actions that need to be taken or decisions that need to be made and tracked in order to meet your event deadlines.

Remember to not only think about what needs to be done, but by when. You might want to work backwards from the date of your event to figure out the key stages of your plan.

In addition, consider what steps actually need to be tracked. For instance, while you might not use the spreadsheet to track all the calls you've made to different potential locations (although you should keep this information in your file folder), you will want to track locations under consideration, your visit dates, due dates for when a decision has to be made, and other important information for those sites.

How you actually set up your spreadsheet is up to you; however, it might be easiest to list your categories in the first column along with the actions you need to take. Here's just the first snapshot of what your spreadsheet might look like:

The more you use it the more you'll find what works best for you. In the meantime, you have the information you need to know at your fingertips.

For a complete and thorough list of items to include in your planning, check out the Professional Convention Management Association's check list.