When planning an in-person marketing event, the first thing I do is put together an "Experience Brief."

Much like a business plan, it is my vision for how the guests at the event will experience the day.

On March 31st, I'm facilitating an event for Microsoft's partners who sell into the Federal Gov't (Reston, VA--invite here).

Before I did one thing, I put the brief together so I could understand how things would play out...and effectively communicate to my extended team. What's more, it ensured that I stayed focus on the most important part of the event...the attendee experience.

Here's the brief.

And lest you think I only do this at work...yesterday, my wife and I hosted a gathering for 250 people to celebrate the birth of our 3rd child. We followed the same protocol. Here are the results.