Running the Live Event Day

For the person named on today's brief as holding the event day, their deputy, or whoever takes it over once it has started. It works for a control room or a two-person crew.

What you will be able to do

• Say which laws apply on your event day, in which nation, and whether each is in force.
• List the licences, qualifications and guidance that still apply and that this handbook does not replace.
• Compare the running order, the site plan and the brief with the site as it actually is.
• Recognise and record the moment the plan on paper stops matching the site.
• Change the order of work when a department is late, a space is not ready or a contractor cannot start.

What the chapters cover

• Taking over the day and briefing the team
• Opening the site and running the programme clock
• Spotting when the site no longer matches the plan
• Which stops you can make, and which you hand on
• Keeping a log the next person can act on
• Handing over, and closing the public day

Thirteen chapters follow the job in order, with thirteen quick-reference cards you may copy for use at your own event. Worked examples are composite illustrations, not accounts of real events.

Operational titles are for the person doing the job at one post, door, desk or location on the day. OTAS Live publishes 30 handbooks across ten areas of event work, each at Operational, Tactical and Strategic level.

UK law, nation by nation

Law as checked in September 2026, with England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland named separately.