Plan a Convention from Concept to Handoff

[!CAUTION] EPS is Preview. Run this workflow first with a non-public event and keep manual rollback and publication checks.

Step 1 — Establish the charter

Open Event Planning → New planning project. Record the purpose, desired outcomes, planning start, target handoff, and timezone. Link an existing EMS event only when its identity is certain; otherwise choose Link later.

Completion check: the name identifies the event, the timezone is the one organizers schedule against, and the charter distinguishes must-have scope from ideas.

Step 2 — Establish accountability

Add departments such as Event Direction, Programme, Venue, Safety, Registration, Dealers Den, Production/IT, Logistics, Marketing, Volunteer Operations, Accessibility, and Finance/Procurement. Record each charter and assign accountable leads through the authorized membership workflow.

Completion check: every workstream has one accountable owner and an escalation path.

Step 3 — Build work and requirements

Add tasks, deliverables, milestones, and meeting actions. Give each dated item a start and due time. Add requirements with clear instructions, acceptance criteria, confidentiality, reviewer, and due date. For an EMS-related obligation, attach the requirement to the canonical tier, inclusion, add-on, or shop listing.

Use Gantt for sequence, calendar for date density, and the table as the keyboard-accessible equivalent. Export .ics for read-only calendar consumption.

Completion check: important deliverables have owners, due dates, evidence expectations, and no impossible dependency order.

Step 4 — Configure collaboration

Schedule meetings with a Discord, Telegram, generic video, phone, or physical location. Add agenda items before the meeting. Record revisioned minutes after it, keeping facilitator notes separate from published content. Convert decisions into tasks or risks when follow-up is required.

Confirm the mandatory email baseline for every accountable person. Each user may then open Account Settings → Reminder delivery accounts to link a private Telegram bot chat, verify Discord bot DM readiness, or verify and consent to their own SMS number. Enable only ready personal channels in the project’s Personal preferences. Personal linking cannot be completed by an administrator on someone else’s behalf.

Create administrator-managed project, department, meeting, group-chat, or webhook destinations only after a successful test. Keep them separate from personal DM/SMS destinations and use the least public audience that meets the operational need.

Completion check: the call location works, agenda is visible, sensitive notes are classified, mandatory email remains active, every optional personal channel is visibly ready and opted in, and a redacted test reaches only its masked intended destination.

Step 5 — Link and shape the operational event

Follow Link Planning and EMS. Review the canonical catalog in EPS. Direct edits require EMS capability; approval-controlled changes must be submitted, reviewed, and applied. Resolve version conflicts against current EMS data instead of overwriting it.

Completion check: Planning and EMS show the same IDs and values, and only applied data is visible in Rego.

Step 6 — Review risk and readiness

Score risks by probability × impact, assign an owner and response plan, and record issues or decisions explicitly. Use readiness gates for venue commitment, sales opening, programme lock, production readiness, safety readiness, attendee publication, rehearsal, and operations handoff.

Completion check: no critical risk lacks an owner; every failed criterion has a dated exception, corrective action, or stop decision.

Step 7 — Sign the handoff

At final review, freeze the accepted baseline, verify canonical EMS configuration and public publication, list open exceptions, preserve required evidence, export the calendar/manifest, and identify live-operation owners. Mark handed_off only after approvers accept the evidence.

Completion check: EMS can run without reconstructing decisions from chat, and the receiving team can locate each source record and approved exception.