Each phase closes something the next one depends on. Skip a phase and you will meet it again later, with less time and more people waiting on you.
Planning guide
Work back from
the night
A presentation night has one immovable fact: the date. Everything else is scheduled against it. Put your date in and the countdown below shows the weeks that actually matter.
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Five phases
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Downloadable checklist
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Proof before production
The countdown
Five phases, worked backwards
8 weeks out
The decisions
- Lock the date, the venue and the finish time
- Agree the award list — every recipient, then the graded awards on top
- Nominate one person to approve artwork and one to hold the recipient list
- Decide the tiers: one series for everyone, a step up for the graded awards
6 weeks out
The order
- Send the list and the award titles in one file, spelled as they will be engraved
- Confirm quantities including two or three spares
- Check the quantity break: 25+, 50+ and 100+ change the price per award
- Ask for dated timings against your presentation date
4 weeks out
The proof
- Read the digital proof line by line, out loud, against the list
- Have the nominated approver sign it off — changes are free at this point
- Confirm delivery address and who will receive the delivery
- Book the MC and confirm who presents which award
2 weeks out
The room
- Build the run sheet: order of awards, who reads what, how long each takes
- Confirm AV, the presentation table and where the trophies sit before the night
- Brief anyone reading names on pronunciation
- Check the delivery has arrived and open one box
The week of
The night
- Lay the awards out in running order, face-up, before doors open
- Keep the spares and a marker out of sight but within reach
- Photograph each recipient with their award as it is handed over
- Set aside anything not collected — do not send it home with a committee member
Who owns what
Four jobs, four people
Presentation nights go wrong at handovers, not at decisions. Name these four early and the rest of the plan holds itself together.
Role
What they hold
The rule
Award list owner
One person holds the master list. Spellings, grades, late additions.
Nothing goes to artwork without their version
Artwork approver
Reads the proof and signs it off. Usually not the list owner.
Their sign-off is the last free change
Run sheet owner
Order of awards, timings, who presents what.
Also decides what gets cut if the night runs long
Receiver
Takes the delivery, opens one box, counts the order.
On the day the delivery lands, not the night before
On a club committee two of these are usually the same person — but the list owner and the proof approver should never be.
Take it with you
The whole plan, as one document
Every item from the five phases, in order, on a page a committee can hand around. Print it, or send it to whoever is holding the list.
2 pages · A4 · TBC KB
Presentation Night Checklist
The eight, six, four and two-week phases, the four responsibilities, and the run sheet — with space to write names against each job.
The night itself
A run sheet that survives contact
Order
Smallest first
Age groups up, then the graded awards, then the award of the night. The room’s attention only goes one direction.
Timing
Ninety seconds each
Name, award, handshake, photograph. Anything longer and forty awards becomes two hours.
Photographs
As it is handed over
Not afterwards in a corner. It is the only image the recipient keeps, and it is free to get right.
The one thing to over-prepare
Pronunciation. Have whoever is reading names go through the list with someone who knows the players. Getting a name wrong on stage is the part people remember.
Good to know
Planning questions
When should we actually order?
Work back from the presentation date rather than forward from today. Tell us the date and the quote carries dated timings for your own order; stock, bulk, perpetual and custom pieces run on different clocks.
What if we are still short a few names at six weeks?
Order the pieces anyway and hold the last plates. The award bodies are the long part; a handful of plates can be cut late and fitted, which is why we suggest spares.
Who should read the proof?
Someone who was not involved in typing the list. A fresh reader catches the spelling the list owner has read past four times.
How do we handle awards nobody collects?
Set them aside on the night and arrange collection at your rooms. Awards that go home in a committee member’s boot are the ones that go missing.
Can you hold the perpetual trophies between years?
We keep the artwork and the winner history on file so every new plate matches the last, and we remind you before your next awards night.
Working back from your night since 1984
Tell us the date and the list
Dated timings on the quote, a proof before anything is engraved, and the awards on your table before the room fills.