Recurring calendars and multi-event programmes
How to run a shared supplier calendar
Three events use the same venue and audio-visual supplier, and each organiser has a separate email thread about dates.
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The short answer
A shared supplier calendar is one list of every supplier, every date you have asked them to hold and the status of each: enquiry, held, confirmed or released. It shows the whole portfolio's demand on a supplier in one place, so a clash is seen when the second hold is requested, not at the walk-through.
Keep it to facts you can check: dates, status, who confirmed and when. Yearly judgement about suppliers belongs in event annual supplier review.
What goes in each row
- Supplier and contact role, for example venue sales, AV project coordinator, caterer's events manager.
- Event, dates held, including setup and pack-down days.
- Status: enquiry, held, confirmed in writing, released. Add the date the status changed.
- Hold expiry: the date after which the supplier may release the date, as stated by the supplier.
- Who on your side owns the supplier relationship for that event, and who may confirm.
Statuses and what each one means
| Status | Meaning | Action needed |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiry | Availability asked, nothing promised. | Chase a reply by a set date. |
| Held | Supplier has said they will hold the date until an expiry. | Record expiry. Decide before it passes. |
| Confirmed | Written confirmation or signed agreement received. | File the document reference. Add contract milestones. |
| Released | You no longer need the date. | Tell the supplier promptly so they can offer it to others. |
How to set it up in a week
- List suppliers used by two or more events, or likely to be. Start with venue, audio-visual, registration technology and caterer.
- Add every date currently held or discussed, with the status as the supplier last stated it.
- Ask each supplier to confirm in writing the dates and status you have recorded.
- Agree who may update the calendar and when. One owner per supplier avoids two people releasing and confirming the same date.
- Review it at the same time each week while any hold is open.
Where shared calendars fail
- Holds that expire silently because nobody wrote the expiry date.
- Releasing dates in the calendar but not telling the supplier.
- A calendar kept by one person on a personal device, so nobody else can see it.
- Recording preferred dates as if they were holds. Only dates the supplier has agreed to hold count.
Worked example · Fictional example
Two events asking one venue for the same week
Fictional organisation and figures, for illustration only.
Persatuan Fiktif Pengurus Kemudahan runs a member forum and an awards evening. Each organiser separately asked the same hotel for a Thursday in the same week in late November.
The shared calendar shows both enquiries and the hold expiry the hotel stated for the forum. The secretariat decides the forum has priority, releases the awards evening date and tells the hotel the same day, and moves the awards evening to a date the hotel confirms in writing.
| Supplier | Event | Dates | Status | Hold expiry | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hotel events team | Member forum | Thu 26 Nov plus setup 25 Nov | Held | Stated by hotel: 30 Oct | Programme owner |
| Hotel events team | Awards evening | Thu 26 Nov | Released | Not applicable | Honorary secretary |
| AV supplier coordinator | Member forum | 25 to 26 Nov | Enquiry | None stated | Programme owner |
Use this yourself
Shared supplier calendar template
One row per supplier hold. Copy it into any shared sheet the team can edit and filter by supplier.
| Supplier and contact role | Event | Dates held (incl. setup and pack-down) | Status | Status date | Hold expiry (as stated by supplier) | Our owner | Next action and date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enquiry / Held / Confirmed / Released | |||||||
Handle it in-house, or bring in help?
Your team can usually handle this when
- Two or three events share a handful of suppliers.
- One person already handles supplier communication.
- Your suppliers reply promptly and in writing.
Outside planning help earns its fee when
- Different organisers are talking to the same supplier about different dates.
- Hold expiries are missed or nobody knows which hold is live.
- A recurring programme needs supplier terms and lead times compared across events.
Want one person watching supplier holds?
A recurring programme manager can keep the shared supplier calendar current, chase holds before they expire, and bring a clash to the decision owner with options. Supplier selection, contracts and spending approval stay with your organisation. The event recurring calendar capacity planner can show how the same supplier dates sit against your own people.
Questions organisers ask
Who should be allowed to edit the calendar?
Supplier owners for their own rows, and one coordinator for the whole sheet. Everyone else can view it. Too many editors leads to dates being released or confirmed twice.
Should costs go in the supplier calendar?
No. Keep it to dates, status and ownership. Costs belong in the budget, so the calendar stays quick to read.
How do I know a hold is real?
Ask the supplier to confirm in writing the dates, what is held and when the hold expires. Record the reference. A verbal hold with no expiry should be treated as an enquiry.
What if a supplier will not give hold expiry dates?
Record that none was stated, set your own check-in date and ask again in writing. Do not assume the date is safe.
Related resources
Content record: Draft. Written from the cited sources and checked by automated rules; not yet independently reviewed.