Programme and delivery tools
Event rehearsal schedule builder
Several rehearsals are being fitted into one morning, and the same few people keep appearing in more than one of them.
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The short answer
The builder lays out each rehearsal by start time and checks every pair for overlaps. A role needed in two rehearsals at the same time is flagged as a conflict when both are mandatory, and as a warning when one of them is optional. The same room in two overlapping rehearsals is flagged as a room clash.
It also lists every role that a rehearsal needs but that has not answered about attending. Those roles are never assumed to be available.
What to enter
- Rehearsal tasks: a name, a start time, a duration, the room and the roles needed, separated by commas. Tick Mandatory if the rehearsal cannot go ahead without that role.
- Roles, not people: for example MC, AV operator or Panel moderator. For each role, say whether it can attend and, if you know, the time window it is available.
- Rooms: the rehearsal rooms and, if known, when each is available. Blank times stay unknown.
How clashes are decided
Two rehearsals overlap when one starts before the other has ended. A rehearsal that ends at the minute the next one starts is not an overlap, so the tool does not judge how long a changeover needs.
Two mandatory rehearsals sharing a role are a conflict, because the role cannot be in both. If one of the two is optional, the tool shows a warning so that you decide which one the role attends. Rooms are compared by name, ignoring capital letters and extra spaces.
Unanswered attendance needs
A role is unanswered when it has no row in the roles table, or when its attendance answer is blank. A role that says it cannot attend is listed separately. Both are shown next to the rehearsals that need them.
A rehearsal that falls outside the room window or the role window you entered is also flagged. Rehearsals without a start time or a duration above zero cannot be checked and are listed as unscheduled.
Limits
The schedule shows what you entered and flags clashes for you to resolve. It never moves a rehearsal and it does not know how long any task really takes. For the day itself, continue with the event run-of-show builder, and for the programme timings use the programme duration checker.
Worked example · Fictional example
A fictional rehearsal morning
Fictional organisation and times, to show what is flagged.
A fictional association rehearses its opening on the day before its conference. The opening run-through (09:30 to 10:15) and the panel sound check (10:00 to 10:30) are both mandatory, both in the main hall, and both need the AV operator.
The tool reports one role conflict for the AV operator and one room clash for the main hall, from 10:00 to 10:15. It also lists the keynote speaker as unanswered, and flags the registration desk dry run because the registration lead said they are available only from 13:00.
| Rehearsal | Time | Flag |
|---|---|---|
| Opening sequence run-through | 09:30 to 10:15 | Role conflict and room clash |
| Panel sound check | 10:00 to 10:30 | Role conflict and room clash |
| Keynote slide timing | 10:30 to 11:00 | Attendance unanswered |
| Registration desk dry run | 10:45 to 11:15 | Outside role availability |
Use this yourself
Rehearsal schedule worksheet
List each rehearsal, then check every pair for an overlap in time, room or role.
| Rehearsal | Room | Start | End | Roles needed | Mandatory (yes or no) | Clash or open question |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roles that have not answered about attending | ||||||
| Roles that cannot attend |
Handle it in-house, or bring in help?
Your team can usually handle this when
- One room, a handful of rehearsals and a small team who can confirm their own times.
- Changes are rare and one person owns the rehearsal list.
Outside planning help earns its fee when
- Speakers, suppliers and the venue each hold part of the rehearsal times and nobody holds the whole schedule.
- Several rooms and stages are rehearsed at once and a change in one moves the others.
- Attendance answers keep arriving late and someone must chase them against the event date.
Need rehearsal times held together?
A project lead can hold the rehearsal schedule with your committee, chase the roles that have not answered and bring each clash to the person who can decide. Which rehearsal a person attends, and what each rehearsal must achieve, stay with you.
Questions organisers ask
Why is a clash with an optional rehearsal only a warning?
The role can still attend the mandatory one, so nothing is blocked. The warning asks you to decide which rehearsal the role attends.
Can I enter people's names instead of roles?
Roles work better, because a rehearsal needs a function covered. If you use names, use them the same way in every row so clashes are matched.
What happens if a role has not answered?
It is shown as unanswered next to each rehearsal that needs it. The tool never treats a blank as available.
Related resources
Content record: Draft. Written from the cited sources and checked by automated rules; not yet independently reviewed.