There’s a special kind of adrenaline that hits a conference planner about two weeks before an event—the kind that makes you simultaneously reorganize your spice cabinet, rewrite your packing list, and start wondering if you confirmed the 72-inch rounds for Ballroom C. (Spoiler: you did. You confirmed it three times. You will probably confirm it again.)

This is the season when your checklist suddenly gains sentience and starts multiplying. One minute it’s a tidy one-page document titled “Pre-Conference To-Dos,” and the next it’s a color-coded, cross-referenced, borderline-novel that could qualify as your memoir. You have a checklist… for your other checklist… and a third one you don’t remember creating but is clearly in your handwriting. Welcome to peak planner mode.

Despite my many years in this industry—and the many, many checklists that have come along with it—I still catch myself lying awake at night running through mental logistics like I’m preparing for a covert CIA operation. “If Room 204 needs a project, and the speakers need water, and the AV team needs access to the freight elevator, which is on the third floor of the building that closes at 7 p.m., then I need to send an email… yesterday.”

So, in the spirit of keeping us all sane (or at least pretending we are), here are the eight essential pre-conference steps that every planner—regardless of event size, mission, or caffeine dependency—should review before going onsite.

1. Room Sets
Please, for the love of everything holy and upholstered, triple-check your room sets. There is no heartbreak quite like walking into a session room at 7 a.m. only to discover a banquet setup instead of theater. Therapy should be tax-deductible for those moments.

2. Audio-Visual (AV)
Confirm. Re-confirm. Then confirm again in writing. Then send a screenshot to your future self as evidence because you will question your own memory at some point. The trauma is real.

3. Speakers & Presenters
This is where the “Did you upload your slides?” emails come into play. And don’t forget to ask for backup copies. And backup copies of the backup copies. Because somewhere out there is a presenter who will bring slides last updated during the Bush administration.

4. Food & Beverage
Let’s be honest: most conferences are held together by caffeine and carbs. Make sure the coffee order is correct—and plentiful—because if there is one thing attendees will mutiny over, it’s empty coffee urns.

5. Exhibitors
They will show up early. They will ask for electricity they didn’t order. They will try to expand their 10×10 booth into a 10×12 booth like no one will notice. Review everything with your exhibit partner and be prepared for creative problem-solving.

6. Registration
Test the system. Check your badge counts. And print extras. Lots of extras. Badge printers have a sixth sense for knowing when the line is longest.

7. Signage
One wrong arrow can send hundreds of people into a completely different part of the building. Ask me how I know.

8. Staff Assignments
If you’ve ever watched a volunteer take their job more seriously than a Secret Service agent, you understand the importance of clear instructions. Assign tasks, create a flow, and designate someone as the “Where Is My Room?” Traffic Controller.

The truth is, pre-conference checklists aren’t glamorous. They don’t get applause or thank-you cards, and no one appreciates them unless they go missing. But they are the silent heroes of the event world—our security blankets, our guiding lights, our emotional support documents.

So print them. Color-code them. Laminate them if you must. Because when you stand in the convention center at 7 a.m. on conference day—coffee in one hand, radio in the other—you’ll be grateful for every box you checked (and the ten you added halfway through the day because somehow the chairs in Room 102 are missing).

Checklist chaos or not, you’ve got this.

– The Anonymous Planner