When it comes to events, perhaps the biggest and busiest time of the year happens around now. The lead up to Christmas.

Virtually every organisation and business decides to hold the work's do away from their premises. The problem of course is trying to find a suitable venue, time slot and speakers can be almost impossible without a lot of forward thinking and planning. But how soon do you have to think about booking?

Well it depends on quite a few factors:

• How big is your organisation?
• Will everyone go to the same place at the same time? Or is it more likely to be departmentally driven?
• How much you are willing to spend per head - or is a pay as you go? Will that impact on the people who attend?
• What venues are available in your neighbourhood and how soon do they normally get booked out? This one will take some guess work on your part, but as a rule of thumb, start ringing around - around September - but be willing to be flexible on days / dates. The bigger the event planned at christmas the earlier you should think about it.
• Can you get the speaker you want on the day the venue is avaiable or will you have to compromise on one or both?
• What kind of event are you planning on running? Obviously the more elaborate the event, the more planning there needs to be. Formal dinner dances for instance requires a very early start and would recommend at least 6 months planning and preparation time - once it has been worked out of course, you have a serious gap between the early work and the last minute details.