The Run Of Show (ROS)
Like most things in life, I’ve learned that the term “Run Of Show” means different things to different people. Abbreviated a lot to simply “ROS”, the Run Of Show typically contains everything the Technical Director and other Event Staff need to run the show. Obviously the details needed vary widely, depending on the show and who’s doing the running.
I’ve developed a Run Of Show style that I like. For me, it has everything:
- Dates and times, including tasks before and during the event.
- IDs for each segment of the ROS. This is important for communicating! You don’t say “Mary Smith’s presentation” (there might be two Mary Smith’s, or one Mary Smith who presents twice), and you don’t say “the 2pm session” (which time zone are you in? and in some cases there are simultaneous sessions). You say “ROS ID D1S12” – which translates to segment 12 on day 1)
- Names of moderators, speakers, panelists, who is going to run Q&A, any special attendees (executive assistants and advisors for C-level presenters). Anyone involved!
- Names of all media files to be played, displayed, referred to. (And the DropBox folder where they can be found. Event Staff all must have access to the media directory!)
- Task info: When to play media; who to Spotlight, when to advance session placards, and more.
You get the point.
Here’s a sample Run of Show I did for an annual meeting in 2022 a six-hour meeting. The names have been anonymized.