Free checklist

Event planning checklist for exhibitors: 12 weeks out to follow-up

A week-by-week plan for sponsoring or exhibiting at a B2B event, built around who you need to meet and when your outreach goes live.

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Use this checklist when your team sponsors or exhibits at a B2B event. It skips venue contracts and catering and covers 6 phases: decide and book, logistics and the attendee list, outreach, final week, the event days, and follow-up.

Outreach goes live 4 weeks before the event (T-4). The weeks before that date get the attendee list and the messages ready. The weeks after it turn meetings into records with owners.

event-planning-checklist.xlsx

	A	B	C	D
1	When	Task	Owner	Done
2	Decide and book (T-12 to T-9 weeks)
3	T-12	Check the attendee profile, sponsor list and past agenda against your ICP	Event lead
4	T-12	Write the pipeline target: meetings, opportunities and pipeline value	Event lead and sales lead
5	T-11	Fill in the budget and the cost per opportunity you need to hit	Event lead
6	T-11	Agree with RevOps which opportunities count as event-sourced and which as influenced	RevOps
7	T-10	Book the sponsorship or booth, and read the exhibitor manual deadlines	Event lead
8	T-9	Create the event campaign in Salesforce or HubSpot, with member statuses	RevOps
9	Logistics and the attendee list (T-8 to T-5)
10	T-8	Order booth build, furniture, power, internet and freight before the early-rate deadline	Ops

Checklist

How to use it

How to work the checklist from booking to follow-up

T-12 to T-9

Pick the event by who attends, book it, set the pipeline target and the attribution rule.

T-8 to T-5

Order logistics, source the attendee list, score it against your ICP and split it by tier.

T-4 to T-1

Outreach live at T-4, dinner invites out, meetings confirmed, team briefed.

Event and after

Daily stand-up and debrief, personal follow-up within 2 days, review at 30 days.

Free spreadsheet

Get it as a spreadsheet

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The template

The checklist, week by week

Checklist

Owners are suggestions. Put a name in every row.

Decide and book (T-12 to T-9 weeks)
When
T-12
Task
Check the attendee profile, sponsor list and past agenda against your ICP
Owner
Event lead
Done
_____
When
T-12
Task
Write the pipeline target: meetings, opportunities and pipeline value
Owner
Event lead and sales lead
Done
_____
When
T-11
Task
Fill in the budget and the cost per opportunity you need to hit
Owner
Event lead
Done
_____
When
T-11
Task
Agree with RevOps which opportunities count as event-sourced and which as influenced
Owner
RevOps
Done
_____
When
T-10
Task
Book the sponsorship or booth, and read the exhibitor manual deadlines
Owner
Event lead
Done
_____
When
T-9
Task
Create the event campaign in Salesforce or HubSpot, with member statuses
Owner
RevOps
Done
_____
Logistics and the attendee list (T-8 to T-5)
When
T-8
Task
Order booth build, furniture, power, internet and freight before the early-rate deadline
Owner
Ops
Done
_____
When
T-8
Task
Book hotel rooms and travel for everyone on site
Owner
Ops
Done
_____
When
T-7
Task
Source the attendee picture: registrants if the package includes them, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors
Owner
Marketing ops
Done
_____
When
T-6
Task
Score the list against your ICP and split it into tiers
Owner
Marketing ops
Done
_____
When
T-6
Task
Check every tier 1 account against open opportunities and customers, and assign an owner
Owner
Sales lead
Done
_____
When
T-5
Task
Write messages per persona and per tier, and the dinner invite
Owner
Marketing
Done
_____
When
T-5
Task
Book the dinner venue and order lead retrieval
Owner
Ops
Done
_____
Outreach (T-4 to T-2)
When
T-4
Task
Outreach sequences live in the sequencer the reps already use
Owner
Marketing and SDRs
Done
_____
When
T-4
Task
Dinner invites sent to tier 1 accounts and open opportunities
Owner
Host AE
Done
_____
When
T-3
Task
Meeting schedule started: room, time slots, owner per meeting
Owner
Meeting owner
Done
_____
When
T-3
Task
Draft the run of show
Owner
Event lead
Done
_____
When
T-2
Task
Second touch to non-responders, with a specific reason to meet
Owner
SDRs
Done
_____
Final week (T-1)
When
T-1
Task
Confirm every meeting by email with time and location
Owner
AEs
Done
_____
When
T-1
Task
Install the capture app and send a test record to the CRM
Owner
Ops
Done
_____
When
T-1
Task
Send the briefing: accounts by owner, meeting schedule, capture rules, run of show
Owner
Event lead
Done
_____
Event days
When
Daily
Task
Morning stand-up: today's meetings and unmet tier 1 accounts
Owner
Event lead
Done
_____
When
Daily
Task
Capture notes, owner and next step within 10 minutes of each conversation
Owner
Everyone on site
Done
_____
When
Daily
Task
Evening debrief: every capture has an owner, hot conversations routed the same day
Owner
Event lead
Done
_____
Follow-up
When
Day +1
Task
Personal follow-up to every meeting and hot conversation, sent within 2 days of the event ending
Owner
AEs
Done
_____
When
Day +2
Task
Triage the rest by fit and intent, start sequences for the warm ones
Owner
SDR lead
Done
_____
When
Day +5
Task
Debrief: results against target, what worked, keep or drop
Owner
Event lead
Done
_____
When
Day +30
Task
Count opportunities created and pipeline, update the budget sheet
Owner
RevOps
Done
_____

When	Task	Owner	Done
Decide and book (T-12 to T-9 weeks)
T-12	Check the attendee profile, sponsor list and past agenda against your ICP	Event lead	_____
T-12	Write the pipeline target: meetings, opportunities and pipeline value	Event lead and sales lead	_____
T-11	Fill in the budget and the cost per opportunity you need to hit	Event lead	_____
T-11	Agree with RevOps which opportunities count as event-sourced and which as influenced	RevOps	_____
T-10	Book the sponsorship or booth, and read the exhibitor manual deadlines	Event lead	_____
T-9	Create the event campaign in Salesforce or HubSpot, with member statuses	RevOps	_____
Logistics and the attendee list (T-8 to T-5)
T-8	Order booth build, furniture, power, internet and freight before the early-rate deadline	Ops	_____
T-8	Book hotel rooms and travel for everyone on site	Ops	_____
T-7	Source the attendee picture: registrants if the package includes them, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors	Marketing ops	_____
T-6	Score the list against your ICP and split it into tiers	Marketing ops	_____
T-6	Check every tier 1 account against open opportunities and customers, and assign an owner	Sales lead	_____
T-5	Write messages per persona and per tier, and the dinner invite	Marketing	_____
T-5	Book the dinner venue and order lead retrieval	Ops	_____
Outreach (T-4 to T-2)
T-4	Outreach sequences live in the sequencer the reps already use	Marketing and SDRs	_____
T-4	Dinner invites sent to tier 1 accounts and open opportunities	Host AE	_____
T-3	Meeting schedule started: room, time slots, owner per meeting	Meeting owner	_____
T-3	Draft the run of show	Event lead	_____
T-2	Second touch to non-responders, with a specific reason to meet	SDRs	_____
Final week (T-1)
T-1	Confirm every meeting by email with time and location	AEs	_____
T-1	Install the capture app and send a test record to the CRM	Ops	_____
T-1	Send the briefing: accounts by owner, meeting schedule, capture rules, run of show	Event lead	_____
Event days
Daily	Morning stand-up: today's meetings and unmet tier 1 accounts	Event lead	_____
Daily	Capture notes, owner and next step within 10 minutes of each conversation	Everyone on site	_____
Daily	Evening debrief: every capture has an owner, hot conversations routed the same day	Event lead	_____
Follow-up
Day +1	Personal follow-up to every meeting and hot conversation, sent within 2 days of the event ending	AEs	_____
Day +2	Triage the rest by fit and intent, start sequences for the warm ones	SDR lead	_____
Day +5	Debrief: results against target, what worked, keep or drop	Event lead	_____
Day +30	Count opportunities created and pipeline, update the budget sheet	RevOps	_____

Get more from it

Keep outreach on track for T-4

Start from the attendee list

The decision at T-12 is about who will be in the room. Booth size and location come after.

Fix T-4 in the calendar

Outreach that starts in the last 2 weeks lands next to every other sponsor's. 4 weeks gives buyers time to reply and you time for a second touch.

Agree attribution before you book

If RevOps and marketing agree on the counting rule at T-11, the 30-day review counts the same opportunities you planned for.

With Luminik, your meetings and booth conversations reach Salesforce or HubSpot with an owner and a next step, so you fill this sheet from CRM records. See how it works.

Questions about planning for a trade show

How far in advance should you plan for a trade show?

12 weeks is enough for most B2B trade shows if the booth is already booked. Larger builds and international freight need longer. The fixed point is outreach at 4 weeks out, so the attendee list has to be sourced and scored by week 5.

What should an exhibitor checklist include?

The decision and booking, the pipeline target and attribution rule, logistics before the exhibitor manual deadlines, the attendee list and ICP scoring, outreach and dinner invites, meeting confirmations, lead capture setup, daily on-site routines, personal follow-up by day 2, and a 30-day review.

When should pre-event outreach start?

4 weeks before the event. That leaves room for a second touch, and it reaches buyers before their calendars fill with other sponsors' meetings.

Keep going

What to use before and after this one

Run of show template for B2B conferences

An hour-by-hour plan for a sponsored conference: setup, meeting blocks, booth coverage, the customer dinner and the follow-up, each with an owner.

Event budget template for trade shows

Plan what a trade show or conference will cost you, track what you spent, and see cost per meeting and cost per opportunity, in cash and fully loaded.

The Event ROI Business Case

Turn the budget and the results into break-even and the one slide a CFO reads.

Event ROI calculator

Model expected closed-won revenue from your conversion rates.

See your next event's attendee list, meetings and CRM records

Bring the event you are planning. In 20 minutes we show who is attending, which accounts match your ICP, and how meetings reach Salesforce or HubSpot.

Book a 20-min walkthrough

I take every walkthrough myself. Bring the next event on your calendar.

Prasad Subrahmanya, founder