For event planners
An event planning timeline that works back from the big day
Conferences, weddings, launches, fundraisers and festivals all have one thing in common: the date doesn't move. Timeline Studio lays every booking, deadline and handoff out on a Gantt chart, shows what has to land first, and tells you early when something is going to squeeze the days you have left.
Why a timeline
Checklists tell you what to do. A timeline tells you when it's too late.
Most event plans start as a checklist: venue, catering, speakers, invitations, travel, signage. The trouble is that a checklist doesn't know that invitations can't go out until the venue is confirmed, or that the printer needs final artwork ten working days before the event. When one thing slips, nothing on the list warns you about the three things behind it.
A timeline does. In Timeline Studio each task is a bar with real dates, linked to the tasks that depend on it. Move the venue confirmation and the invitations, the catering numbers and the seating plan move with it. You see the knock-on effect while there is still time to do something about it.
Dependencies
Work back from a date that can't move
Put the event day on the timeline as a milestone, then add the work in front of it. Draw a dependency from “Venue confirmed” to “Send invitations” and from “Final numbers” to “Confirm catering”, and the arrows show the order things have to happen in.
Switch on the critical path and Timeline Studio outlines the chain of tasks that sets your timing. Those are the bookings to chase first. Group the plan under initiatives and epics, such as programme, venue, guests and marketing, so a large event stays readable.
- Milestones for the event day, deadlines and sign-offs
- Dependency arrows between bookings
- Critical path outlined on the chart
What-if simulation
See what a late supplier does to the rest of the plan
The keynote speaker can't confirm for another two weeks. The venue wants to move the site visit. Switch on simulation mode and try it: drag the dates, change durations and rearrange dependencies in a sandbox. Every dependent task moves with the change, and anything that no longer fits before the event is easy to spot.
Like the result? Apply it. Don't? Exit, and the real plan is exactly as you left it.
- Changes stay in the sandbox until you apply them
- Dependent tasks move with every change
- Broken dependencies are flagged before you apply
Team and volunteers
Give staff, volunteers and clients the access they need
Events are run by a mix of people: a core team, freelancers, volunteers, a client or a committee. Invite each of them by email with the role that fits. The core team edits, a client or committee can comment on any task, and volunteers can view the plan without being able to change it.
Assign a task to a member and they are notified in the app and by email. Comments with @mentions keep questions next to the task they are about, and each timeline has a chat for everyone or one person at a time, with room for a file such as a floor plan or a run sheet.
- Can edit, Can comment and View only roles
- A view-only public link when you need one
- Assignments and mentions notify by email
Workload
Stop the week before the event landing on one person
The last two weeks before an event are where small teams get overloaded. Give each task an assignee and an allocation, and the workload panel shows a lane per person with their peak load each week. Anyone booked over 100% is listed, and their tasks get a red badge on the timeline, so you can share work out before the crunch.
- An assignee and allocation on every task
- Weekly peak load for each person
- Over-100% warnings on the Gantt chart
Plan around weekends, holidays and the days your team works
Suppliers don't deliver on public holidays, and your team may not work weekends. Set a work week for the timeline, add your own days off, or add national public holidays in one click for the US, UK, Germany, France, Canada, Poland or Ukraine. Turn on “Skip days off when scheduling” and task lengths and dependency shifts count working days only, so a five-day print job doesn't quietly finish over a long weekend.
Events that run over a weekend are fine too: the work week is a setting, and you can right-click any day at daily zoom to make it a working day or a day off.
Three ways to start an event plan
- From your checklist. Paste the rows from Excel or Google Sheets, or import a CSV file. You match the columns, fix names and dates, and the timeline is created with up to 1,000 rows.
- From a short brief. Connect your own API key from Anthropic, OpenAI or Google, describe the event and pick a start date. The AI planner drafts tasks, dates, dependencies and effort ranges for you to review, and nothing is created until you confirm.
- From a blank chart. Add the event day as a milestone and build backwards, dragging each task into place.
On the day, the plan works in the browser on a phone or tablet. Afterwards, export it as an image for the wrap-up report, or as a CSV file you can import again as the starting point for next year's event.
Start your event timeline today
Put the event date in as a milestone, add what has to happen before it, and invite the people helping you run it.
Free to start, with limited usage. Works in the browser on desktop, tablet and phone.