# A pre-show checklist for live events The checks that catch problems while they are still cheap: displays, timers, cues, comms, and the five-minute rehearsal that proves the system works. Every live-event failure was visible an hour earlier to anyone who looked in the right place. A pre-show checklist is the discipline of looking: a fixed list, walked the same way every time, so the show starts with verified facts instead of assumptions. This checklist covers the timing and cueing layer — displays, timers, warnings, and communication — with the checks in the order that catches problems while they are still cheap to fix. ## 1. Displays: every screen, verified remotely Screens fail quietly: a browser tab closed by a helpful volunteer, a display asleep, Wi-Fi dropped in the greenroom. This is the room owner's check, or an admin's — the live connections list is only sent to those two roles, so an operator's controller cannot run it. The checks: - Open the room's live connections view and read the list — every display that should be attached appears there when its viewer is connected. - Count the list against the plan: stage monitor, lobby screen, greenroom, moderator tablet. A missing screen is a finding, not a mystery. - Rename connections to match the plan if it helps you read the list, but treat the names as temporary: "Lobby screen" lasts only while that browser stays connected, and a reload returns the device to a default name. - Confirm each display device has sleep disabled and power that will last the show. - For screens inside a stream or recording, check the browser source is present in the current scene. ## 2. The running order: timers match the schedule The rundown drifts between planning and show day — a talk lengthened, a break moved. The checks: - Read every timer's name, speaker, and duration against the final schedule. - Verify the links: segments that should auto-advance are linked; anything anchored to the clock has its scheduled start set. - Check wrap-up thresholds exist on speaker segments — and that they match what the speakers were told in their briefing. - Confirm open-ended segments — Q&A, networking — are set to count up rather than to an arbitrary deadline. - Check the buffers: a few minutes of named transition time between major segments is what lets the schedule absorb a late start without the closing slot paying for it. ## 3. Cues: one live rehearsal The five-minute rehearsal proves the system end to end. Start the first timer and watch a stage display pick it up; let it cross a wrap-up threshold and confirm the appearance changes; send a test message from the controller and see it land next to the countdown. If those three behaviours work on one screen, they work on all of them — every display shows the same room. What remains is human: the person on the controller knows which timer starts the show, and the backup person knows where the controller link lives. ## 4. People: who holds which link The last checks are assignments, because links are roles here. The list: - Controller — with the person running the show, on a device with power for the duration. - Viewer — on every audience- or speaker-facing screen, fullscreen. - Agenda — with the crew and backstage, so the running order answers questions before they are asked. - Moderator — with the host who sends messages during the show. - One written note of the room's links somewhere findable, for the moment a device dies and a replacement browser needs them. ## FAQ ### When should the pre-show check start? Early enough that a failed check is fixable — for most events, sixty minutes before doors for the display walk, with the rehearsal pass inside the final thirty. ### How do I verify screens without walking the venue? The room's live connections view lists every attached device, so the room owner or an admin confirms all displays are receiving from one seat — the walk is only needed for a screen missing from the list. The list does not reach the operator role, so give this check to someone holding owner or admin access. ### What is the fastest end-to-end test of the timer system? Start a timer, cross a wrap-up threshold, send a message. Display, warning, and cue path all proven in under five minutes. ### What belongs in the backup plan? A second person with the controller link, the room's links written down, and a spare device with a browser — replacing any dead screen takes exactly one URL. **Run the check from one seat** — MaestroTimer runs in the browser: a running order of named timers, five views as five links, and a live connections list that turns the display walk into a glance. [Try MaestroTimer](https://maestrotimer.com)