Insights · For Event Organisers
The best money you’ll spend on your event is the hour you spend briefing your MC properly. Here’s exactly what a working host needs from you, from someone who’s stood on the receiving end of hundreds of briefs.
Two weeks out for the bones; final run sheet and names no later than three days before. Then one 15-minute call — it fixes more problems than forty emails. On the day, introduce your MC to the AV desk first: that relationship saves every event at least once.
“Here’s what went wrong last year.” It’s the single most useful sentence you can give a host. Every event has one — the overrun, the flat patch after entrée, the speech that went long. Your MC can design around all of it, but only if you say it out loud.
Briefing sorted? Meet the host: Jo as MC in Sydney, corporate days, awards nights and galas, or live Q&As.
Two decades on Australian screens, radio and mastheads — the credibility walks into the room before she does.
Placeholder section — not real quotes. The layout is built and ready; the six cards below are dummy text so the design can be reviewed. Replace with real quotes (name, job title, company, event) before this page is promoted.
“Sample quote — what the client said about the room, the timing, or how Jo handled a moment that could have gone wrong.”
“Sample quote — ideally names a specific save: the speaker who ran late, the AV that failed, the segment that needed care.”
“Sample quote — the strongest kind names a repeat booking, e.g. ‘back for the fourth year running’.”
“Sample quote — from a charity or gala client, on how the fundraising moment was handled.”
“Sample quote — from a brand or launch client, on tone and how well she represented the brand.”
“Sample quote — from a conference organiser, on preparation and how little they had to manage on the day.”
Repeat bookings carry the most weight — “back for the fourth year” outperforms any adjective.
The fee is never just the hours on stage — that’s the part everyone sees. Every booking includes:
No weddings. Corporate, media, brand and charity events are all Jo does — which means every hour of preparation goes into rooms like yours.
Bones two weeks out, final run sheet and names three days out, plus one short call in the final week. Earlier is always welcome — later than 48 hours means your host is preparing on the plane.
Their own links, yes — hosts sound best in their own voice. You supply the facts, obligations and messages; the MC turns them into something that sounds spoken rather than read.
It will — something always moves. That's largely what you're paying an experienced MC for: absorbing changes without the audience ever noticing. Just make sure changes reach the MC and the AV desk at the same time.
For awards nights and anything with complex AV or a fund-a-need moment: yes, even a short one. For a straightforward conference day, a thorough call and an early arrival usually cover it.
A few details is all it takes — you’ll hear back promptly, usually within a business day.