The Director's Workflow — Running a Live Event with CueDeck

A step-by-step look at how event directors use CueDeck to manage sessions, coordinate teams, and keep live productions on track from load-in to wrap.

The event director is the person who holds everything together. When a keynote runs long, when a speaker cancels, when AV needs five more minutes — the director makes the call.

But making good calls requires good information. And in most live events, that information is scattered across radios, spreadsheets, and WhatsApp groups.

CueDeck changes that. Here's what a director's workflow actually looks like inside the console.

Before the Event: Building the Run of Show

Directors start by creating an event in CueDeck — name, date, timezone, start and end times. Then they add sessions: each one gets a title, speaker, room assignment, type tag, and planned time slot.

The session list becomes the backbone of the production. Every operator in the building will see it, filtered by their role.

During the Event: The 8-State Machine

Every session in CueDeck moves through a state machine: PLANNED, READY, CALLING, LIVE, HOLD, OVERRUN, ENDED, CANCELLED. Directors control most of these transitions with a single click.

The most common flow is simple: mark a session as READY when the speaker arrives, CALLING when they're being brought to stage, then LIVE when the session begins. When it ends, hit END.

But real events aren't simple. Speakers run long. Breaks get cut short. A panel discussion needs to be held because a panelist is stuck in traffic.

That's where HOLD and OVERRUN come in — they signal the team without ambiguity. Everyone sees the same status, at the same time, in under 100 milliseconds.

Managing Delays

When a session runs over, the delay cascades downstream. CueDeck's delay management lets directors apply a delay in minutes — and the system automatically recalculates every downstream session's schedule.

The delay visualizer shows a red bar next to affected sessions, so the entire team can see the impact at a glance. Directors can reset individual delays or clear them all at once.

Coordinating the Team

Directors invite operators by email directly from the console. Each operator gets a role — stage, AV, interpreter, registration, or signage — and sees only what they need.

The broadcast bar at the bottom of the console lets directors send real-time messages to all connected operators. Perfect for "Doors open in 5 minutes" or "We're cutting the coffee break short."

Monitoring Everything

The right sidebar shows the active session, server clock (synced to the millisecond), and real-time connection status. Directors can see who's online and which signage displays are connected.

For high-pressure moments, the Stage Confidence Monitor provides a fullscreen overlay showing the current session, elapsed time, and next-up information — designed for display on a monitor visible from the stage.

After the Event

CueDeck's AI Report Generator creates a post-event summary covering session timing, delays, and variance from the planned schedule. Directors get a clear picture of what went well and what to improve next time.

Try It

CueDeck is built for directors who are tired of managing live events through chat groups and printed schedules. Start your free trial — no credit card required.

For a deeper look at how stage managers use CueDeck, read our Stage Manager's Guide. Or see how one production team cut their briefing time by 80%.