Book
An Event Operations Guide
A field guide to how major events are actually planned, built and operated.
Built from the field
Not a memoir. A working event-operations guide.
Operationally Speaking™ covers the systems that have to work together when temporary event plans meet real venues, real crowds, real vendors, real deadlines and real consequences.
End-to-end coverage of real event execution—from site review and mapping to teardown and post-event insights.
Security, law enforcement, communications, ADA compliance, traffic, vendors, media, concessions, staffing, volunteers, and more—each treated as its own critical system.
Authored by a Director who led U.S. Open operations for over two decades, managing temporary cities at new sites every year.
Operational frameworks designed for large-scale, high-pressure environments where mistakes become national headlines.
Who it serves
Built for teaching, training and entering the field prepared.
Whether you’re teaching, training, or stepping into event operations for the first time, this book delivers real-world systems you can rely on.
University Directors
Prepare Your Students for the High-Stakes Operational Breach.
The book anchors its crisis management module around a high-profile, real-world scenario: The 16-foot inflatable union rat deployed at the U.S. Open Men’s Golf Championship. This chapter teaches operational resilience, transforming unexpected risks into critical learning moments for future sports executives.
Why This Case Study Matters to Your Curriculum:
✓ Crisis PR Integration: How an operational failure immediately became a national media story.
✓ Multi-Agency Coordination: Real-time decision-making protocols involving venue security, law enforcement, and event management.
Training Programs
Build practical event-operations training around real-world systems rather than abstract theory.
The book gives training leaders a structured way to teach how major events are actually planned, built, operated, and adjusted when assumptions change.
Why This Works for Training:
✓ Operational Frameworks: Gives participants a repeatable way to think through complex event decisions.
✓ Real-World Application: Connects training directly to field conditions, operational constraints, and changing assumptions.
✓ Practical Discussion: Creates useful exercises around planning choices, consequences, and operational judgment.
Aspiring Professionals
Your First Step into Event Operations
Learn the foundational, high-stakes knowledge trusted by industry leaders.
This book is your foundational map to understanding how major events—from mapping and logistics to crisis management—are actually run.
✓ Interview Ready
Discuss logistics, risk, and vendor management confidently.
✓ Learn from the Best
Authored by a Director who ran the US Open for 24 years.
✓ Start Executing
Direct, actionable instructions, not abstract theory.
Master Class connection
The book and the Event Planner reinforce the same operating discipline.
Visitors can buy the book separately, or choose the annual Event Planner Master Class plan and receive the Digital 4th Edition as part of the annual package.
Testimonials
What Industry Leaders Think
Staging an event takes knowhow, hands-on experience, organizational skills and fortitude. Frank Bussey mastered all of these traits, which made him the “go to” person for decades to get things done at U.S. Open Championships. If you are staging an event, learning and applying these insights will undoubtedly make it better.
Frank was instrumental in the success of 3 U.S. Opens while I was CEO of Pebble Beach. He worked closely with our team in developing the site plan and executing our strategy to perfection. We would never have achieved the success that we did without Frank’s leadership and creative thinking. This operational manual is a vital tool for anyone involved in staging and running a major sporting event. I highly recommend it.
