PULTEVENT
Running an event from one laptop: 7 jobs it does and a backup for each
A wedding in a country house, the first dance about to start. The host's laptop, the one holding the playlist, the entrance video and all the games for later, is plugged into a power strip under the host table. A four-year-old flower girl, making a run for the dance floor, catches the cable with her shoe. The strip slides, the plug comes half out, and the laptop screen flickers as it switches to battery. Nothing stops. The first dance starts on cue. The host pushes the plug back in with his foot and nobody in the room ever knows.
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That's what running an event from one laptop looks like when it's done properly: one machine doing everything, and a quiet plan for each thing that can go wrong. When the laptop holds the whole evening, that plan isn't paranoia. It's the job.
PULTEVENT puts the evening in one browser tab. The host console on the laptop runs the big screen, the music, video clips, slides, games, timing and the script. Guests join the phone games by scanning a QR code. It runs online, so the laptop needs internet all evening and so do the guests' phones for anything they play. Below are the seven jobs one laptop can take over, and the backup I keep for each.
7 jobs one laptop can run, with a backup for each
1 The big screen
Everything the room sees: the welcome splash with names and a photo, questions, games, break screens, credits.
How to run it. Tape the HDMI cable to the table leg near the laptop so a tug pulls on the tape, not the port.
A screen that goes black mid-speech is the most visible failure there is.
2 Music
The built-in DJ deck plays your tracks for arrivals, breaks, games and the late dancing.
How to run it. Keep the backup phone charged and already connected to the sound system's spare input.
Thirty seconds of silence feels like five minutes at a party.
3 Video clips
Welcome video, the couple's entrance, greetings from relatives abroad, a break loop. Each one is a button, with a loop option.
How to run it. Name every file with its order number and a word: 03-entrance, 07-grandma-message.
When you need a clip, you need it within two seconds, not after a search.
4 Slides
Speakers' slides or your own presentation, loaded as a PPTX file and played from the console.
How to run it. Ask speakers for their final slides the day before, and refuse the "small change" at the door politely.
Slides from four different laptops means four different adapters. One laptop means one.
5 Games and quizzes
Quizzes, voting, the raffle, the wheel, 3D games. Guests join from their phones by QR code.
How to run it. Have one game you can run with just a microphone, in case the venue Wi-Fi collapses.
Phone games need internet. A good host has a plan for the half hour when there isn't any.
6 Timing
The evening's running order with break screens and countdowns on the big screen.
How to run it. Print one copy of the timing and give one to the venue coordinator.
When everyone works to the same times, the kitchen and the host stop fighting.
7 The script
Your running order, names to pronounce, speech order and cues, opened and edited inside the console.
How to run it. Update the script document when the plan changes, so the version on screen is always the true one.
Everything you need to say is next to everything you need to click.
One tab, whole evening
Splash screens, music, videos, slides, games and timing in a single console.
The script lives there too
Open and edit your running order and notes inside the console, next to the controls.
A backup for every job
Power, internet, files and cables each have a plan B in the bag.
Rehearsed once, fully
One complete run-through the day before catches nearly every surprise.
The kit list
The laptop and its charger. An HDMI cable long enough for the venue, plus a spare, plus a USB-C to HDMI adapter if your laptop needs one. An audio cable from the laptop's headphone jack or a USB audio interface to the venue sound system. A power strip with a long cord. A USB stick with copies of every video, track and slide. A phone that can work as a hotspot, with its own charging cable.
Gaffer tape, the kind that comes off cleanly. A small torch. A printed copy of the running order and script. That's it. It fits in one bag, and that bag goes nowhere without you.
Power first
Never run an event on battery. Plug the charger in, put the power strip where people won't walk, and run its cord along a wall. Know where a second socket is. If the venue shares one circuit between you, the coffee urn and the band, ask before the day what happens when all three are on.
Change the laptop's settings for the evening: no sleep, no screen saver, no automatic restarts for updates. Install pending updates the day before, never on the day.
An internet plan with two routes
The laptop needs a connection all evening. Best is a cable into the venue router, if there's a port near the host table. Next is the venue Wi-Fi, ideally a staff network rather than the guest one everybody's phones are on. The backup is your phone's hotspot, tested at the venue, with enough data.
Guests' phones need internet for anything they play, on Wi-Fi or mobile data. Ask the venue how many devices the guest network handles, and whether it forces people through a sign-in page. Put the network name and password on the welcome screen.
"What happens if the internet goes?"
"The hotspot takes over, and meanwhile we do the microphone game."
Quiet screen, quiet laptop
Close everything except the browser. Turn on do-not-disturb so messages and calendar reminders don't float onto the projector. Set the display to extend, not mirror, so the host console stays on the laptop and only the stage goes to the big screen. Keep the laptop volume at maximum and control level from the sound system.
The dry run
The day before, run the whole evening in fast-forward: splash screen, one clip, one song, one slide, one quiz question, one vote, a break screen, the credits. Do it on the actual TV or projector if you can, or at least on a TV at home. Scan the QR code with your own phone to check what guests will see.
The free 3-day demo, with no card, is long enough to set up a whole evening and rehearse it. After that the full version is a one-time license, no subscription. The price is on pultevent.ru/en.
About the author
PULTEVENT was built by Ruslan Barashkin, who has hosted weddings, birthdays and office parties since 2014: over 500 events, best host of Moscow 2024 and of Saint Petersburg 2023 at the TOP 100 Awards. He made it for his own nights first. The rest is at pultevent.ru/en.
How to run a whole event from one laptop
- 1
Build the evening in the console: splash screens, videos, music, slides, games, timing and script.
- 2
Copy every video, track and slide to a USB stick and print the running order.
- 3
At the venue, plug in power first, then HDMI to the screen and audio to the sound system.
- 4
Set the display to extend, switch on do-not-disturb and disable sleep.
- 5
Connect the laptop to the internet, test your phone hotspot as a backup, and check guest Wi-Fi.
- 6
Run a quick test of each job, then keep the backup kit within arm's reach all evening.
FAQ
Can one laptop really run a whole event?
Does it work without internet?
What is the best backup for internet?
What laptop do I need?
What if the laptop itself fails?
Can I edit my script during the event?
Is it a subscription?
See also
Run brighter events — with PULTEVENT
All audience interactions, a second screen and timing in one app. Guests join by QR — internet is needed for you and for them.
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