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Hub You - How to Organise a Successful Business Event
Oh Grand and Glorious Southern Guru, I am perplexed. What ails thee, my peabrained little grasshopper? My sleep has been short, my walls have been climbed, my hair has been pulled.I must know the difference between advertising and high art. Oh Great Creator, please give me the answer.Stir no longer, little vacuous one. Art is in the eye of the beholder, and yes, advertising can be high art.But Holiest of the Holy, whilst I acknowledge there is a role for subjectivity in the appreciation of art, and that art and advertising similarly use form, colour and symbol to convey messages, and that both can be aesthetically pleasing and accessible, and that both share the goal of changing behavior and attitudes, and that both often highlight the tension between reality and ideals and can shape aesthetic tastes, does not an adequate answer to my question depend upon a precise definition of the term art?Are there not different degrees of creativity and originality? Are there not different types of art?Surely Majestic One, advertising is not "high" art, but rather popular, propagandistic art?Not so, little inchworm. Art is a function of apprehension, ergo, there is no difference between "high" and "low" art.But Mighty Aphrodite, do not ads see the world only through a blinkered lens: as products and services, as target markets and audiences? Do they not promote only consumerism and uphold only the status quo? Are not their motives restricted by budgets and deadlines, and by the necessity of pushing product?How can ads experiment with ideas for their own sake when fettered by this capitalist manacle?Do ads not craft speci
• For seminars/conferences in which your speakers are giving formal presentations, it is useful to prepare handouts for the delegates of all the presentations, as well as speaker biographies. Therefore, you will need this information beforehand from your speakers. Tell them that you need their presentation and biography at least a couple of days before the event – although you may find that you don’t receive it until the day of the event! If this is the case, ask them to bring copies with them.
• It’s also useful to have the presentation beforehand so that you can load it onto the computer you’re using, to avoid any last minute IT hitches. It also helps to prevent any surprises in the presentations!
Complying with legislation:
• Public liability insurance is required
• Public entertainment licence/gaming licence may be required for fundraising events – check with your local authority about their requirements for public events
• Risk assessment – guides are available from the Health and Safety Executive website www.hse.gov.uk/pubns
Invitations and promotion:
Once you’ve decided who you want to come to your event – what type of people – you need to work out the best way to get them to come to your event.
• Think about your event and the people that you want to attend – what is so special about it? Why should people come to your event and not someone else’s? What will they get out of attending your event? List at least three reasons – these are your unique selling points (USPs
Everyone gets stuck in a rut professionally at one time or another. Sometimes it’s just a temporary state of mind, which passes quickly and you soon find yourself back on track after a weekend off or a holiday break. But what happens when that feeling inside does not pass? You start to realize that you are unhappy more than you are happy. The job you once loved, just doesn’t excite you anymore. You get up in the morning dreading going to work and once you get there, you just can’t concentrate. You find yourself becoming what you thought you’d never would when you took that job, a 9-5 clock-watcher.Well, buckle your seatbelt. It’s time to take the Career Change Challenge and see if you need a career change boost. Take the simple quiz below and see how many apply to you.The Top 10 Signs it’s Time for a Career Change:1) You no longer feel excited about going to work.2) You find yourself daydreaming during meetings.3) You leave a bit early or sneak in a bit late.4) You aren’t as thorough as you once were when it comes to completing projects or meeting deadlines.5) You aren’t feeling challenged anymore – your workday is just a routine.6) You call in sick more often.7) You haven’t come up with a new idea or procedure in months.8) You go through the motions at work and put in minimum effort.9) You surf the Internet looking at other opportunities when you should be working.10) You make more personal calls on company time just to make the day go faster.If you saw yourself in more of these than you’d like to admit, perhaps it’s time to consider making that change and finding that passion again. It's
1. Define your aims of the event
What is the concept? Before you can start to organise your event, write down a few lines about what the event is going to be about and what you hope to achieve. It’s helpful at this stage to have a meeting with everyone involved to discuss the event. Here is a list of points to cover:
• Decide on the subject for the event
• Discuss what you hope to achieve, for example
1 .Raise the profile of your business/organisation
2. Network with some sales prospects in a relaxed environment
• When do you want to hold the event?
• Where do you want to hold it?
• Who do you want to come to the event? How many?
• How and where will you promote the event to ensure that they come along?
• Do you want outside speakers? If so, who? What will they speak about?
• What budget do you have for the event?
THINGS TO CONSIDER:
• What else is going on at the same time as your event (both within your organisation and externally) – will this have an impact on your event?
• If you are, for example, running a training session, have you identified that there is a sufficient need for that particular topic?
• If you are inviting outside speakers, always make sure that, where possible, you have a ‘reserve’ choice in case your first choice isn’t available. If you have existing contacts that is fine but make sure you know they will be competent and “on message” - if in doubt contact an agency for advice (I recommend http://www.speakers-uk.com/ for no other reason that they will always spend time with you to make sure that you have a list of the right people at the right price). Watch out for expenses clauses as they can be hidden costs which mess up your budget.
2. Planning and logistics
Nominate a lead person to:
• keep track of all the tasks for the event
1. what has been done
2. what still needs to be done
3. who needs to do it
4. when it needs to be done by
5. budget and actual expense
Create a spreadsheet detailing all the tasks for the event. This ensures that all tasks for the event are recorded in one place, so that nothing is missed or forgotten.
Hold regular progress meetings for everyone involved in the event to ensure that everyone is aware of what stage the event is at, as well as any problems that have arisen. Any further tasks arising as a result of these meetings should be assigned and logged in the planning spreadsheet. Depending on the number of people involved, you may also find it useful to take minutes of the meeting.
Here are some of the main areas you will need to consider – although it will vary depending on the nature of your event.
Timescale
• Allow plenty of time to plan and organise the event, particularly if you are inviting outside speakers as their diaries fill up quickly. A month is probably the bare minimum – more if it’s a large event with many speakers.
• Check deadlines!!
• Make sure that everything is arranged in plenty of time before the event, so that you’re not left with a last-minute panic the day before.
• If you find yourself with only a few people signed up with only 2-3 weeks to go before your event, don’t panic. This is fairly normal - we find that most people don’t sign up to our events until a week or two beforehand.
Venue and catering
• Decide on a venue for your event, bearing in mind the following factors (depending on the nature of the event, your needs will vary):
Location – is it easily accessible for your intended audience?
Size – ideally you want a venue that will fit everyone in, but not so big that you have lots of empty space
Cost – can you afford it? If your event has a charitable cause attached to it, please remember that some venues offer a discount for charities and not-for-profit organisations, so it’s worth asking
Availability – many popular venues book up months (even years) in advance, so you may need to hunt around
Facilities –do they provide catering? Do they have disabled access? Event equipment (e.g. data projector)?
Cancellation policy – if you have to cancel your event for any reason, you should check whether you’ll lose any money
• Once you’ve booked your venue, check when it needs to be paid for – then make sure it’s paid on time!
• Decide what catering you need for your event (this may be dependent on your budget). People tend to be happy if they’re well fed and watered – so make sure there’s enough food and drink for everyone, as this is one of things they’re sure to remember about your event! If you’re using an outside catering company, check if they have a delivery charge, as this can add to your costs.
Ask your attendees if they have any special dietary requirements and, where possible, try to meet their requirements. As vegetarianism is fairly common now, make sure there’s enough vegetarian food (as a rough guide, order half veggie, half non-veggie).
• Check the deadline for ordering catering – and again, make sure it’s paid on time!
Speakers
• Once you’ve decided who you would like to speak at your event, invite them. Initially, this can be a phone call to check their availability, but this should be followed up with an email/letter outlining:
1.What the event is about and when it is
2.What you want them to speak about, including a list of bullet points of issues you want them to cover
3.What time you would like them to speak (this is particularly important if it’s an all day event, as they may not be able to commit to a whole day)
4.Who else is speaking at the event
5.The intended audience for the event
6.The venue (if this has already been confirmed) • Keep your speakers up-to-date with any changes to the event, and email them a full outline/agenda for the event once it is confirmed. You may also want to send them copies of any promotional material you produce. I like to meet my key speakers a week or so before the event to tie up any loose ends.
• For seminars/conferences in which your speakers are giving formal presentations, it is useful to prepare handouts for the delegates of all the presentations, as well as speaker biographies. Therefore, you will need this information beforehand from your speakers. Tell them that you need their presentation and biography at least a couple of days before the event – although you may find that you don’t receive it until the day of the event! If this is the case, ask them to bring copies with them.
• It’s also useful to have the presentation beforehand so that you can load it onto the computer you’re using, to avoid any last minute IT hitches. It also helps to prevent any surprises in the presentations!
Complying with legislation:
• Public liability insurance is required
• Public entertainment licence/gaming licence may be required for fundraising events – check with your local authority about their requirements for public events
• Risk assessment – guides are available from the Health and Safety Executive website www.hse.gov.uk/pubns
Invitations and promotion:
Once you’ve decided who you want to come to your event – what type of people – you need to work out the best way to get them to come to your event.
• Think about your event and the people that you want to attend – what is so special about it? Why should people come to your event and not someone else’s? What will they get out of attending your event? List at least three reasons – these are your unique selling points (USPs)
Right now, two different clients want to sell their respective businesses and they want to know what they should be doing to increase its value. If you are planning on selling your business, invest time and effort upfront to increase its value. And the best time to start is right now.Here are four key activities that help to increase the selling price of your business:Build a strong brand. People buy brands, brands facilitate the selling process. The stronger your brand, the more customers you attract and the more it is worth to the buyer of your business. Try to keep away from business names that are your name. The problem is that it can be hard to disconnect businesses from individuals so it is far better to have a generic brand name.Automate. Automate. Automate. Wherever possible, automate. The slicker the process, the better the efficiency. The better the efficiency, the less the costs of unnecessary things like duplication of effort and manual process.Make it hard for your competitors. There are several things you can do to make it hard for competitors. You can hold exclusive rights or patents. Trademarks can stop others from encroaching on your turf as well as some cyber cleverness such as buying key domain names so competitors cannot use them. Own the generic phone word (or vanity number) for your industry. You can also create competitive advantage by cannibalising your own product frequently so competitors cannot keep up with you and by creating strong positioning in the market.Always keep detailed and honest records, both financial and customer. Good Accountants are one
2. Planning and logistics
Nominate a lead person to:
• keep track of all the tasks for the event
1. what has been done
2. what still needs to be done
3. who needs to do it
4. when it needs to be done by
5. budget and actual expense
Create a spreadsheet detailing all the tasks for the event. This ensures that all tasks for the event are recorded in one place, so that nothing is missed or forgotten.
Hold regular progress meetings for everyone involved in the event to ensure that everyone is aware of what stage the event is at, as well as any problems that have arisen. Any further tasks arising as a result of these meetings should be assigned and logged in the planning spreadsheet. Depending on the number of people involved, you may also find it useful to take minutes of the meeting.
Here are some of the main areas you will need to consider – although it will vary depending on the nature of your event.
Timescale
• Allow plenty of time to plan and organise the event, particularly if you are inviting outside speakers as their diaries fill up quickly. A month is probably the bare minimum – more if it’s a large event with many speakers.
• Check deadlines!!
• Make sure that everything is arranged in plenty of time before the event, so that you’re not left with a last-minute panic the day before.
• If you find yourself with only a few people signed up with only 2-3 weeks to go before your event, don’t panic. This is fairly normal - we find that most people don’t sign up to our events until a week or two beforehand.
Venue and catering
• Decide on a venue for your event, bearing in mind the following factors (depending on the nature of the event, your needs will vary):
Location – is it easily accessible for your intended audience?
Size – ideally you want a venue that will fit everyone in, but not so big that you have lots of empty space
Cost – can you afford it? If your event has a charitable cause attached to it, please remember that some venues offer a discount for charities and not-for-profit organisations, so it’s worth asking
Availability – many popular venues book up months (even years) in advance, so you may need to hunt around
Facilities –do they provide catering? Do they have disabled access? Event equipment (e.g. data projector)?
Cancellation policy – if you have to cancel your event for any reason, you should check whether you’ll lose any money
• Once you’ve booked your venue, check when it needs to be paid for – then make sure it’s paid on time!
• Decide what catering you need for your event (this may be dependent on your budget). People tend to be happy if they’re well fed and watered – so make sure there’s enough food and drink for everyone, as this is one of things they’re sure to remember about your event! If you’re using an outside catering company, check if they have a delivery charge, as this can add to your costs.
Ask your attendees if they have any special dietary requirements and, where possible, try to meet their requirements. As vegetarianism is fairly common now, make sure there’s enough vegetarian food (as a rough guide, order half veggie, half non-veggie).
• Check the deadline for ordering catering – and again, make sure it’s paid on time!
Speakers
• Once you’ve decided who you would like to speak at your event, invite them. Initially, this can be a phone call to check their availability, but this should be followed up with an email/letter outlining:
1.What the event is about and when it is
2.What you want them to speak about, including a list of bullet points of issues you want them to cover
3.What time you would like them to speak (this is particularly important if it’s an all day event, as they may not be able to commit to a whole day)
4.Who else is speaking at the event
5.The intended audience for the event
6.The venue (if this has already been confirmed) • Keep your speakers up-to-date with any changes to the event, and email them a full outline/agenda for the event once it is confirmed. You may also want to send them copies of any promotional material you produce. I like to meet my key speakers a week or so before the event to tie up any loose ends.
• For seminars/conferences in which your speakers are giving formal presentations, it is useful to prepare handouts for the delegates of all the presentations, as well as speaker biographies. Therefore, you will need this information beforehand from your speakers. Tell them that you need their presentation and biography at least a couple of days before the event – although you may find that you don’t receive it until the day of the event! If this is the case, ask them to bring copies with them.
• It’s also useful to have the presentation beforehand so that you can load it onto the computer you’re using, to avoid any last minute IT hitches. It also helps to prevent any surprises in the presentations!
Complying with legislation:
• Public liability insurance is required
• Public entertainment licence/gaming licence may be required for fundraising events – check with your local authority about their requirements for public events
• Risk assessment – guides are available from the Health and Safety Executive website www.hse.gov.uk/pubns
Invitations and promotion:
Once you’ve decided who you want to come to your event – what type of people – you need to work out the best way to get them to come to your event.
• Think about your event and the people that you want to attend – what is so special about it? Why should people come to your event and not someone else’s? What will they get out of attending your event? List at least three reasons – these are your unique selling points (USPs
Looking for the best and most reliable online currency exchange converter? If the answer is yes, then you have spotted the right page. The internet has now become an indispensable element of every business and anyone looking for any services or product simply relies on Internet. This can also be said for a person who is looking for online currency exchange converter and as a result many websites have now started offering free online currency exchange converter.This offered online currency exchange converter helps in knowing the exact amount you will be getting if you want a type of currency exchange. Prior to going for online currency exchange it is wise to know what foreign exchange is. Foreign exchange is the encashment of the currency of different country. It is also important that one is aware of the exact rates they will be getting so that there aren’t any problems in the future.Foreign exchange usually takes place in the foreign exchange market which exists in every country. This foreign exchange market is by far the biggest market in the world. This is in terms of cash value traded which also includes trading between large banks, central banks, currency speculators, multinational corporations, governments, and other financial markets and institutions.Earlier people were dependent on banks and other financial institutions whilst undergoing currency exchange. But after the emergence of the Internet, people now prefer to go for an online currency exchange converter. The biggest advantage of selecting online currency exchange converter over traidiotnal institutions is that it not only saves time but also money. Moreover, you can do that for various countri
• Check deadlines!!
• Make sure that everything is arranged in plenty of time before the event, so that you’re not left with a last-minute panic the day before.
• If you find yourself with only a few people signed up with only 2-3 weeks to go before your event, don’t panic. This is fairly normal - we find that most people don’t sign up to our events until a week or two beforehand.
Venue and catering
• Decide on a venue for your event, bearing in mind the following factors (depending on the nature of the event, your needs will vary):
Location – is it easily accessible for your intended audience?
Size – ideally you want a venue that will fit everyone in, but not so big that you have lots of empty space
Cost – can you afford it? If your event has a charitable cause attached to it, please remember that some venues offer a discount for charities and not-for-profit organisations, so it’s worth asking
Availability – many popular venues book up months (even years) in advance, so you may need to hunt around
Facilities –do they provide catering? Do they have disabled access? Event equipment (e.g. data projector)?
Cancellation policy – if you have to cancel your event for any reason, you should check whether you’ll lose any money
• Once you’ve booked your venue, check when it needs to be paid for – then make sure it’s paid on time!
• Decide what catering you need for your event (this may be dependent on your budget). People tend to be happy if they’re well fed and watered – so make sure there’s enough food and drink for everyone, as this is one of things they’re sure to remember about your event! If you’re using an outside catering company, check if they have a delivery charge, as this can add to your costs.
Ask your attendees if they have any special dietary requirements and, where possible, try to meet their requirements. As vegetarianism is fairly common now, make sure there’s enough vegetarian food (as a rough guide, order half veggie, half non-veggie).
• Check the deadline for ordering catering – and again, make sure it’s paid on time!
Speakers
• Once you’ve decided who you would like to speak at your event, invite them. Initially, this can be a phone call to check their availability, but this should be followed up with an email/letter outlining:
1.What the event is about and when it is
2.What you want them to speak about, including a list of bullet points of issues you want them to cover
3.What time you would like them to speak (this is particularly important if it’s an all day event, as they may not be able to commit to a whole day)
4.Who else is speaking at the event
5.The intended audience for the event
6.The venue (if this has already been confirmed) • Keep your speakers up-to-date with any changes to the event, and email them a full outline/agenda for the event once it is confirmed. You may also want to send them copies of any promotional material you produce. I like to meet my key speakers a week or so before the event to tie up any loose ends.
• For seminars/conferences in which your speakers are giving formal presentations, it is useful to prepare handouts for the delegates of all the presentations, as well as speaker biographies. Therefore, you will need this information beforehand from your speakers. Tell them that you need their presentation and biography at least a couple of days before the event – although you may find that you don’t receive it until the day of the event! If this is the case, ask them to bring copies with them.
• It’s also useful to have the presentation beforehand so that you can load it onto the computer you’re using, to avoid any last minute IT hitches. It also helps to prevent any surprises in the presentations!
Complying with legislation:
• Public liability insurance is required
• Public entertainment licence/gaming licence may be required for fundraising events – check with your local authority about their requirements for public events
• Risk assessment – guides are available from the Health and Safety Executive website www.hse.gov.uk/pubns
Invitations and promotion:
Once you’ve decided who you want to come to your event – what type of people – you need to work out the best way to get them to come to your event.
• Think about your event and the people that you want to attend – what is so special about it? Why should people come to your event and not someone else’s? What will they get out of attending your event? List at least three reasons – these are your unique selling points (USPs
In this lesson we will explore what the actions from groups and individuals that hinder the health and growth of institutions. In our last lesson we discussed how a healthy institution worked. We talked about the people at the edge of the institution. We talked about the constituency, which is in the next layer. We talked about the power people who are part of the constituency, but who have access to the governance. We talked about the governance and also the overt mission of the institution and the covert mission.We talked about how the governance is supposed to be in charge of both the overt and covert mission by making the covert into the overt, if they are effective . Now we can discuss what can hinder this. We will talk about the predators who exist in many non-profit and voluntary institutions and the tricks that they use. We will basically talk about four types of predators.One type is the person in the governance who feels that he knows more than anyone else, including board members, presidents, staff, anyone else, and who leverages power, against the overt mission of the organization, in order to try to change the overt healthy mission into the covert, unhealthy mission.The second type is one of the power people who do not respect the democratic process, or the desires of the constituency or governance and who leverages their power, going outside of the democratic process, to get what they want.The third type is the person who is stopping over, or who is just trying to gain more power and climb the ladder at any cost.The fourth type is the person who is at the edge. This is the person who hates any type of authority figure and
Ask your attendees if they have any special dietary requirements and, where possible, try to meet their requirements. As vegetarianism is fairly common now, make sure there’s enough vegetarian food (as a rough guide, order half veggie, half non-veggie).
• Check the deadline for ordering catering – and again, make sure it’s paid on time!
Speakers
• Once you’ve decided who you would like to speak at your event, invite them. Initially, this can be a phone call to check their availability, but this should be followed up with an email/letter outlining:
1.What the event is about and when it is
2.What you want them to speak about, including a list of bullet points of issues you want them to cover
3.What time you would like them to speak (this is particularly important if it’s an all day event, as they may not be able to commit to a whole day)
4.Who else is speaking at the event
5.The intended audience for the event
6.The venue (if this has already been confirmed) • Keep your speakers up-to-date with any changes to the event, and email them a full outline/agenda for the event once it is confirmed. You may also want to send them copies of any promotional material you produce. I like to meet my key speakers a week or so before the event to tie up any loose ends.
• For seminars/conferences in which your speakers are giving formal presentations, it is useful to prepare handouts for the delegates of all the presentations, as well as speaker biographies. Therefore, you will need this information beforehand from your speakers. Tell them that you need their presentation and biography at least a couple of days before the event – although you may find that you don’t receive it until the day of the event! If this is the case, ask them to bring copies with them.
• It’s also useful to have the presentation beforehand so that you can load it onto the computer you’re using, to avoid any last minute IT hitches. It also helps to prevent any surprises in the presentations!
Complying with legislation:
• Public liability insurance is required
• Public entertainment licence/gaming licence may be required for fundraising events – check with your local authority about their requirements for public events
• Risk assessment – guides are available from the Health and Safety Executive website www.hse.gov.uk/pubns
Invitations and promotion:
Once you’ve decided who you want to come to your event – what type of people – you need to work out the best way to get them to come to your event.
• Think about your event and the people that you want to attend – what is so special about it? Why should people come to your event and not someone else’s? What will they get out of attending your event? List at least three reasons – these are your unique selling points (USPs
The due diligence study is done by investors or lenders to be certain that your company is operating properly and efficiently. The in depth due diligence study will uncover any accounting errors and any operational problems. After completing the due diligence study, the investors or lenders must be satisfied that they are invested money in a company that conducting its business in the best possible way. The due diligence study will review the following fifteen areas:1. Corporate records:• The company’s original articles of incorporation or articles of organization• By-Laws and minutes of any Board meetings, executive committee meetings, andshareholder meetings• Stock issuance and transfer• The company’s communication with shareholders• Press clippings and press releases• Applications for and documents authorizing the company to do business in another state• Stockholder agreements, voting, proxies, and other similar documents• The company’s organization chart showing how it is structured and if there are any affiliates2. Insurance:• All insurance policies, their coverage limits, the deductibles, renewal dates, and premiumspaid or owed• Insurance claim history3. Government regulations and filings:• Reports and correspondence with any governmental authority• Licenses, permits, approvals, etc.• Bonds posted for licenses, permits, etc.• Records of any investigation, inquiry, or inspections by government• Government orders with which the company must comply4. Financing:• Documents evidencing loans, secur
• For seminars/conferences in which your speakers are giving formal presentations, it is useful to prepare handouts for the delegates of all the presentations, as well as speaker biographies. Therefore, you will need this information beforehand from your speakers. Tell them that you need their presentation and biography at least a couple of days before the event – although you may find that you don’t receive it until the day of the event! If this is the case, ask them to bring copies with them.
• It’s also useful to have the presentation beforehand so that you can load it onto the computer you’re using, to avoid any last minute IT hitches. It also helps to prevent any surprises in the presentations!
Complying with legislation:
• Public liability insurance is required
• Public entertainment licence/gaming licence may be required for fundraising events – check with your local authority about their requirements for public events
• Risk assessment – guides are available from the Health and Safety Executive website www.hse.gov.uk/pubns
Invitations and promotion:
Once you’ve decided who you want to come to your event – what type of people – you need to work out the best way to get them to come to your event.
• Think about your event and the people that you want to attend – what is so special about it? Why should people come to your event and not someone else’s? What will they get out of attending your event? List at least three reasons – these are your unique selling points (USPs) and should form the basis of any promotional material that you create for your event.
• If you have a mailing list for your target audience, send quality personalised invites to them. Be sure to include details of how to book a place or where to get further information. The invites can be sent by email or letter. Both have their pros and cons and which method you choose depends on your resources.
• If your organisation has a website, list the event on it. If other organisations working in the same field have event diaries on their website, ask them to list it on there.
• Find out if there is an e-news that is sent to people in your target audience. If so, see if you can get the event listed in it. This is a particularly good way to promote your event, as the recipients will have chosen to receive the e-news and are therefore interested in the field.
• If you plan your event far enough in advance, you can also have it listed in the events page of magazines and newsletters. Again, check what your target audience reads – and don’t forget to check the deadline!
• Depending on your budget, you can also get flyers printed for the event. It’s worth making sure that these are printed to a high quality, as this will make your organisation appear much more professional – which is particularly important if you’re trying to attract a professional audience! Again, check schedules with printers before committing yourself – there’s nothing worse than having a box full of flyers and no time to distribute them before the event.
• If you do get flyers printed, plan where you’re going to distribute them and the resources involved.
• You may want to invite the press, particularly if it’s an outdoor/family event. Write a press release regarding the event or get someone like the Press Release Writing Service to write and distribute one (www.pressreleasewritingservice.co.uk). It’s usually best to invite your local press rather than a national newspaper or magazine – people are more likely to read their local newspaper cover to cover than any other! Also, if one of the aims of your event is to raise the profile of your organisation, or get more local people involved, then some local press coverage is a great (free!) way to do this. If in doubt, use a local marketing and PR company.
• Once people have signed up to the event, confirm their booking – either by email, phone or letter. Ask them where they heard of the event, so you can evaluate what promotion methods work best.
3. The day before and on the day
Hopefully everything should have run smoothly up until now, and there are no last minute panics…
The day before
• If appropriate to the event, compile a list of all the attendees and make name badges (don’t forget the speakers!)
• If appropriate, create and compile delegate packs. What you include is up to you and depends on the nature of your event, but it could include an agenda, copies of the presentations, speaker biographies, delegate lists, feedback forms, promotional material about your organisation, upcoming events and details of further suggested reading.
• Decide who is going to do what during the day, and make sure everyone knows what their role is, where they need to be and at what time.
• Create a checklist of everything that you need to take to the event. Starting collecting it all together in one pile, and tick things off the list once they’ve been added to the pile.
• Decide who is going to be responsible for taking the materials to the venue, and who is going to take it back.
• Book a taxi to take you to venue in plenty of time to set up before the event starts.
On the day:
• All the logistics of the event have been pre-organised so you need to stick to that but obviously prepare for the unexpected (rain, delayed trains, speakers not turning up etc)
• Appoint a chair, if appropriate, to start the event (maybe the lead person who would know the speakers and audience). This can include:
welcome attendees and inform them of what will take place throughout the event:
the purpose/objectives of the event
introduce the speakers and the presentations
when Q&A session will take place
when breaks and refreshments will be provided
remind attendees to complete their feedback forms and return along with their name badges
provide practical information (facilities, cloakrooms, fire exit and assembly point)
• Make people feel welcome and remember to smile! – if problems arise remember we are all humans.
To collect data about attendees (and to know who didn't attend) have a spare person available to register people – even if that is just collecting peoples' business cards.
Follow up and evaluation:
Evaluation and follow up after the event is equally as important as the planning and organisation, and shouldn’t be forgotten.
• Thank the speakers (and volunteers) for their time – by email, phone or letter
• Provide general feedback on the event to your staff and remember to let them know if they have done a good job
• If possible (or appropriate) email the attendees – ask if they need further information, invite them for further dialogue or to sign up to mailing lists for future events
• Keep track of the feedback and importantly evaluate – revisit every 6 month
• List and take in what worked and what didn’t
• Make notes of feedback suggested by attendees
• Nothing is ever right first time, so it’s important that you take note of what didn’t work so well and make improvements in the future!
Well, I have my event to start planning so here goes...
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