Loading...
Event Planning-AprilSteps in Event Planning 1. Identify Outcomes and Purpose a. What are we accomplishing? b. How will we know if we succeed? Make specific goals. 2. Determine Audience a. Who is the target? b. Who may be interested but is not a target? c. Who are you offending by not inviting them? Is this avoidable? 3. Identify Partners a. Who do you NEED? b. Who do you want? c. Will inviting certain parties cause undue turmoil? A common misstep here is to invite a political candidate of one party but not the other. 4. Identify Leaders a. Set definite roles that do not overlap. Overlap causes confusion, and either both of you will do it, or neither of you will do it. b. Possible roles are: Project Manager, Volunteer Recruiter, Publicist, Fundraiser, Food-Bringer, Document-Printer, etc. 5. Make a Timeline a. Identify tasks that need to be done. Assign a deadline to each task. b. Identify deadlines in two ways. Give an actual date and the number of days/weeks the deadline is from the event date. This creates urgency and makes rescheduling deadlines easier if the date gets moved. 6. Make Connections a. Connect with the leaders and partners you have identified. Do this several weeks in advance for a small to medium sized event. Do this months in advance for a large event. b. Understand that not all of your identified partners and leaders will be able to help you or even attend. Someone will always be busy. 7. Childcare options a. Consider whether childcare is necessary. If it is not necessary, consider alternatives to providing it. Unnecessary childcare is often a liability. b. If childcare is necessary, consider this in determining the event location (whether they have appropriate liability coverage) and who is CPR certified and trained to handle multiple children. Just because someone is able to do childcare does not mean they are qualified to do it. 8. Determine Event Location a. Locations should be chosen based on your audience, not the partners and leaders. b. A good event location will have ample parking and be on a bus line. c. A good location is one where your target audience will feel comfortable and would not feel silly showing up if they had the meeting time or date wrong. Neutral locations such as libraries make a good choice. d. A bad meeting place is someone’s home, unless all invited parties know the individual. e. A bad meeting place will cause the attendee worry or uneasiness. This may include a city building for undocumented citizens or a church for non-religious attendees. 9. Choose a Date and Time a. Choose a date that works for your audience first, and then make sure a majority of your leaders and partners can attend that day. Understand that not everyone will be able to attend. b. STICK TO THE DATE! So-and-so cannot attend, and you think it might be better to reschedule so he/she can come. However, rescheduling gives the appearance that you are not organized and the event may not happen. Your attendees may not hear that it was rescheduled and come anyway, leaving frustrated. 10. Providing Snacks a. Food creates comfort and allows people to fidget without feeling fidgety. Consider foods that are not too loud or messy, are child- friendly if necessary, and are not restricted in most diets. b. Make sure you know who is bringing the food, napkins, utensils, drinks, and garbage bag. Make sure they are there 30 minutes early to set up. c. Consider religious dietary restrictions. A ham and cheese platter seems very nice to some and very offensive to others. 11. Transportation options a. Before you advertise, figure out how people will get there. Specifically, what bus goes by? What are close landmarks? b. Give this information to the person publicizing the event so it can go on flyers. 12. Advertise a. Flyer everywhere you can think of. Put little tear-off pieces on the flyer with the address, time, and event information so they can take it home. b. Use word of mouth. c. Identify talkers. Who lives in a large complex that could be in charge of spreading the word to their whole building? Give this person multiple flyers. d. Call your friends to come. They will make the crowd look bigger, and maybe they will even get something out of it! e. Make a call chain. Ask each person you know to tell four people. This seems very reasonable but will quickly mean a lot of contacts! 13. Measure/Evaluate Debrief a. Did we accomplish what we set out to in Step 1? If not, what went wrong? b. What will we do with the information we gained?