What’s involved when organising events
If you have ever organised a conference, summit or major meeting - whether it is online or in-person - you know that it takes a lot of hard work before, during, and afterwards.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown this applies as much - if not more - to shorter online meetings, as longer in-person and onsite events.
There are all sorts of things to consider;
Goals:
The purpose of the event, and main objectives
Whether it’s a one-off, or part of a series
And then there are the things you have to do beforehand;
Agenda:
Set the formal theme
Identify topics, presenters and their parts in the event
Liaise with co-organisers and sponsors, and incorporate their skills and objectives as appropriate
Marketing and communication: Defining key messages, creating the content and then sharing it
Manage and facilitate the event
When to do it
Consider the timing, such as:
Season: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter
Month, week, and day: Is a Monday better or worse than a Friday - what are the pros and cons of different days of the week?
Is an early in the day better or worse?
Domestic or Global: Consider local time across timezones
Does your preferred date clash with any other events you or your delegates will be committed to
Duration: How long to allow for the event - how long is it reasonable to expect people to remain focused - and whether and when to have breaks
Attendees / participants / delegates
Is the event public, private, internal, or mixed?
What size audience are you aiming for
Registration - where / how will attendees sign up
Communications
Is there a common language - if not, do you need interpreters, or a technology solution
Marketing and awareness, including email campaigns, social media & #hashtag
If you have third party partners - agree way(s) of keeping in touch with each other and others
Technology
Hosting platform: Zoom, Teams, Skype for Business, bespoke etc
Video and audio (quality, reliability etc)
The tech (computers, phones, comms) that presenters and participants have access to
Back channel for the organising team and presenters (WhatsApp, Slack etc)
Planning for problems
What to do if problems occur e.g.
Technology failure
No shows
Spammers
There is a lot to do in the big yellow box in the Drawnalism below.
And there’s more.
Session formats:
To what extent is the event participatory?
is it highly interactive, or instructional for the attendees?
Accessibility - how to accommodate different access requirements
Etiquette - Do’s and Don’ts / Code of Practice
Presenters, panellists, facilitators
Who to approach, and how to contact them
Diversity - the era of all white, middle-aged male panels is over
Biographies, titles, and contact details
Do they have any audio / visual or other requirements
Common use of branding & templates
Pre-event introductions, testing and / or rehearsal
Funding
What’s the budget
Are you charging for tickets
Fees for speakers, equipment etc
Are there going to be sponsors
Put it all together
And what have you got?
A lot.
In the next post we will explore some of these points in more detail.