3. Organization of events

Subject title Organization of events

Purpose of the activity To acquaint the participants with the peculiarities and the stages of the planning and organization of an event on the basis of which they would be able to independently organize and implement the event on the chosen topic.

Duration 2–3 hours.

Location and tools Projector, large sheets, various stationery, chairs, tables.

Number of participants 10–20 participants.

Acquaintance/ team building methods At the beginning of the session, participants are invited to divide into groups of 3–4 people and share their most memorable events that they’ve had to attend. What made these events special? What did you remember the most?

Participants are also invited to share in which area they would like to organize an event themselves and what it would be about. 10–15 minutes are given for such an introductory conversation in a group.

Practical tasks Participants are divided into groups of 3–4 people, in which they plan a future event based on the six-stage event organization model provided.

Key questions for participants to answer in the team.

STAGE 1. Define what the purpose and objectives of your event are. Be sure to include quantitative indicators.

STAGE 2. What is the idea and format of the event? How long will the event last and what is its program?

STAGE 3. What speakers will you invite? Who will be the main participants of the event?

STAGE 4. Discuss the main points of preparation for the event.

STAGE 5. Plan how things will go on the day of the event.

STAGE 6. What results do you expect at the end of the event?

Participants have 45–60 minutes to complete the task.

End of session reflection methods At the end of the session, each group presents their event’s project. Members of other groups ask questions, give their advice, recommendations and comments. Each participant says what he/she has learned during the session and when performing the task.

Notes to the leader If possible, this session can be extended to help participants develop their event organization skills. When planning an event and its implementation stages, groups of participants can plan a real event which would be implemented in a youth centre or other space. In this case, additional meetings can be organized, during which the participants prepare for the implementation of the event and reflect on the achievements.

THEORETICAL INFORMATION

STAGE 1. DEFINITION OF EVENT’S PURPOSES AND TASKS

For what purpose do you plan to organize the event?

That would seem like a rather strange question. Unfortunately, however, this is a very relevant question. Many events in the world are organized simply because other companies or organizations organize similar activities, so “we need to do the same.” This is done because either it’s fun or there’s money for it.

However, such events are rarely successful.

In order to make the event happen not without reason, but to benefit the entire company, organization, or project, the event organizer must clearly state to himself/herself the purpose for which he/she intends to organize the event, as well as set the tasks for the event.

As purposes and tasks are two different concepts, it is worth finding out at the beginning how they differ.

A purpose is a much broader concept than a task. Each purpose consists of several tasks that need to be solved and thus the set goal can be achieved.

The purpose will always be directed towards longterm results. For example, the purpose of commercial organizations will usually be to promote goods and attract buyers.

For example: Open days are often organized in learning centres. These are events that demonstrate how learning is organized at the centre, what teachers are involved in the teaching process, and what courses are being organized or are planned to be organized. The main purpose of such events is to attract potential students and sell them courses, to inform about the implementation of new programs. Other goals could be the following: • to form people’s opinion about the company as experts in a certain field,

• to increase the awareness of the company’s employees and their public speaking skills. The purpose can be achieved not during one event, but during the whole series of events. Tasks, in turn, are the ways in which the purpose will be achieved after the event. They must be specific and clearly measurable.

For example: a minimum of 50 visitors, 10 new customers or goods sold after the event, 5 publications in the media.

Once again, the definition of purposes and tasks is one of the most important stages in organizing an event. If you miss or forget this stage, you might do a lot of work, but it won’t make any sense in the end.

Organizing events is a very creative job with many details. You want to organize everything so that the event is both beautiful and interesting, and at the same time luxurious, because everyone does that. However, if you match each of your actions with your purposes and tasks, you will be able to easily and quickly understand which details will be useful for your event and which will not. You will be concentrated.

STAGE 2. DEFINITION OF EVENT’S IDEA AND FORMAT

The best way to come up with a main idea for an event is to use the thinking design method that is described in Module VIII of this methodology. In this way, it is possible to implement a small study of the needs of the target group and organize an event focused on the needs of the audience. It is also important to take into account what similar companies and organizations are doing or to talk to people who have attended similar events. In this way, it is possible to take over their strong decisions and avoid (at least in part) their mistakes.

At this stage, it is important to decide what the format of the event will be: will it be an event with one speaker lasting 1–2 hours, or will it be a conference with a large number of speakers lasting several days? How many people should attend your event? When and in what space will the event take place?

There are many nuances to consider when answering these questions. For example, in the warm season, Saturdays and Sundays are considered unsuccessful days for organizing events. For events planned in the evening, the best day is considered to be Thursday, as difficult tasks have already been solved, but Friday has not yet come (by the way, Friday is a very bad day for events because people already want to relax after a hard week of work). As a result, most investors seek to organize their events on Thursdays. For this reason, other events may take place on the same day. It is also important to take this into account as the presence of alternative events can undermine your event.

When planning the start time of the event, it is important to be respectful of the needs of the attendees. When organizing an event in the evening, it is important to choose such a start time that allows participants to arrive comfortably and without haste after work or studies, but at the same time, so that they do not have to wait long for the event to start.

STAGE 3. SELECTION OF SPEAKERS AND WORK WITH THEM

Darbo su renginio pranešėjais taisyklės:

Rules for working with event speakers:

1. Keep in touch with the speaker and check his ability to speak in public. There may be cases where a potential speaker develops a good image and positions himself/herself as a person with extensive experience and knowledge, but does not show that in reality and in action. Therefore, take a personal interest in the future speaker. Invite him/her for a chat, explore him/her in reality.

2. It is important to make sure that the speaker is not only a good expert but also a reliable person. You don’t want the news to come out of a clear blue sky on the day of the event that the speaker won’t come, forgot about the event or disappeared? Such cases, unfortunately, happen often. So find out how the speaker did at other similar events and whether he/ she fulfilled his/her commitments.

3. Help the speaker prepare for his/her presentation.

You need to know what the speaker will be talking about. Yes, the speaker is without a doubt an expert in his/her field, but:

• Make sure that the subject of the report will be revealed to the extent you need, and not just examined superficially, presenting information that is already known to all. Sometimes speakers try to make their presentation easier so that what they say is understood by everyone, and as a result they talk about things that everyone is aware of naturally.

• Make sure the speaker does not share overly professional concepts and topics. Of course, this condition does not apply if the event is for professionals in their field.

• Avoid situations where all speakers will talk about more or less the same thing. Sometimes it happens that the event lasts a very long time, but all the speakers provide essentially the same information. Obviously, the impressions after such an event are not the best.

• Tell the speaker about the tasks of his/her presentation and about the target group of listeners. Ask him/her to share his/her presentation before the event and help adjust it if necessary.

4. Continue communication with the speaker after the event. Thank him/her for his/her participation, give respectful feedback, and remember that the world is ruled by networking. Therefore, continue the friendly communication with the speaker after the event as well.

STAGE 4. PREPARATION FOR THE EVENT

The most important points of the event preparation:

• Come up with a vivid title that reflects the topics that will be addressed by the speakers who will be speaking at the event

• Create an event program

• Invite speakers

• Organize speakers’ arrival, accommodation, meals (if necessary)

• Find and reserve the space where the event will take place • Assemble a team of volunteers

• Create an event publicity plan

• Create an event attendee registration form to know how many attendees will attend your event. Statistics show that about 50% of the registered attendees come to the evening events and about 30% of the registered attendees come to the morning events.

• Create a commercial offer for event partners and sponsors (if necessary)

• Start working on attracting partners and sponsors (if needed)

• Implement the publicity plan

• Write a plan for working with volunteers and create a guide for volunteers

• Send a reminder about the event 1–3 days before the event to the registered attendees

• Communicate with speakers • The day before the event, verify all the equipment, space, etc.

STAGE 5. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE EVENT

The first golden rule of the event’s coordinator is to arrive well before the event itself has to start. If the event starts in the early morning, it is important to take care of all the equipment the day before, prepare the location, place posters and roll-ups, and check that all the necessary stationery and technical equipment is available.

Welcome of participants and speakers is one of the most important stages of the event. After all, this is the first moment you make contact with your visitors and guests. Therefore, several people must be present at this stage (depending on the number of participants in the event) who will be responsible for the welcome of the guests of the event. They must mark the participants on the registration forms, tell them about the main locations of the event, cloakroom, toilet, etc. It is important to know that there is a moment when a large number of participants arrive at the same time. At such moments, it is important that there are enough people in the team who would make sure that the guests did not have to wait in line. It is also important to appoint an individual who will welcome the event’s speakers. It is better that this responsible person or people know the speakers in advance. This will make everyone feel much more comfortable.

Support the speakers during the event, help them. Designate at least one person to help resolve conflicts or technical issues that arise during the event. Watch the equipment of the event, it unfortunately has a tendency to fail at the most inopportune time. However, in such cases, stay calm. Everyone, both speakers and participants, are well aware that this sometimes happens, so in such cases, just focus on solving the problem.

STAGE 6. AFTER THE EVENT

The last stage of organizing the event, which will help to evaluate the experience and close the whole cycle of organizing the event, consists of the following tasks:

1. Gather feedback from participants 2. Send useful material from the event to the participants of the event

3. Analyse all the mistakes and achievements that occurred during the event

4. Plan how you will improve your events in the future.