Organising your own event

Ask yourself questions such as:

What is the topic and your goal?

Who do you want to reach?

What is your call of action?

How do your listeners benefit?

Possible activities:

• Classic info evening with presentations and following discussion
• Pick-nick, e.g. for families with games for smaller children
• Energy rally/quiz, e.g. for families, pupils
• Presentation in a coffee shop
• (Music) festival actions or a green student party

Look up the touchpoints for your particular target group.

What will happen at your event? E.g.:

• Presentation topics and possible guest speakers/known local stakeholders
• Workshop topics
• Game activities, quizzes
• Giveaways

Who will be there? E.g.:

• Local people you are cooperating with (for the event), e.g. if an association/a municipality hosts the event or a local bakery provides snacks (maybe for free as a public relation measure)
• Guest speakers

Consider:

• Rent costs: Maybe the municipality or an association could be a cooperation partner and let you use a room/hall of theirs. Remember to include their logo in that case, make sure a representative of theirs can participate in the event and mention your appreciation for the cooperation and hosting as part of your speech.
• Whether there will be snacks, whether participants will be eating out together (have recommendations ready), whether you should/could order catering, etc.
• Equipment: seating arrangement, IT equipment such as projector, microphone, etc.
• Room size: How many people can participate?

At this stage, decide who you want to invite as partners, guest speakers, etc. and see if they are interested and have time to participate. Have the general idea of the programme ready to explain the context to them.

Write an invitation including:

• Name of the event
• Date, time and duration
• Location/address  or access details in the case of an online event
• Description of the event
• Agenda, e.g. presentation topics, possible guest speakers, planned activities
• Deadline by which people should register
• Where/how they can register (registration link or per email)
• Contact info
• If you plan to take pictures/make videos during the event, mention this in your invitation and indicate that each participant automatically consents to pictures/videos made there being utilised for communications purposes (for example on social media). However: It is absolutely necessary to obtain written consent from young people present.

Children need to get a form signed by their parents in order for you to take pictures with them in events; so attach this form to the email/registration page with the info that you will need them upon arrival to the event

Sending out the invitation is possible per

• Email
• Social media (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, …)
• Newsletter, project website

• Make a time schedule for the elements of the event (such as the different presentations and group work) so that you can be an effective timekeeper during the event.
• What material do you need? Can everything you need reach the location on time? E.g. flyers, brochures, games, IT-related equipment (such as specific adapter cables)

Plan plenty of time to set up the location, if possible. If you have access to a secured space the day before, start then. The less time you have the more support you will need to get everything ready. Know your location well and how you want everything to be set up, especially if you need support, so that you can brief the support team beforehand.

As far as you plan to include the following points, consider these to-dos:

• Make sure the IT infrastructure works (projector, microphone, correct slide view).
• Prepare the seating arrangement (possibly with reservations).
• Set up roll-ups/decoration.
• Set up your info stands.
• If you are going to take pictures/make videos, e.g. for social media, bring extra consent forms for children, in case there are unregistered guests or someone has forgotten theirs.
• Display project flyers/relevant brochures/giveaways.
• Bring the list of registered guests so that you can check them off as they arrive and monitor who has come to the event; you could add a column for those who decide to stay involved in your project after the event.

Make sure to collect names and contact details of people for further contact.

Use part of our white label materials (PowerPoint slides, text modules) and fill in the core information about your project.

If you organise an event for a specific target group or if you look out for special types of members, make sure to highlight the most important benefits for them.

Give an appealing talk about your project, enthusing people at those events to take part in your project. Also, try to reach out to possible members, multipliers or investors at these events personally and invite them to discuss further details in a follow-up meeting.