A Step-by-Step Guide to Event Planning

Each event is different. It would be impossible for us to give you an all-encompassing list of things to consider when planning an event, but we hope the following will at least give you a place to begin. Work with your club to answer these questions and any others that your specific event raises.

Key Elements

Before The Event:

• Brainstorm the event in a group setting. Be sure to consider your audience, budget and timeline. What are your goals for the event?
• Give every person at the brainstorm a voice and make sure to consider every idea and resource available. The best ones are not necessarily the most obvious.
• Make sure everyone knows his/her responsibilities and when these need to be accomplished.
• Before the event, get together as a group to discuss the topic of the event. Make sure everyone in the group can talk about the issue and make sure they can answer questions.

Planning for the Event:

Event location

• What is the cost?
• Is parking available?
• How early do you need to arrive to set up?
• Will you offer refreshments? Do you have to use school catering? Who is responsible for arranging this?
• Will you be responsible for cleaning up after the event?
• Will guests be required to sign in? Getting names and e-mail addresses from guests is a great way to build up the network of your club. These people can be put on your e-mail contact list.

Request materials and/or speakers and make necessary arrangements

• Who is the contact for the speaker? It’s important to give the speaker directions and to tell the speaker if there’s an honorarium, how long to speak, and what topics to cover.
• What topic(s) will be discussed?
• Who will introduce the speaker(s) and talk about the chapter? Also, who will lead the event and question/answer session? Who will end the event, thanking people for coming and asking them to fill out evaluation forms?
• What materials will you distribute to guests? Who will make copies or request them from the NYCLU office?
• What sound, light, or presentation equipment is necessary? Where will you get it?
• Who is sending a thank you to the speaker(s) after the event?

Publicity

• Will you distribute a press release? Who’s responsible for writing and distributing it?
• Are you taking pictures for your club scrapbook or website?
• Is someone hanging fliers across campus?
• Is someone using campus funds to place an advertisement in the newspaper?
• Can you decorate the window at your campus bookstore with the theme of your topic(s)?
• Would it be advantageous to have the event on community bulletin boards?
• Can you ask professors for help? Professors can be valuable resources if you need to directly reach a targeted group of students. The information you provide to professors should directly relate to the professor’s area of study.
• Can you hang a banner somewhere on campus?
• Who will place the event on your campus web calendar and send information to the NYCLU office for its web calendar?
• Does your school have a public access television station that runs a calendar of events? Who is responsible for placing event information on this station?

After the Event:

Communication/Evaluation

• After the event, use evaluation sheets that guests complete to see if they enjoyed attending. Also, as a group, evaluate what worked well, what didn’t and what to do differently in the future.
• Send a report about the event to the NYCLU office. Include details and any publicity materials, photos, or anything else relevant to the event. Remember, we can write about your event on our website as a way of celebrating your accomplishments and to inspire other campus chapters.
• Lastly and most importantly, CELEBRATE your success. We recommend ice cream, but both cake and cookies work well too.

 

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