Event Planning Guide

Your Guidebook to Organizing a Progressive Event

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Introduction

Thank you for your interest in planning and hosting an event with Campus Progress! The Campus Progress (CP) events team connects young people with the speakers, films, and resources needed to set up engaging panel discussions, film screenings, spoken word performances, rallies, trainings, and more.

Campus Progress believes that educating people through events and inspiring them to take action can help build a stronger, more progressive community. Our events stimulate discussion about current issues and generate publicity and interest in the work of progressive groups and publications run by young people.

By engaging your community on multiple issues and offering them guidance on how to raise awareness and/or take action, we can work together on continuing to build a progressive movement.

Throughout the planning process, you should consider how your event is going to contribute to your campus, your community, your city, and the country at large.

The CP Events Team will help you with the nitty-gritty of executing successful events and will also help with funding for speaker travel and accommodation, advertising, and refreshments. In return we ask that you do all the on-the-ground work to ensure a successful event. This includes booking rooms, outreach, and staffing the event. Examples of all event planning documents can be found at the end of this guide.

Event Concept and Goals

To provide a uniform vision for the team of planners and to attract sponsors, you should create an Event Concept.

The Event Concept is a 3-4 sentence description that focuses your ideas and allows you to create a plan for executing your event.

Aspire

You should ask yourself questions like these in preparing the Event Concept and throughout the planning of the event:

What do you wish to accomplish by hosting this event?
Are you trying to create a new network of activists?
Do you hope to raise awareness and/or provide a discourse surrounding a specific issue?
Are you trying to get a piece of legislation passed or influence policy makers in your community?

Envision

Put yourself in the shoes of the typical attendee. Ask yourself these types of questions:

What type of events do you or your friends frequent?
How long do they usually last?
What things at these events keep your attention?

Plan

The event concept should communicate the “who, what, when, and where” of your event.

Who? Identify your target population. How many attendees do you expect? What is the demographic you hope to attract?

What? Describe the goals and takeaway of your event. Your goals should be SMART:

Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Time bound

Specific—Set goals in terms of how many people you want and expect to attend. How many supporters will you have (organizations, co-sponsors)? Be specific about the timing of the event; break it down minute-by-minute. Lastly, set goals for the number and types of achievements you want to take away from your event: photos, letters written by attendees, canned food collected, etc.
Measurable—List the goals and revisit them after your event. Did you meet your requirements? Measurable goals are a clear cut way to demonstrate the success of the event to your organization and outside partners.
Attainable—Ensure that your goals can be achieved in the span of time you have to plan the event.
Realistic—Be realistic about your time, workload, and the atmosphere on campus and within your coalition of co-sponsors.
Time bound—Your event should have a clear start (including planning time) and end time.

When? What time of day, month, and year will work best in accomplishing the goals of the event?

Where? Where are the possible locations for the event?

Note: Think of other organizations that can potentially increase your audience size and scope by endorsing or co-sponsoring the event. Partners can also shoulder some of the workload or price, and make it easier to juggle all aspects of the planning process. Think of possible organizations that align with your mission and goals.

Location

Location, location, location

As the saying suggests, where you host your event is crucial to its ultimate success. There are a few things you should keep in mind when thinking about a venue.

Think about acoustics. If the space is large, add audio equipment so attendees and videographers can pick up sound easily.
Room arrangement is key. Ensure that the entire audience can see presenters. Add stage risers to elevate speakers.
Accessible location. You want to make sure that your venue is in a central location and that there is clear directional signage so it is easy to find. Always be sure to consider rush-hour traffic, public transportation, or public parking when determining the time and location for your event.
Less is more. You can never be sure exactly how many people will attend, so pick a room that holds less people than you think will show up or arrange fewer chairs in the space. It’s better to have too many people in a small room than have too few people in a big room.
Ask the experts. For help with audiovisual or stage set-up, contact your theater department, activities office, or a performance group for tips.
Be environmentally friendly. Try to use a venue that offers proper recycling. Note if the venue has a great deal of natural light, which could limit the amount of electricity you use to light your space.

If you have not secured a venue, do so immediately.

Spotting a Perfect Location for your Event

Production Folder and Tic Toc

Production Folder

When planning events, it’s important to stay organized, keeping all event-related materials together in one place. Creating a Production Folder will provide this organization for you, ensuring that the event planning process runs as smoothly as possible.

A Production Folder is a frequently-updated collection of documents related to the event. It should include:

E-mails
Invoices
Contact lists
Business cards of vendors, speakers, and partners
Notes from planning meetings or phone calls
Copies of fliers and other promotional materials

Keep the most recent documents at the top of the file for easy reference.

Tic Toc

In addition to the Production Folder, a Tic Toc is essential to the execution of a successful event. It will provide you with a step-by-step, minute-by-minute break-down of the event. The Tic Toc is a detailed schedule of the event that designates who will be doing what throughout the day leading up to the event, during the event, and after the event.

When making a Tic Toc for your event, make sure to:

Keep everything in order by time and date
Assign someone to every task
Include the specific location where each task is taking place

Click here to download a sample tic toc [pdf]

Speakers

Inspire & Engage

A great speaker or performer can make an event. Campus Progress can help you bring experts, prominent professionals, and creative performers to your campuses or community. It is important to brainstorm an extensive list of potential speakers, and be flexible by choosing several top picks. Keeping an open mind when choosing a speaker is important— think outside the box.

Consider a wide range of speakers for your event. Having a panel of people coming from diverse backgrounds with different sets of experiences can broaden the scope of your event, make it more inclusive, and make it more interesting—no one wants to listen to four speakers agreeing with each other for an hour. You want to be conscious of your targeted audience and how they might perceive your speaker(s). Can the audience relate to the speaker(s)? Think about the following:

Is the speaker local or national? Having a speaker that is local can cut down on travel time and costs.
If you decide on a national speaker, try and add a local speaker to infuse the event with a local perspective.
Do the speakers represent a variety of viewpoints?

After deciding on a speaker or performer, your next step is to invite him/her to your event. Keep in mind that your invitation is the speaker’s first introduction to your event and organization. The invite must be no longer than one page (about 450 words). Language must be persuasive and show the speaker why their participation would improve the quality of the event. Remember that the speaker’s time is valuable; tell him/her why participating in the event benefits him/her. See below for an example of a speaker invite letter.

1st Paragraph: Event details (date/time/location), and why the speaker should participate:

When and where, and why—purpose of event
The anticipated audience
How the speaker will contribute to the event

2nd Paragraph: Organization sponsoring the event

Brief history
Role of organization on campus or in the community

3rd Paragraph: Thank speaker for their time in advance

Mention other organizations participating

Tips

Check, double check, and triple check the title and spelling of the speakers’ names
Ensure that your letters are free of grammatical or spelling errors
Include the proposed date, time, and location of the event. Speakers can be very busy so be as flexible as you can
Be persistent but patient. Speakers and their assistants often receive multiple requests on a daily basis
Following up on your requests, in a reasonable timeline, ensures that you remain at the top of the pile
Make a list of alternative speakers
Don’t be discouraged. You will almost always receive a few rejections

Outreach

At this point in the planning process, you should be thinking about ways to invite people to your event. You have already selected your target audience in the process of building the Event Concept. Now you must develop an Outreach Plan to ensure they come to your event. Your outreach efforts will determine the scope of the event, so devoting time and energy to outreach is essential.

Step 1: Reach out to student and community organizations

Notify the following people about your event and provide them with paper and digital copies of flyers and your media advisory. Search for organizations that might be interested in your event and then contact its leadership, public relations, and/or events staff. For maximum exposure, email them, set up appointments to talk to them in person, and get on the agenda for their weekly meetings to announce your event. Think of people outside your campus that may be interested in the event as well. Envision a population that may have interest in the event topic. Make sure you are including people from traditionally disadvantaged or overlooked communities. Be sensitive toward gender, sexual identity, ethnicity, and other identities.

Note: Secure a sign language interpreter or offer assisted listening devices for participants if needed.

Political Groups: College Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Greens, Progressives, Conservatives, etc.
Ethnic/Identity Groups: Multicultural center; Black, Latino, Asian or Muslim Student Unions; Gay/Straight Alliance, etc.
Progressive Issue Groups: Students for Choice, Campus Climate Challenge, Students Against Sweatshops, Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom, Roosevelt Institution
Student Government: Student Body President, Class Representatives/Student Senators, Director of Public Relations, Events Coordinator, Faculty Advisor 12 Campus Progress | Event Planning Guide
Fraternities and Sororities: Attend the weekly/monthly Pan-Hellenic and Inter-fraternity council meetings. You should also target professional fraternities like Pi Alpha Delta, the Pre-Law fraternity
Community Groups: Rotary, Interact, City Council, YMCA/YWCA, City Year, AmeriCorps
Miscellaneous Groups: Public Relations Society of America, Students in Media, Business Club, etc.

Note: Consider the intricacy of reaching out to different groups. Advertising your event as a “mixer” versus a “summit” can make all the difference. Tailor the language you use in your outreach for the different groups you’re targeting—without changing the event itself, of course.

Step 2: Reach out to Faculty and Administration

University Events Calendar/University Programming Board: Get your event posted on your school’s website and calendar for optimal exposure.
Departmental Offices: Email the Secretary/Office Manager/Academic Advisor an electronic flyer to forward to applicable parties and provide a paper flyer to post in the office.
Departments to look for: Film Studies, Political Science, International Relations, Sociology, Anthropology, Law & Society, Peace and Conflict Studies, History, Law, African American Studies, Asian/Pacific Islander Studies, Latin American Studies, American Culture, etc.
Faculty: Email professors of relevant courses and ask to make an announcement at the beginning of class. Bring a friend to pass out flyers. Suggest the professor make your event an extra-credit assignment or provide an incentive to encourage his/her students to attend.

Step 3: Make a Facebook Event and a Facebook Flyer

Invite everyone you know, and encourage others to invite everyone they know—and don’t forget about nearby schools!

Step 4: Do On-the-Ground Legwork

It’s essential to employ a grassroots, on-the-ground outreach strategy, because emails are too easy to ignore! Campus Progress Event Organizers can be reimbursed for up to $200 worth of publicity costs (printed flyers, Facebook flyers, banners, etc). Make sure to save your receipts so we can reimburse you.

Put up flyers all around campus and city: The best places to post are kiosks, bulletin boards, classroom buildings, dorms and community bulletin boards. Make sure to research your school’s flier-posting policies (e.g. where you are allowed to post, what kind of tape or tacks to use), or your fliers will be removed.
Quarter-sheet/postcard size flyers: Place these next to computers in computer labs, libraries, or study rooms. Target any areas where young people are looking for a distraction!
Table: Set up a table in the student union or quad and pass out quarter-sheet/postcard- size flyers for your event. You always want to ask for permission first—your 14 Campus Progress | Event Planning Guide student activities office should know who you should contact. Table by your city council offices or local shopping center. Campus Progress can provide you with key chains, t-shirts, stickers, etc. to distribute at your table.
Create table tents: Table tents are triangularly shaped pieces of paper that stand upright, with different pieces of information on each side. Place these on tables in dining halls or food courts.
Use sidewalk chalk: Draw visually appealing advertisements on the concrete. This is truly “on-the-ground” organizing! Remember to include the time, date, and location of the event so attendees can find it.

Step 5: Contact the Media

Make sure all of your materials look professional, are branded with the (Campus Progress logo) and list Campus Progress as an official co-sponsor. Note the dates and times that your local media offices are open, whether they provide free services, and how much they charge for radio announcements.

Create a media advisory: A media advisory is a short, concise document inviting media to cover an event, and notifying them of the event details and why the event is newsworthy. Media advisories are typically sent out a few days BEFORE an event. See the bottom of this guide for an example.
Distribute your media advisory along with a flyer for your event: Send copies to your school newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and TV stations, as well as to local and regional publications.
Find and keep track of journalists: Find the contact person at your local or regional newspaper who specifically writes university-related stories. If you find him or her, save his/her contact information for future use!
Campus Progress Journalism Network: Find out if there is a Campus Progress-sponsored publication at your school that could assist you with promotion. Our network is up to 60 publications, and growing every day! Read more here.

Press

Having press at your event can help raise awareness about your issue. Follow the steps below to help attract members of the press to your event.

Timing

When possible, do NOT have events on Monds (you can’t remind press about it the day before) or Fridays/weekends (many press don’t work then). Try to have your event early on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, as reporters often work to meet deadlines after 3 p.m. and may not be able to leave the office.