Event Planning

Organizing a Successful Event
A small group of dedicated people in Austin Texas organized one of the most successful community events on record. They charged $100 for the event and attracted 150 paid participants and offered 50 volunteer seats. Most of the participants were teachers, childcare providers, parents and community advocates for children, not the sort of group one would expect to pay $100 for a local workshop. They grossed $15,000. After covering expenses they were able to donate approximately $12,000 to an orphanage in Bangladesh.

Here Is How They Did It
I will try to give a brief overview of the organization for our Choices for Children conference that was held in Austin, Texas in February, 2003. Before starting, I would like to give credit for any successes that this conference saw to the amazing inspiration and direction of our Teacher and the Supreme Divine Source. With that in mind, I will describe our efforts in the following areas: Organization, Advertising, Funding, Speakers, Information, Registration, Site, Food, Childcare and Participants. I hope this helps you work with others to bring Joseph Chilton Pearce’s information to people everywhere.

Sincerely,

Jenn Pellow jpellow@austin.rr.com

Organization
We organized our conference with a core group of 3 dedicated individuals, a secondary level of support from 3 people who enlisted support from a couple dozen individuals for “errands.” It was not the number of organizers that was essential, but rather the commitment to the project. The core group of organizers coordinated the efforts of our many other volunteers. At our initial organization meeting, we asked volunteers what area they have interest (or specialty) in helping. We also asked their time availability (in daily terms and in terms “busy times of the year”). It was critical to keep the ultimate goal of the conference in mind, instead of our individual egos and particular ideas. Flexibility and humor were essential elements. Effective communication was paramount. Most of the problems were centered on someone not understanding what was expected or not being clear about deadlines (i.e., knowing who was depending on them to get something done on time).

It took us approximately a year and a half to organize the conference, though most of the first year was spent finding a site and speakers. We held monthly organizational meetings for the first 6-8 months (supported by phone calls to talk about ideas), then meetings every 2 to 3 weeks for a few months, weekly meetings for the last month and a half, and daily meetings (or phone calls) for the last week or so (see the Appendix for Outline of Organization Schedule). Most of these meetings only included the “core” organizers who had brought with them status reports from their volunteers.

Advertising
Most people think mostly of flyers or advertisements when they think of advertising. We found that 80 to 90% of our participants came from a word-of-mouth invitation. In other words, the organizers who were familiar with the information spoke directly to their family, friends, colleagues, (and even patients!) and told them why the conference was going to help their life. While I will list other advertising sources, this was by far the most effective. We designed and mailed invitations to family, friends, client lists, etc. of the organizers. These invitations included a summary of the event, the schedule, cost information, a registration card, & reference to website. They were colored 8 ½ x 11” pages folded in half and mailed. We also did a flyer version (one side of one page, black & white printed on a colored sheet).

We found additional success in speaking at PTA meetings, local library story times (because parents are there!), etc. We scheduled a phone interview on a local public radio show with one of the speakers. We had several organizers send flyers home at their school (or pre-school) with a personal note written before it was copied. We had a local delivery company post flyers in appropriate locations around town. We did a limited amount (i.e., small amount of budget) of advertising in local papers, in public service segments on the radio, and in journals that advertise teacher training. We faxed or mailed a flyer to every principle in our nearby school districts; to education and psychology departments of local universities; to local churches; to local daycares; and to human service organizations. We created an email invitation that was sent around with such intensity that one of the participants reported getting it from five different people.

Funding
We minimized the costs of the event by finding sponsors for every item in our budget. We typed a letter requesting sponsorship and sent it to many, many people. Having a non-profit status is essential, for them to be able to deduct the donation from taxes. We got sponsorship from family, friends, and businesses. Some people wanted to specify what the money was spend on; others didn’t. Sponsors that committed to helping before the invitation was printed got listed as a sponsor on the invitation (free advertising!)

Many of the local businesses were willing to donate goods (especially groceries, paper goods). We experienced some hesitation with the fact that the proceeds were not staying in Austin for a local project (our proceeds benefited orphanages in Bangladesh). Stores have a huge variety of different procedures for getting donations, so it’s very important to start early. We also recommend starting early in the (calendar) year when many companies have not yet used up their entire budget that is designated for donations. Be sure to keep track of amounts of each donation for donation receipts after the event.

Speakers
The process of finding speakers and topics is very specific to the event you are scheduling, so I won’t write much about that aspect. But, I will note that the speakers represent your offering to the public. They are the spokespeople for your viewpoint and your organization. As such, they should be selected carefully. When they arrive, they should be treated with both the respect and hospitality that you would treat an honored guest.

It is important to keep your speakers updated as to the other speakers’ topics and order of presentations. Confirm the title of each speaker’s segment of the presentation as well as the title for the entire conference. Determine your speaker’s preference for lodging: some like the quiet of a hotel; some love the personal attention of someone’s home. Check on any dietary restrictions and make appropriate plans. Check on when they prefer to arrive and depart the event. Make flight reservations for them and check with them before finalizing the tickets.

Work with each speaker to come up with a packet of information to pass out at the event. Depending on what the speaker has, you may need to create this information based on their writings, past presentations and other discussions with them (see the “Information” section.) Be sure to check with each speaker about their plans to sell any books or video tapes at the conference and make the appropriate arrangements for selling the items and keeping the sales proceeds separate.)

For purposes of advertising and for the invitation, you’ll need a brief biography of each speaker and a summary of each speaker’s discussion (at varying lengths for different purposes.)

Conference Information
It is important for the information provided to be convincing (i.e., backed up by research, etc.), enticing (i.e., interesting, fun, attention keeping), and relative (i.e., applicable to problems or issues in the lives of the participant). Having hands-on activities and real-life examples are essential to being able to apply the information to real life.

We highly recommend getting accreditation for your event to be able to issue training hours to teachers and psychologists. (This is a different process in each state and may be different for each level of teacher or therapist.) Many of our participants were teachers. We gave a discount to schools that sent a large group of participants (free seat or free video).

We video and audio taped the event and sold copies to participants the day of the event and sold copies on the web prior to and after the event. Most people purchased the VHS Video of the event. Less than 20% bought the CD audio recording.

Registration
We found it very useful to offer on-line registration this year, though we did a similar conference last year and handled it all by phone. Since your window for use of the web-site is very small (about 4-6 months of total on-line time and really only about a month of “busy” use), you may be able to get the web hosting donated. We had a volunteer design the web page. It included information about the conference (like on the invitation), speakers, and our organization. Participants could pre-register and pay by Credit Card or send in a check. Ordering video/audio tapes was also an option.

As described in “Advertising” above, the invitation and flyer included a registration card that people could mail in, a phone number that they could use to register or get additional information, and a reference to the web page. The email invitation also referenced the phone number and the web page.

On the day of the event, we had a “quick check-in” for people who had pre-registered to check that they came and to give them their information packet. We also had a line for people to register the day of the event. About 10% of our attendees came that day without pre-registration. Also, about 10% of the pre-registered people did not show up. Any pre-registered participant that called in to let us know that they weren’t going to be able to make it got a video tape copy of the event if they asked for one. No refunds were given.

Site
When we were looking for a site, we were looking for a site that reflected the beauty of our organization but at a low cost. We expected approximately 300 participants. We also needed a childcare area nearby that had playground access since kids were going to be in childcare a full day. Finally, we wanted to have a kitchen on-site, but settled for a kitchen fairly near-by (10 miles away!) and brought the food in “hot and ready” for lunch. We wanted a site near downtown for easy accessibility. We were lucky to find a Waldorf School with a beautiful new auditorium that seated 300 people and who were interested in offering their site in exchange for seats to the conference. Their facility met all of our requirements, except the kitchen and being close to town. We found the accommodations there to be just perfect and the people a joy to work with.

Food
We feel that hospitality of the event reflects on the organization. Though it is an additional complexity, we decided to include lunch in the cost of the event. We planned a simple yet satisfying vegetarian meal (to accommodate that dietary restriction). We offered a morning snack (donated muffins, homemade muffins, fruit, coffee, tea, water), lunch (pasta with red sauce, salad, bread, lemonade, cookie), and a light afternoon snack (leftovers from snack plus water, coffee, tea). We also saw a benefit for participants to eat lunch with other participants and have a chance to make new acquaintances and to discuss the morning’s topics.

I could easily see charging for items at snack or lunch, if needed, though reservations might get complicated. Catering would significantly simplify things, though it would obviously increase the cost. It would also be possible to ask participants to bring a sack lunch or to grab a quick lunch at a near-by location. At minimum, we feel that it is appropriate to provide lunch for the speakers and any volunteers that are working a majority of the day at the conference.

Childcare
We got a director from a local pre-school to arrange some of her teachers as volunteers for childcare. The teachers worked the “morning shift” with kids and then came to the afternoon session. Other teachers came to the morning session and worked the afternoon shift. She had most of her staff attend at least ½ of the presentation for free. They also brought some supplies with them (blocks, cars, books, etc.) We also had a volunteer position that came to play music to the kids after lunch as a kind of “rest” time.

The children brought lunch from home. We provided snacks and drinks and some entertainment. We did not charge for childcare. We had 50 spots of childcare for kids 3 and older to the first people that pre-registered. We wish we had put “Limited amount of” before “Free Childcare” on the invitation as we had some parents call just days before the conference needing childcare that was already full. In hindsight, we might have been better off to charge a small fee ($10-15/day?) for childcare. This would have paid for the childcare supplies (snacks, games, art supplies, etc.) and given a little donation to the teachers for donating some of their precious time-off toward our cause.

We also had a side room that had a video/audio line out to a TV broadcast of the speaker where nursing mothers could bring their child, stay with the child in the side room, play and nurse as needed and still hear/see the conference. Many parents came as couples and shared the care for their child in the side room. Parents were welcome to bring a baby into the conference room if the baby was sleeping or very quiet. (At our last conference, we tried having these parents/kids in the back of the same room as the speaker. Unfortunately, at times the sweet voices of small children were a little too loud for many of the participants to hear well.)

Participants
We charged a $100 fee for participants and did not offer discounts for couples (though we might should have offered one) but did offer discounts for large groups. We had very close to 200 people attended our conference; about 150 paid seats and 50 volunteer seats. We also offered “scholarships” by creating a large list of volunteer duties that could be done in lieu of paying the registration fee. Most of these required a 2 to 4 hour commitment. For example, a person could come help us with set-up the night before for 2 ½ hours and get a free seat. It is important to ensure that they are aware that this is a serious commitment. Also be aware that about 20% of people just won’t show up to their shift, so be flexible!

We tried to stay sensitive to the needs of the whole family by limiting the conference to one day. We thought that most people and just too tired to come on a Friday evening and that Sunday morning is typically set-aside for spiritual practice. We did offer a separate topic to be discussed in the afternoon on the day after our conference (Sunday) and hosted many participants and people that could not attend the conference. This was offered in a volunteer’s home at a reduced rate ($30 for 3 hrs; potluck lunch).

Our feedback cards showed that about half of the participants would not have been able to come without the option of having on-site childcare.

Appendix 1. Outline of Organization Schedule