Event planning

When thinking about running an event, first ensure you have the following:

• Enough time to organise the essentials - people, venue and materials. This could be anything from a few weeks to a year depending on the nature of the event. Remember, the more advance warning people have of what's happening, the more chance you have of achieving a good turnout.
  

• Budget in place to cover the costs of running the event and any associated communications materials you'll need (such as leaflets, posters and information sheets).
  

• The support and agreement of those you'll be working in partnership with, such as the school, university or local authority.
  

• Planning an event is like putting together a very specific communications plan and the same principles apply.
  

• Be clear about your objectives and whether running an event is the best way to achieve them. Also, check whether there are any forthcoming events that you may be able to use to achieve your objectives rather than running your own stand-alone event.
  

• Identify your target audience(s) and the routes by which you can reach them.
  

• Consider talking to representatives of the audience to test whether there is enthusiasm for an event of this kind and how they think it might work best. Also check out current practice examples to see if other Aimhigher partnerships have run similar events that you could learn from.
  

• Think in more detail about the type of event you want to run:

    - How long should/can it be?

    - Do you need to set a minimum or maximum number of attendees?

    - What are the key elements you need to include?

    - Who should present to have the most impact with your audience?

    - Will there be workshop/breakout sessions – who will facilitate these?

    - Will there be different activities for different parts of your audience?

    - Will you need presentation equipment or props?

    - What accessibility and health & safety issues do you need to consider?

Your target audience and availability of key speakers will help inform your choice of venue, date and time but you should also remember to think about other influencing factors such as term times and religious holidays. If you are not familiar with the venue then make sure you visit it well in advance to check it is appropriate and think about layout and branding.

Make sure you organise any catering, equipment and supervisor needs well in advance and prepare branding, event materials and handouts/giveaways.

Once you have decided on your date, venue and format, it may help to put together a timeline to help you plan the event. Successful event management is all about detail so include everything you can think of and allocate clear responsibilities. Click on the link below to download an example event timeline.