HOW TOorganisean event

www.solargeneration.org

1. WHY?Organising an event, however large or small, is an opportunity

for your group to meet people, especially students. As wellas the main purpose of the event (to educate, demon-

strate, suggest a project, facilitate meetings, etc), youshould bear in mind that this is the opportunity foryour association to prove itself and to get yourselves known.Essentially, it’s an opportunity to win over, not onlystudents, but also teachers, administrative staffand the media.It’s also the idea opportunity to bond the group,

share in the good times and, importantly,strengthen the team spirit!

It is essential to organise different presentations foreach stage of your project so that your demands hit

home and you can explain the results you’ve achieved.

Here are some tips for preparing properly and making your event a success.Don’t forget that your aims must guide your action. What matters is what youwant to achieve.

HOW TO ORGANISE AN EVENT

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2. RECRUIT VOLUNTEERS

While preparing the event, it isessential to form a group of volunteers.You must therefore start by assess-ing your requirements (how manypeople and roles).Organise an initial meeting, outlin-ing your project to the team and ask-ing them to take part.Once the volunteers are on board,think about making time to briefthem on its aims, give everyone anindividual role and start planning.Representatives on stands mustknow their subject inside out so thatthey can answer any questions.

Assign one person to supervise the event and co-ordinate the team. In addition to this person, several roles should be allocated:

n one person should be put in charge of administrative tasks:obtaining the necessary permits, collecting funds (see “Guide – how to secure funding”);

n another person should be put in charge of logistics: equipment, setting up and dismantling, tracking, posters, etc;

n one person should take care of communication: making posters and fliers, liaising with the media;

n finally you should appoint a spokesperson, who will be the main contact for the media (see Guide – talking to the media).

Other volunteers can organise activities in smaller groups.

Take the time to

define roles and

responsibilities

TIP draw up an organisation flowchart:

Make a note of all operations,preparations, people in charge,their responsibilities (cheques,accounts to check, people to con-tact) and essential dates. This way,everybody feels responsible.

This should be regularly updated(once a week) and everybodyshould check it (it could be sent toan e-mail list).

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3. DEFINE YOUR GOALSGoals should be aimed at a target audience and should focus on the issuesyou want to tackle. In order to achieve them, your goals must be clearlydefined. The same event should be used to motivate group members,strengthen a sense of belonging, inform your target audience, socialise andmeet people (through meals, workshops, etc), celebrate success, and putpressure on the university vice-chancellor to advance your needs.

You will have a clearer picture of the type of event you want to organiseafter you have established your goals.

4. DETERMINE THE TYPE OF EVENT

Answer the following questions: where, when,how, what, (type of visual aids?), why? Think aboutlogistics – movements, equipment, and timing.

Next, think about your goals, the target audience andthe setting for your event. For example, if your aim is tocollect signatures to support a project, set up a standor a lively interactive demonstration (with photo-mes-saging, for example). If your goal is to celebrate the factthat the president has signed a charter, organise acocktail party, or a conference.

For more ideas and inspiration, check out the “Ideas foryour events” factsheet.

Set up a meeting with the aim of promoting the event.Include contacts, the type of advertisements, fixingimportant dates, press and PR.

Flyer “Just aClic”used in morethan 50 campuses

5. PLANIdeally, you should already have an overview of the different activities that youare going to organise throughout the year (see the “Setting a calendar” sec-tion in the “Ten key points” booklet), which will allow you to anticipate theimportant organisational steps.

Next, allow at least one and a half months’ preparation for a really successfulactivity, bearing in mind that this time frame depends on the type of event.Even if organising it is very simple, you need to allow time to get permissionto use a hall or conference room, pass the word around to other students(printing posters, placing adverts in the student newspaper, regional dailynewspaper or student radio all need to be thought about in advance),find speakers (conferences, displays, stands).

Careful! Depending on the type of speaker you want toinvite, some may need to be booked six months inadvance (celebrity speakers, groups with existing commit-ments, etc).

The best solution is to plan in advance. Starting on day X, planthe necessary steps, i.e. those that need to be done the day before,two days before, a week before, etc.

Here is an example of an event:

Finally, study the timings of local, national and international demonstrationsso that you will have an impact. It is sometimes useful to link up with otherevents (Sustainable Development Week, Climate Action Day, etc.) becauseyour event will benefit from an already mobilised audience.

Similarly, give some thought to “old chestnut” ideas. Back-to-school,Christmas, the summer holiday, New Year’s Day and the January sales are alltopics that journalists have to cover every year and they’re always looking fora new angle.

When choosing the date and place, the rule is that you should never choosea day of action which is already being used by another important event (a foot-ball match, transport strike, one-off concerts, school strikes, etc), the day

To get more

ideas, look at the

“Ideas for your

events” guide

List requi-rements

Set upteam

Get permits

Prepareadverts

Put upadverts

Put upadverts

Announcein lecturehalls

Contactthe media

Send invitations

Day ofEvent

Summary

Commun-icate theoutcome

Day-40 Day-25 Day-15 Day-5 Day-2 Day Day+2

before holidays, or at the weekend (which is absolutely forbidden given thatthe campus will be empty and you’ll not be successful). Be careful too that you don’t end up competing with another activity organized by another association!

Choose the date based on how busy the place will be and the main lessonsof the day.You could make an announcement at the beginning of a lecture andbenefit from a full audience (or even, if you keep the lecture hall afterwards,have the audience already seated in the room!).

6. MEETINGSYou must meet at each stage of a project to bring everything together and del-egate tasks. Meetings should have apurpose and an agenda.

For the meeting to be useful, minutesmust be taken (delegate someone totake notes before the meeting starts).If you’re short of time, ask this personto make a list of the essential deci-sions that must be made. Answer thequestion "Who does what"?

Draw up an accurate budget for youractivity. Write down every expense(supplies, renting a stand (if neces-sary), equipment, printing posters,etc.) and add 10% for additionalexpenses (see “Budget” factsheet)

For the meeting tobe useful, you haveto make a reportafterwards

7. COMMUNICATEEstablish the message you want to convey.

Taking into account the timings for manufacturing and obtaining supportmaterial, establish communication methods that are suited to the campus in question.

Documents must be punchy and shouldattract attention. Images and text muststand out. The event name should be strik-ing so that it sticks in people’s memories –make it attractive but mysterious, or simplylucid. Visibility is an essential part of communication.

The name, symbol and logo are essentialpieces of information to help peopleremember an organisation and symboliseits activities and spirit. Don’t forget the

Solar Generation logo, which should appear on all communication documents.

Advice: making contact with the appropriate people in the early stages of theproject will familiarise you with the conditions for putting up posters.

Remember that good posters, visible communication, as well as talking to students in the lecture theatres will help your association on campus! Don’tforget to mention your Internet site, the names of those responsible, your localoffice address, etc.

Think about advertising your event using the media; by drafting a pressrelease (see “Media” guide and additional sheets).

TIP think about communicating using a “teaser” in two stages:

First wave of posters – makeit known that something isgoing to happen, to whetpeople’s appetite but withoutgiving any details

Second stage – providedetails of the event.

SOME TIPS

> Leaflets : hand out leaflets on Monday 10th for an event on Monday 17th, as well as the day before and the day itself.> Posters : they can be covered over with adverts, so

you will need ample space (allow one poster for every 100 students targeted).> Strategic positioning: phone boxes, coffee machines,libraries, corridors, behind toilet doors, student newspaper,student radio, free newspapers, town events listings, cafés,computer rooms, etc.> Ask teachers to mention events at the beginning of lectures, or do it yourselves.> Create a group e-mail address for important meetings.

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8. ASSESSMENTOrganising events will help to advance your Solar Generation project. It istherefore essential that you write a summary afterwards to see what workedand what didn’t, and to identify problems that you can learn from for next time.

Think about the following questions:

n How many students took part? How many leaflets were distributed?How many posters used? If applicable, how many signatures did you get?

n Had the students you targeted heard of Solar Generation and your project? Are they interested in helping to make the campus green?Were they receptive to this type of event?

n What were your organisational problems (timing, team issues, distributing roles, external relations)?

n What were the most commonly made comments? Did any questionscatch you out? What did this action bring to your association? What didit bring to the Solar Generation project on your campus?

n What do you want to do next?

These answers will help you to build on your project and to consolidate yourassociation. Consider sending this report to Greenpeace.

Summary:

- Identify your goal and message.

- Define your target audience – who could be interested,whose awareness should be raised?

- Choose the most suitable type of event for the two previous answers – establish how long the event should last, where andhow it should be held, how and with whom you’ll make it happen.

- Think about practicalities – permits, technical issues,support material, partners, budget, etc.

- Bring the event to life – use supporting material, prepare discussions and demonstrations, etc.

- Decide on a communication strategy so that your initiative gets heard.

- Prepare well for your event – there’s always the unexpected!

- Assess the outcome – discuss this with your new contacts and make your views known.

NOTES

TÉSTIMONY

«The Butterfly Effect Association grew out of a project to install photovoltaic solar panels on the roof of the inter-university student

building at the heart of the campus, EVE.

It was the project’sobjective that moti-vated new members:we had to communi-cate with studentseven before the proj-ect was fully defined.We had the supportof EVE, its networkof associations, pro-fessionalism, and atelephone directory!In this way, we grad-ually carved out aniche for ourselveson the campus and

in local communities. By making use of existing networks, we can cut down on agreat deal of event organisation or communication work, and benefit from the highvisibility of events that are already well known. For example, taking a stall at theFrapna international festival of nature and environmental films gave us the chanceto reach a different audience from that on campus, and to meet politicians and jour-nalists who are do not necessarily take an interest in student affairs.

After this period of making contact, we were ready to organise our own event withthe associations we have met and with whom we get on well. We benefit from theiradvice, experience and also their volunteers. In this way, we were able to organisetwo one-day environmental conferences in March 2007, based on the themes Airand Energy, which brought ten associations together in EVE.This was our flagshipproject, supported by Solar Generation, and thanks to the number of associationsinvolved, the event immediately had a high profile and was well reported in the media.

Co-operation with student and other associations is of paramount importance!This shows that the association is outward looking, is a real support in running theproject, and also gives the association a higher profile. You know everybody, theassociation, the decision-makers, the media - and everybody knows you (well,almost everybody)! »

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‘EFFET PAPILLON’ (BUTTERFLY EFFECT) ON THE GRENOBLE CAMPUS, BY NATHALIE