organise a lecture

 

Organising Events:

 

Here at Mountaineering Lectures – we are delighted to help you with advice and materials. The following information is a helpful guide to help you through the organisation process. All you have to do is decide which one of our climbing speakers is for you! To help you choose please see the Speaker Portfolio:

Six steps to success

1. Which event?
   Does it fit with the aims of your organisation? Does it fit your market or target audience? What human or financial resources are needed? What resources are available?

2. What will be needed?
   In advance or on the day?

3. Who?
   Who will organise the event? Who will host the event? Who will perform at the event? Who will participate? Who will attend?

4. When?
   When should the event take place? Will it clash with other events? How long should the event be from start to finish?

5. Where?
   Is it the right venue? Does it have the required facilities?

Budget
Work out an accurate budget as soon as possible and always work on the basis of minimum income and maximum expenditure.

Things to consider when budgeting:

• artwork, e.g. posters, tickets

• printing

• postage

• hire costs of venue

• refreshments

• entertainment, e.g. live music

• equipment, e.g. microphone/ public address system

• sponsorship

• ticket sales

• raffle ticket sales

• 10% contingency

Wherever possible, try and obtain as much as possible for nothing (eg: sponsorships/ free raffle prizes.)

Venue
Remember to make sure that your venue has adequate facilities, e.g. disabled access, toilets, parking, tables and chairs, public transport, etc.

Checklist for a venue
Factors to consider when selecting an appropriate venue for your event:

• Location, parking, disabled access

• Stage, sound, public address system, projection, lighting, other equipment

• Dressing, changing rooms, toilets

• Bar, box office, reception area, space for exhibition, display

• Auditorium, seating comfort, cloakrooms

• Fire regulations

• Catering - teas/ coffee crisps/cakes

• Cost of hiring venue/ sound system

• Can you cope with fewer/more people than expected?

• Travel costs for your guests.

Timing
It is often helpful to draw up a timetable of what needs to be done by when and try and stick to it. For example, your printing should be ready 6-8 weeks before the event as this is the ideal time to start your promotion. It also keeps the other team members informed and in touch with the event.

Publicity/media
Decide where the best places to advertise your event are. Get your posters/flyers in place long before the event to maximise their advertising potential

Publicity prior to an event can help sell tickets.

On the day
Make sure that all your helpers/ volunteers know what each other is doing. The best way to do this is to draw up a timetable and move the volunteers from job to job every couple of hours. This way your volunteers won't get bored and will hopefully be willing to help you again in the future. For example, it's very boring standing on the entry door for six hours at a time – why not position someone there for one hour and move them on to selling raffle tickets for one hour, then on to tea/ coffee duty, etc?

Try and enjoy the day. You've put a lot of time and effort into your event – relax. You've planned well, don't worry about things going wrong! If anything does go wrong, deal with it there and then.

What will you need on the day?

	Calculator
	Literature on your organisation: current leaflet, newsletter or fact sheet
	Publicity for next meeting or event
	Display materials, sales goods
	All necessary phone numbers – band, entertainers, hosts, speakers, hire firms, caterers
	'Gofer' – someone to run errands for emergencies and forgotten things
	Emergency numbers for police, fire, vet
	First aid kit, first aid service – St John's Ambulance, British Red Cross
	Pens, tape, scissors, poster board and markers, draw pins, blu-tac, paper, elastic bands, safety pins
	Sense of humour, tact, patience and imagination and something for headaches!

For any more information please contact us by email at: info@mountaineeringlectures.co.uk

 

images: Alastair Lee (top) & Andy Kirkpatrick (bottom) ©