Events toolkit
1. How IoF staff can support Group events
1.1 All events
1.1.1 Venue Search
The agency that we use to assist us in finding venues nationwide is Brief2event.
They are also able to book accommodation for delegates at competitive rates.
Our contact there is Becky Jefferey
email: [email protected]
tel: 01202 400850
We try to use university facilities wherever possible as venue hire tends to be very
low.
When searching for a venue we bear in mind the following factors
Check list for site visit
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Rate based on DDR (daily delegate rate) or venue hire?
Capacity of rooms (theatre, classroom, boardroom, cabaret)
Audio Visual equipment – what is included, (screen, projector, lectern,
microphones – hand held roving, lapel, etc, can it be recorded? how much
for additional equipment
Catering – what is included (3x tea and coffee break? lunch)
Exhibition/catering space – is there room for all delegates? Will exhibitors
have exposure to delegates i.e are the catering stations near the exhibition
stands
Where is the main conference room in comparison to break out
rooms/catering/registration
H&S – any first aiders on site
Fire exits
No. of toilets
Natural day light
Access (lift/stairs?)
Location – near good transport links
1.1.2 Website/Promo/bookings
We add all our events to the website and provide date, start and end time, location
with map, price, booking details, social media links.
If you have an event on a particular topic that is similar to one of ours and would
like us to promote it alongside our marketing activity then please contact the Head
of Membership Communities. To find out what events we are running when refer to
the ????
Bookings
It is anticipated that a fully automated booking system, linked to the IoF database,
will be rolled out in the latter part of 2012/early 2013. Currently, however, IoF is
able to set up an Eventbrite booking facility for Groups to manage their event
bookings online. Groups wishing to use this facility should contact the Head of
Membership Communities.
We suggest that you implement T&Cs for your events to prevent people from being
able to cancel their booking close to the event.
1.2 Larger Events
1.3 How you can help us
1.3.1 Regional venues and local knowledge
We have created a venue bank template so that you can input your venues from
your search for future reference.
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4.2 Speakers
We recommend that when you have secured a speaker you send out a speaker
confirmation email to all speakers and receive confirmation back.
Approximately 4 weeks before the event we email speaker confirmation 2
confirming the title and time of their session and request presentations, biographies
and photos and set a deadline for when we need these by.
We also request that speakers arrive in the break before their session so they have
time to look over their presentation and to provide us with their mobile phone
number so that we are able to contact them on the day of the event.
Finally we send them a copy of the up-to-date programme and a map and
directions to the venue.
4.3 Venues
Where possible we provisionally hold a venue for as long as possible before signing
a contract. Before signing the contract it is important to read the cancellation policy
and T&Cs and be aware of minimum numbers. Where necessary we negotiate the
T&Cs by reducing the minimum numbers and extending the cancellation notice
period. It is important to take note of the last date that the contract can be
cancelled before incurring a charge. At the point at which this date is approaching
we monitor bookings and make a decision as to whether the event should be
cancelled.
If we decide to cancel an event within the time period that a charge will be incurred
we will negotiate with the venue to see if it is possible to transfer the booking to
another date.
If accommodation is included in the venue booking it is important that the date at
which final numbers need to be confirmed is as late as possible. We try to negotiate
this to 2 weeks prior to the event.
4.4 Suppliers
4.5 Health and Safety
We strongly advise that a risk assessment form is completed before each event.
It is important when using suppliers, such as Audio Visual companies, that you ask
for a copy of their health and safety documents and public liability. If an exhibitor,
for example, is providing food on their stand, you will need to ask them to sign a
waiver.
We also advise that you distribute Health and Safety Guidelines to all staff
attending the event.
4.6 Delegate Communication
A Booking Confirmation is sent out via email after each booking is made. We
then send Joining instructions out to all delegates two weeks prior to the event.
After the event we send a thank you email and send out the presentations from the
conference.
4.7 Creating an ‘IoF’ experience
We try to ensure that we get the right level of brand presence in the run up to and
during all events. We have developed our branding so that each ‘branch’ of the IoF
(such as Events, Membership, Academy) can be identified by a different colour
without taking away from the IoF’s current identity.
Events will now be identified by the colour green. You can find out more information
from our branding guidelines.
To ensure that we have an IoF presence at our events we have various types of
branded collateral. At conferences we have 2 generic IoF conference pop up stands
(1x in the entrance to the venue and 1x on the stage behind the lectern) We also
have an academy pop up stand that is set up by the academy stand in the catering
area. We also have a table cloth for the registration area, top table and IoF stand.
If you would like to order any pop up stands or table cloths please contact the Head
of Membership Communities.
At every conference we have an IoF stand. On the stand we have literature about
membership, academy and future IoF events. If you would like to send any
literature to be added to the stand please contact Head of Membership
communities.
We have an IoF powerpoint slide that we use as a holding slide at the start of the
conference and during the breaks. If we have a sponsor we add there logo to the
slide.
Badges
We use 90 x 60 croc and pin badges and have branded badge paper made to print
on to. Please contact the Head of Membership Communities if you would like to
order some badge paper.
We use font size 12 to ensure that names can be read easily. On the badge we
provide the following information: Name, Job title, Organisation and delegate type
(Speaker, Sponsor, Exhibitor, Delegate, IoF Member).
Delegate packs (conferences)
Our conference delegate pack consists of a brief description of the event, schedule
of the day and speaker biographies. If there are exhibitors/sponsors at the event
we add in a exhibitor/sponsor listing. At the end we suggest you add in a Personal
Learning Summary
Evaluation form
It is important to receive feedback from all events to help with the planning of
future events. We are currently in the process of reviewing our evaluation process
however at the moment we use paper evaluation forms and manually collate the
data.
Speaker scores
To work out speaker scores we use the below formula
The below table shows the average score for a speaker where there are 20
evaluation forms. 2 delegates have scored the speaker as poor, 4 people have
scored the speaker as OK, 4 people have scored the speaker as good and 10
people have people have scored the speaker as Excellent.
Rating
Poor = 1
OK = 2
Good = 3
TOTAL SUM
4
Excellent =
4
10
No. of
scores per
rating
No of
scores x
rating
2
4
2x1=2
4x2=8
4 x 3 = 12
10 x 4 = 40
2 + 8 + 12
+ 40 = 62
2 + 4 +4 +
10 = 20
62/20 =
3.1
Delegate List
We print delegate lists for all events. Delegate lists are set out with name,
surname, job title and organisation. The list is sorted alphabetically by surname.
Again we encourage that branding guidelines are followed on all printed materials.
All text should be Trebuchet MS.
Social Media
Promote your event using social media
Social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are great tools to help spread
the word about your event. They're free to use and can help you quickly reach large
networks of people who may be interested in your event. ways to use social media
to promote your event.
1. Create event listings on LinkedIn and Facebook
To increase awareness of your event, create free event lisitings on LinkedIn and/or
Facebook. Although attendees will still have to purchase tickets on your website, it’s
a good way to let attendees share that they’re attending and see who else is going
to your event.
2. Select a hashtag for the event that is uniquely yours
A Twitter hashtag helps unite the people talking about your event. To avoid
confusion, choose a hashtag that is uniquely yours by researching hashtags on
Twitter’s internal search engine, which is available at search.twitter.com.
3. Create a template of tweets for speakers & sponsors
Make it easy for your speakers and sponsors to tweet about your event. After
confirming their participation, send them a list of suggested tweets to use. Be sure
to include your event’s official hashtag and suggested link to your registration page
in each tweet.
4. Create public Twitter lists of your speakers, sponsors & attendees
Help attendees find each other and acknowledge both your speakers and sponsors
by creating public Twitter lists. This also makes it easy for non-attendees to follow
along.
5. Create a LinkedIn group or sub-group for your event’s attendees
Encourage attendees to network ahead of the event through a LinkedIn group or
sub-group. Plan to use the group to get feedback for what they’d like to see at the
event, to take questions for the moderator and to follow up after the event.
3.8 On the day
We recommend that you confirm with the venue the day before the event that all
your items have arrived.
Arrive in plenty of time. We follow the below check list
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Set up badges in alphabetical order
Set up pop up stands and table cloths
Make sure expo stands are in a good location near catering points
Count the number of chairs
Put out evaluation forms
Check the temperature of the room
Check break timings with venue staff
Load presentations
Sound check
Welcome speakers – tick off as arrive
Welcome sponsors/exhibitors and show to stand
Mark off no shows against delegate list
3.9 Post event
After the event we send out an email to all delegates that attended to say thank
you and provide them with a link to the presentations from the day.
We collate data from the evaluation forms and email all the speakers their score.