About the rake of organizing IT events

In this article I would like to talk not only about the preparation and conduct of the presentation, but also about the organization of events in general. For many of us, at least once in life, there is a need to organize an event of a certain scale, be it a meeting, a master class, a seminar or a presentation. The so-called event management firmly entered my life from the beginning of my career in an IT company : organizing events 3-5 times a year (from meetings of interface designers to seminars on electronic libraries ), I compiled a checklist of things needed for this. I want to share it with habrazhiteli and help those in need not to step on the rake, often found on this difficult but exciting field of activity.



In compressed form, it looks like this:

• Decide who our speakers and potential participants are, and also what, where and when the first ones will tell the second
• Exhaustively and clearly write about the event on your website
• Announce an event in the media and social networks, invite customers and partners
• Open registration of participants in advance
• Receive presentations of speakers and abstracts of presentations in advance.
• Provide stable Internet, sound, light, software and other equipment
• Zatnyat reports and discussions on video
• Organize participants' leisure after the event
• After the event, write a letter with thanks to the participants and speakers
• To familiarize with the materials of the event those who could not take part in it
• Create a detailed event report
• Collect feedback and take into account all the mistakes when organizing the next event

For details, tips and examples - under cat.



Thanks in advance for the add-ons! I’ll add the most relevant ones to the article indicating the authorship - you see, so we will make a universal guide for event organizers.

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Upd: supplemented the article with tips from the comments! Thank you for helping AndreiYemelianov , RGaifutdinov , mivanova , ollystar , Cancel , verbinka , mujaji .

Warning

Many of the points may be obvious in a captain's way, but experience shows that each of them is by no means always taken into account. But at the same time, the implementation of these simple rules makes life easier for organizers, speakers and participants. Many points may be missed, since the organization of events is a vast subject. And I think you should not focus on the specifics of each event, depending on a thousand and one criteria (payment, region, subject, number of participants, etc.).

We need a plan!

• Answer the following questions: who and why do I want to gather? What do they want to hear? Who can tell about this clearly and interestingly? And if there are several target groups on which the event is designed, will it be interesting for one group to hear information for another? Be prepared that these questions you can ask potential participants.
• Think about the date and time of the event. How many programmers, for example, will be on the first reports of the event, which starts at 9:00? How many people will come to you on a difficult day Monday? Will working people want to spend their legitimate weekend for an event? Will those who come on business trips in the summer listen to the reports, or will they put down travel stamps and immediately go for a walk?
• If you plan to make the event a fee, but do not know how to do it, here is the most simplified scheme
• Check if events are being held on similar days on these days. There is always a chance that they can be appointed after the announcement of the date of your event (intentionally or not), but there will not be a lot of reinsurance.
• The choice of venue pulls on a separate article. The main thing is that the passage map should not resemble a labyrinth.

Universal Tips

• Do not be afraid and do not be lazy to ask again and clarify - by agreeing on renting rooms, booking accommodation for guests, discussing the composition and duration of reports with speakers and in all other cases. Due to misunderstandings and misunderstandings, many things can go awry. For example, once the landlord confused the time of the event and sent equipment installers an hour later than necessary. Therefore, be sure to have an agreement with you (for holding coffee breaks, renting premises, equipment). I usually reinsure and even print the correspondence with contractors by e-mail - it will be easier to confirm my case if something goes wrong.
• Delegate the tasks of the organizing committee with large volumes of work: if you plan, for example, 200+ participants, then let two different people communicate with the participants and speakers.
• By the way, regarding the organization of the to-do list: before the to-do sheet, you can draw a mindmap, since organizing events is more difficult to build in the form of a hierarchy (advises verbinka ).
• Think over bonuses and draws: it is always pleasant to leave the event not only with a baggage of knowledge, but also with something useful. In the course can go as flash drives, mugs, and gift software licenses (relevant for soft startups). We often ask participants to fill out questionnaires (with questions about how good and interesting it was, what else they would like to know and who to hear) and raffle off prizes by pulling out random questionnaires.
• Be prepared for unexpected questions. “Here you offer four different hotels for your choice, and which is more beautiful in the view from the window?” - these are flowers.
• Very many participants and speakers after the event are asked to provide a list of participants with contact numbers and e-mail. It is logical that this is not worth doing: the people who provide their personal data, thanks, will not say.

Declare yourself

• Announce the event as widely as possible. At your service are thematic media, forums and blogs, news sites, Habrahabr, all social networks and thematic groups (communities) in them, microblogs and much more.
• If the event is organized by the company, then distribution to the client base will be effective (we use our CRM system for this). However, as a result, there will still be dissatisfied people who will say “well, you had an interesting thing, but I didn’t know anything, why didn’t you say something” :-)
• If you are engaged in the personal invitation of participants - for example, through MyKrug - remember the truism: it is necessary to invite those to whom your invitation may be necessary and interesting.

We work with participants

• The organizing committee of the event should be transparent (it should be clear who organizes and why) and is available (the more communication options, the better - mail, telephone, Skype, etc.).
• I risk falling into the area of ​​usability, but: do not make people search for a long and painful information about the event on your website. Save their time by hanging, for example, a nice banner on the main page of the site. The mobile version of the event site will also be useful (advises mujaji ).
• Save your time - make, in addition to the basic information, something like a FAQ for participants (and speakers, by the way) - can you be late for the beginning, who will book a hotel, what is included in the handout, will they give a participant's diploma, etc. True, this is an option for those who are able to read: in many cases, you will still call and say "but you did not specify", even if it is indicated in very large letters. But be that as it may, “read on the site - everything is written there” - this is not the answer. Remember that the appearance of a new member is in your interests, even if it will be necessary to repeat the same thing for the hundredth time.
• If any changes occur during the preparation process of the event (the program is approved, new speakers appear, the venue of the event changes), first, be sure to inform about it, secondly, in ways that are convenient for people (sending by e-mail , update of news in a VKontakte meeting, etc.)
• Registration for the event, open in advance. If you are planning participants from other cities, remember - they need to approve a business trip with their superiors, allocate a budget for it and settle many other tasks. For our events, for example, we open registration 2-6 months before the start.
• If the event is large enough (300 or more participants), electronic accreditation saves from the crowds of participants at the reception. It will be easier to work with badges, register participants without prior registration, keep records of those who came, print photos on badges, etc. However, in this case it is necessary to attend to unnecessary computers and a printer for printing badges ( mujaji advises).
• When compiling the registration form do not forget about the item "How did you hear about the event." Are these social networks, e-mail newsletters or the most powerful weapon - word of mouth? In the future, it will help to choose the most effective channels for disseminating information about the event.
• If you have time, call a list of registered participants a day or two before the start asking if they will be present tomorrow. According to my observations, the actual participants are at best 85% of those registered. Therefore, for example, you can safely put fewer chairs in the hall (so as not to spoil the impression with empty seats) and order / purchase less products for a coffee break.
• Carefully consider registering for the event - this will be the very first impression of the participants. The queue will not be if the registration will take several people. Do not forget razdatku (booklets, program and badges). By the way, about badges: the font should be large and readable, and the organizers' badges should be highlighted in a different color (if there is no uniform).
• In the event that the event is more or less ambitious, try to negotiate with hotels to provide discounts for your participants. Including, if you rent a conference room in a hotel (advises mivanova ).
• Take care of the participants after the event - after all, it is no secret that many come to talk on the sidelines after the official part. A variety of options can be used: from tea and cakes at the venue of the event to going to the bar to share impressions of what was heard and seen.
• Prepare a program for non-resident / foreign participants. Organization of excursions, of course, depends on the budget and format of the event, but you must at least be ready to answer the question of what can be interesting to see in the city in a short period of time.

We work with speakers

• As practice shows, an event moderator is needed and important. He must, firstly, strictly monitor compliance with the regulations, and secondly, direct the discussion from offtopic to the right track. And if there is no discussion, initiate it by asking the speaker a few premeditated questions. From this it follows that the moderator must be well versed in the subject area of ​​the event. Perhaps the moderators will facilitate the work not only in the presidium: the audience will feel more confident if a person who is ready to support the discussion is present in the hall too (advised by RGaifutdinov and ollystar ).
• The grid of reports may be shifted due to the large number of questions to the speaker and technical problems. Therefore, when drawing up a program, it is better to take with time the reports and, accordingly, the hall rent.
• It is highly desirable to receive presentations and abstracts of the report from speakers (whether they are invited speakers or employees of your company). First, these materials can be adjusted if they deviate somewhat from the main theme of the event. Secondly, abstracts can be put on the website or blog for discussion to future participants - this will help the speakers to make the report more interesting and informative.
• New speakers, advises ollystar , it is better to choose from those speakers that you yourself have seen live. Or, alternatively, you can almost always find their performances on YouTube.
• Give the speakers the most complete information about the conditions of the event. Specialists of which profile and from which companies will be among the students? How much time is given to speak and how much is given to questions? What are the technical characteristics of the projector in the hall?
• If you are holding an event from the company and there are inexperienced speakers among your speakers, make them speak a report (it would be good not just once or twice) to a small friendly audience of colleagues and answer possible questions. On the night before the conference, do anything to get enough sleep (up to tying to the bed) and have a fresh head and a clear mind.
• If you plan to publish a collection of abstracts of reports, the work of proofreaders / editors / translators is necessary, as well as checking materials for uniqueness (advises AndreiYemelianov ).

Technical stuff

• In the context of Habrahabr, we are talking about IT and near-IT events, which (ideally, but not always in practice) should be distinguished by an impeccable technical side. At least, working laptops, projectors and the Internet. And do not forget to check the sockets and take extension cords, reminds Cancel .
• Internet - a) should be; b) should work stably. Firstly, speakers often need it when demonstrating web projects. Secondly, participants - many want to be in touch 24/7, in the course of the report look for additional information, share impressions on social networks (do not forget to come up with a hashtag) and conduct a full-fledged broadcast (as, for example, did a member of our GUI Meetup) . If there are additional screens, you can run twijector.com on the hashtag, there will be an interactive broadcast. And then, where without a chekina at the scene of the event and the bow in Instagram? :-)
• Always keep on hand the coordinates of people who can quickly help with air conditioning, light, sound and video. Very well, if they will be in the hall. Check your rooms and your equipment 10 times, do not allow the rooms to be too hot or too cold (advises ollystar ).
• A very useful thing is a clicker (remote for switching slides), it will be easier for the speaker not to be distracted and not to lose the expression and vividness of the report (advised by RGaifutdinov ).
• Shoot all speeches and all discussions on video. This is an excellent help for organizers and speakers (to know what people are interested in), for participants (an opportunity to refresh their questions when they return to work) and, of course, for those who could not take part.
• It is even embarrassing to talk about it, but: if you demonstrate any own development, everything should function without errors. When, in the middle of the report, the presented software flies out with an exept, words like “an ideal tool for everyday work” or “help optimize processes” look unconvincing.

Afterword

• Write a detailed report on the event held for the site and send out a press release for the media.
• Write a letter to participants and speakers with gratitude for participating in the event. Do not forget about the links to the event report, photos, videos, presentations of speakers and other event materials.
• Ask participants to write a couple of lines of feedback. True, there will most likely not be critics here (in my memory only one participant - hello, junk ! - sent a critical, but constructive letter, since he himself was involved in organizing events). For feedback, you can safely go to social networks and monitor opinions there.
• Write a letter to those who registered for the event, but could not take part: links to the event report and video will be superfluous.
• If in the future you need to provide detailed information about the event (current and potential sponsors, speakers), I highly recommend to make a report that is somewhat similar to the company's annual report. There should be a full description of the event, its program, information about the speakers, the list of participants (companies, geography, positions, activities), handouts, and, of course, the budget.

All further work must be coordinated with the purpose of the event (the marketing seminar - the sales department comes into play, the software is presented - user reviews go to the project managers and the developer, and so on).



Question to the organizers: What are the main to do for yourself you have brought out when organizing events?



Question to the participants: what makes you most happy / annoying when participating in events? What is missing?