Organizing an event doesn’t have to be a challenge!
With our complete guide, you will learn, in a step by step, how to organize successful academic or scientific events, whether online or in person!
What you will see in this article:
- Why organize an event?
- The importance of planning: the pre-event
- During the event: everything you need to know
- Post-event: what to take into account
Why organize an event?
Planning an event is an excellent way to prove the authority of your brand, gain visibility in the market and become a reference in the business.
In addition, by organizing an event, you are contributing to the dissemination of knowledge.
After all, the event is the place where professors, university students, researchers and all those interested in learning and sharing experiences on the same topic come together.
Events such as workshops, congresses, symposia, academic journeys, conferences and lectures, require, however, a lot of planning and organization..
Write it down: planning and organization are the key to creating a successful event!
Anyone planning to organize an event needs to know that they will be dealing with an absurd amount of information and will need to manage several teams.
Therefore, it is normal that unforeseen events arise.
But, the more organized and well-planned the event, the less chance of setbacks.
Therefore, it is best to make a checklist of all the activities of your event!
This way you have an overview of everything that is happening and being done.
And so, you can track the progress of all stages of your event faster and more effectively.
If you plan to organize an academic or scientific event and don’t know where to start, don’t stress out! This complete walkthrough will make life easier for organizers:
Pre-event: planning is everything!
1. Set a theme: it will be your guide
The theme is the basis of every event!
After all, it is responsible for winning suppliers, sponsors, and also for attracting a good audience.
Therefore, the theme should be defined during the strategic planning of the event.
Remember: the theme of your event needs to be current and relevant. Imagine that an event has an outdated theme and does not bring anything original. Who will want to sponsor or participate in this event? Nobody.
Therefore, it is very important to choose a theme that is trending in the acting segment.
Thus, you can bring up a topic of potential interest to your audience. Something that people really want to know about or specialize in.
See the main studies that have already come out on the subject and the impacts they have brought to society. How can an event with that theme benefit your region?
2. Know your audience!
After choosing the theme, you need to know the audience of the event. This topic is of interest to which areas of knowledge? What is the age group of this audience?
Will the event be open to students or will only graduates be able to attend?
But most importantly: understand why people are interested in your event. What do they want to learn there?
3. Online or in-person event?
With the COVID-19 pandemic, event organizers quickly had to adapt to a new reality: online events, also known as digital events.
And although, at first, technological advances were scary, one thing became clear to the event market: online events are here to stay! However, you need to understand that there are differences between organizing an in-person event and organizing an online event.
But what changes from in-person to online?
Let’s say that at an in-person event you have to reserve a space, organize the rooms, test the equipment and create check-in queues.
Depending on the size of the event, you would need to assemble teams to help you in the activities, after all it would be impossible to check in such a large number of participants alone or guide them as to the location of the rooms.
As we talk about in this article, online events change a bit. There is no more physical limitation of attendees (you can even reach more people!), nor need to assemble a team to help on the day of the event. The costs also end up being much lower. What you need is basically to define 3 things:
- Type of streaming you will use (can be live or recorded).
- The platform or tool where you are going to carry it out
- Acquire equipment necessary for a quality transmission
So, everything will depend on the purpose of your event.
4. Choose dates, times and location
Have a calendar on hand. Be aware of holidays, weekends and plan ahead!
Check if similar and, consequently, competing events to yours will be happening close to the date stipulated for your event. Avoid, as much as possible, that your attendee has to choose between you and the competitor. So stay tuned for dates!
For the audience of your event, does a schedule in the middle of the holidays make sense? For some cases, the holiday is the ideal time. For others, it’s a big fail!
Pense também se o evento deve coincidir com as férias escolares. If so, those months or weeks may be a good option.
You also need to think about the schedule. Will the activities be daytime? Or can some happen at night?
The big question here is to think about the profile of your audience. Think of the audience, always!
For in-person events, the venue that will host the event also needs to be very well selected. Factors such as accessibility, mobility, comfort and safety should be weighed. Are there bus or metro stations nearby? Can people get to the place on foot?
Make sure the venue is large enough to accommodate the estimated number of people for the event. The acoustics and temperature of the room must also be taken into account.
Ensuring the safety of attendees, speakers and organizers is imperative.
Therefore, check if the place meets safety standards. Check, for example, for emergency exit and fire extinguishers.
In the case of online events, do you need to decide on the type of event broadcast: videoconference, recorded or live?
5. Select a fantastic team
Organizing an event is an activity that should be done in team. So, choose carefully those who will integrate your team.
They need to be responsible, reliable, committed people who believes fully in your event. After all, if they don’t believe in the event, who else will?
Think about the role that everyone will play at the event. In addition, it is important to have people of different profiles, with different specialties as well.
A person who understands marketing, for example, is ideal for managing the promotion of your event.
See who will be responsible for the finances, for choosing the speakers and for drawing up the schedule.
6. See what you really need
Establish what are the essential expenses and what are the variable expenses.
Essential expenses are those that need to exist, otherwise the event does not happen. Examples: water, electricity, space rental, sound system, staff. For online events, a good microphone and a system that ensures the security of the broadcast. And if it’s not a priority, you have to cut costs.
But, if you have spare money, it may be worth investing in other things, such as shirts, gifts, badges, coffee breaks.
Remember that, the most important thing is to know exactly where each amount will be spent.
This way, you can already start preparing a budget.
7. Set a budget
The event needs to be made possible somehow.
For this, drawing up a budget is essential. First, when deciding to organize an event, you need to establish whether tickets will be free or paid.
News: Now, at Even3, we also offer the option of “donation” type tickets, where the amount can be reverted to a social cause chosen by the event.
If the event is paid, the money from the sale of tickets may bear part or all of the cost of the event. If they are free, how else will the organization make money to make the event happen?
It is inevitable: no matter how simple it is, every event has a cost. And that money needs to come from somewhere.
Sponsors and supports are an excellent strategy to raise money and materials for the event.
Once you have defined the sponsors and made the list of what you will need at the event, establish a budget according to the amount made available by them.
Thus, you can plan the cost of each item of the event.
8. Choose reliable suppliers
Get quotes from reliable suppliers!
Find out the one that has the best cost x benefit and that will offer peace of mind to the organization.
Look for references about the work of that company/person.
Remember to also look for potential suppliers in advance, as some products or services may take time to be delivered.
And, always ask for an estimated delivery time and see if it meets your need. Also, look for discounts, especially if any item needs to be purchased in large quantities.
It is important to be aware of market promotions. Do not waste opportunities to pay cheaper!
9. Establish an outreach strategy
Your event needs to become known in the business.
For this, defining a promotion strategy is very important.
After all, what would be the purpose of the event if the potential attendees were not aware of it?
There are several ways to publicize an academic or scientific event. Whether they are social networks, email marketing, distribution of printed materials, among others.
But, what you need to put in mind, is that your promotion needs to be directed to a specific audience.
That is, the channels and formats used to publicize your event need to make sense for your type of audience!
10. Test the equipment
It is crucial for the success of the event, to test all the equipment.
You don’t want the project to fail at the time of a presentation or for a speaker to have to shout to be heard since the microphone also failed. Isn’t that right?
When in doubt, test everything. Absolutely everything.
See, for example, at in-person events, if the plumbing system is ok (many people forget this detail). But mostly: test the internet. Without internet, many activities can be disrupted.
In addition, every attendee likes to have access to WiFi networks. Being disconnected for hours can generate dissatisfaction in the public.
And, of course, in digital events, we recommend that the organizers and speakers do tests at the place of recording the lectures, checking the lighting, scenery, sound, audio and also that they know the tool by which they will stream the event.
11. Choose the speakers well
Choose the speakers of your event! Look for references from the environment, people of influence and who know how to communicate. Sometimes a person is extremely smart, but does not know how to pass the content well.
They may not be the best choice, then.
Also make sure that the speakers have a means of getting to the event.
It is important to bring professionals from other states in case it is feasible for the event budget and they can add value to your event.
Renowned speakers can increase the authority and credibility of your event!
During the event: offer the best experience to the attendees!
After much planning, the day of the event arrives. The biggest concern of every organizer should be to provide the best possible experience for participants.
So, conquer them and, above all, retain them!
Make them want to attend other events organized by you or your company.
Here are some tips on how to retain attendees:
1. End the long waiting lines
No one likes to waste time in long and boring lines.
To solve once and for all this problem, choose to carry out the check-in of the event and activities online. Thus, the lines go much faster!
Event management systems facilitate this process.
With check-in via QR Code, it is possible to control the entry of attendees in each activity, saving the manual work of the team and also increasing the security of the event.
2. Networking + Coffee Break
When organizing an event, try to leave free times in the schedule for moments of relaxation and a lot of networking!
This moment is fundamental for participants to interact with other participants, with speakers and even with the organization.
It is in networking that you can get even more valuable information about your audience. Use it masterfully!
Bet on memorable coffee breaks!
After all, everyone likes to eat well, right?
So choose your food and drinks supplier carefully.
Oh, and don’t forget the coffee… it guarantees the energy of your audience.
3. Check if the event is flowing the way you want
Constantly check that all schedule is happening as planned.
Try to comply with the schedules of activities. Do not start a workshop or lecture, for example, before the time stated in the schedule.
The same goes for the reverse situation: extrapolating the time of each activity can cause attendees to leave little by little or because they are tired or because they have another commitment.
Also check if the cleanliness of the rooms and bathrooms are up to date.
After all, no attendee likes to be in dirty environments and this can harm their experience at the event.
4. Have a clear schedule
Develop a clear schedule so that your attendees understand what is happening at each moment of the event. A good tip is to leave the event grid visible for consultation in some place of great circulation of the event, if it is in-person.
Thus, attendees can ask questions about schedules, rooms and speakers of each activity.
Online is easier, since you can make it available directly on the website or on the chosen event platform.
5. Accessible Staff
Have a staff available to answer questions from attendees with patience and respect. As obvious as the question may seem, it will likely exist and your team should be prepared to answer it.
In addition, it is necessary to know what is happening in each room, since this way it is able to accurately inform the attendees of the location and time of each activity.
Therefore, it is essential that prior training of the staff is done by the organizing committee. That is, it is your duty as an organizer to instruct them in the right way.
On the online event, count on someone to mediate the doubts of the attendees during the lectures. A good tip is to try to make the online event more dynamic. For this, your team can count on the help of some tools.
6. Efficient location
To organize an event, it is necessary to think and study a strategic location for your event to take place.
The best thing is to choose a very well located space for your audience.
In addition, you can make a map for attendees, with the location of the auditorium, food court, the rooms and what happens in each of them, among many other things.
Having an efficient location system minimizes the doubts of the attendees and, consequently, saves the work of the team.
Post-event: what to take into account
The organizer’s work does not end with the end of the event!
It is necessary to take stock of what happened, check the accounts and gather feedback from participants.
Here are some points that should be taken into account when it comes to post-event.
1. Make certificates available
If your event issues certificates, it’s time to distribute them!
After all, they are of great value to the participants.
Students need them to get complementary hours in college.
In addition, of course, they are important to add value to the curriculum. Making the credit hours of the event explicit is essential.
And in the event that the certificate does not present this type of information, it is quite likely that you will have to issue statements for these attendees.
Put information such as the date the event took place, logo, location, subject.
Currently, you can use ready-made templates to create the certificates of your events, which greatly facilitates the process of issuance of certificates.
This way, you can generate 100, 1000, or 50000 certificates in seconds and for a much lower cost!
2. Take stock of finances
You know that budget we talked about at the beginning? It’s time to check if it has been fulfilled!
This is the time to see if any payments still need to be made, for example.
See if the accounts, after all, were according to the estimate and no number went unnoticed.
3. Gather feedback from attendees
Send satisfaction forms or surveys to attendees.
That’s because getting feedback is paramount to organizing future events!
Organizing an event is a very complex task, so you need to know if everything you have planned has been well executed.
It is important to divide the satisfaction survey into sectors, such as: cleaning, speakers, experience at the event, organization, relevance of the content, coffee break, learning…
This way, you will be able to understand what worked very well and can be repeated, what needs to improve and what should not, in any way, happen again.
Para colher os feedbacks da melhor forma possível, preparamos um modelo de pesquisa de satisfação para você colocar em prática no seu evento.
4. Share the photos of the event
Share the photos, videos, and other content that was produced during the event.
It is quite common for attendees to fill the organizers ‘ inboxes asking for photos of the lectures or mini-courses they attended.
So, post them on social networks! In addition to meeting a demand from attendees, it is important to ensure the visibility of your event.
How about creating an event?
Now that you’ve learned how to organize a successful event, it’s time to create your own event!