8 Ways to Take the Admin Pain out of organising your next event
Do you regularly organise live events with guest speakers for your own company or the company you work for? Do you have the same type of information to gather for every event, but it can be very time consuming getting it all?
In 2022 I helped to set up 28 virtual events from charities to membership and networking groups where everything from puppy training tips to menopause awareness and diversity and inclusion were discussed. I’ve learnt that putting certain automations in place can help save your time and sanity. i
If you have ever run an event virtual or face to face you will know that 95% of the success is in the planning and the other 5% is luck! Here are 8 ways to help you take the admin pain OUT of organising events.
1. Information Gathering -Google forms
Have you thought about using an online form such as a Google or Microsoft /Survey Monkey/Type form etc to send to your speaker once confirmed and so that you:
-gather all their information in one place
-that the information is accessible across all your devices
-and which you can give other collaborators access to?
For example, you can easily gather:
• Speaker full name and title
• Speaker bio
• Social media links
• Prompting them to send you a speaker profile image (Correct dimensions/format etc.)
• Any other information you need from them
Check out my video here on using Google Forms.
2. Event setup-Zoom template
In Zoom when you are creating a meeting or webinar there is a setting option for you to save specific requirements around recording/ video and audio options as a template that you can reuse. When creating an event that you want to replicate settings for, simply give it a name ‘save it as a template’. Read the Zoom support article .
How template setting looks in Zoom
3. Cover design creation -Canva Pro
Using Canva to create your event cover designs is a game changer and though there is a small cost involved it’s worth upgrading to Canva Pro to be able to copy and custom resize them for all the locations you may be putting your event image on -Zoom/Eventbrite/Facebook /LinkedIn etc. https://www.canva.com/pro/
Use Canva to custom size your event cover for Eventbrite/Zoom/StreamYard/LinkedIn etc.
4. Event Planning-Trello
If you are working with several collaborators, would it be easier to use a project management tool to visualise and plan your month/quarter/year ahead and all the events you want to have with speaker ideas and guest names? As a committee member of the Belfast PA network, we have recently started to use Trello for this purpose and as part of the Seashell Collective we have recently moved to Click Up to manage our internal task list and also to showcase to the clients what is happening.
5. Running order template-Word or Google Doc Template
I was part of Lagan Valley Toastmasters Club for 4 years and besides learning confidence and speaking skills we also focused a lot on structuring meetings so that they ran smoothly and to prevent time wasting. If you are running regular events, you can then just adapt the running order for each meeting. If you have several speakers and you are using GoogleSuite, you can put the running order on a google doc and share it with view rights to everybody or similarly with Microsoft word. It doesn’t need to be fancy, but you do need to discuss and plan it out and then make sure everyone sticks to it!
For example for the LinkedIn/Facebook live I did with Donna Martin from the Good Life on 17/11/22 about managing your time not your activities we had this as our running order:
12:30 Alison introduces the event topic and introduces Donna Martin
12:35-13:15 Donna speaks about setting a daily ritual, getting over old habits, setting yourself up for success and ensuing productivity. Shifting paradigms
13:15-13:28 We allow 13-minute Q&A
13:30 Alison closes, thanks Donna and announces December topic
6. Have a checklist-Google Doc To Do List/Trello checklist/ Asana project board
There are so many moving parts to an event that it is easy to forget something so having an electronic checklist that you mark off for every event can be a life saver.
You can do this by using a Google Doc or Word template (available from their Template Gallery). If are using Trello, you can create a board checklist which you attach to each event and similarly in other project management tools such as Asana.
Example of checklist option on a Trello board
7. Send a calendar invite
Systematically share all the relevant details of your event through a calendar invite or an email with your guest speaker including:
-title
-description
-registration link
-prepared blurb about your company and all your social media links so they can help spread the word and make sure they are following you on social media platforms.
You can set up a template in your email with the standard details so all you have to do is tweak each time.
Watch my video on how you can do that here:
8. Use all the functionality of event ticketing platforms
Event ticketing platform Eventbrite allows integration for example with your Facebook page so once you create an event on Eventbrite it automatically populates your Facebook page (you may just want to go in afterwards and add some additional details).
Platforms like Facebook/LinkedIn/Eventbrite allow you to duplicate events so if you have more or less the same format each time but just the speaker name/date/topic changes, you can use this function. Just be careful not to leave any old details which is easily done!
How to duplicate/copy an event in Eventbrite. Click on event then press copy on far right hand side
Are you the guest speaker? Read my blog on top 10 questions to ask to get you prepared.
https://www.virtuali.uk/blog/reasons-to-hire-a-va/top-10-questions-to-ask-if-you-are-a-guest-speaker
If all the above stills seems a bit overwhelming or you have some specific questions reach out to me and save yourself a lot of time and headaches alison@virtuali.uk or book in for a free discovery call.
