<commit_before>---
layout: resource
category: plan
title: Event Guide
permalink: '/plan/event-planning/'
tags:
  - planner
---

Here are helpful tips for planning an event, including recruiting participants and managing logistics.

Also, there are even more good ideas for <a href="http://education.nationalgeographic.com/media/file/HowTo_Event_Educators.pdf">event planning shared by National Geographic for Geography Awareness Week</a>, and the <a href="http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Mapping_Weekend_Howto">OSM Mapping Weekend HOWTO</a>.

For educators, there is <a href="http://teachosm.org/">TeachOSM</a>, guidance for bringing OpenStreetMap into the classroom.

## Recruitment

Students are a primary audience, but the event can also to professionals/citizens who likely to have GIS/OSM skills or interest. And reach out beyond geography and GIS; particularly for students studying international affairs or international students, there would be interest in international humanitarian efforts. Outside of school, there may be local meetups or OSM groups with whom to coordinate.

Nearly all of the strategies produce results by either connecting to unique groups or reinforcing the message to the point that people are committed to participating.  Put your marketing hat on. Customize each email, flyer, and calendar posting to what would be of interest to that group. For instance, to international students, emphasize that they would gain skills that would allow them to assist when humanitarian disasters strike their own countries; to the OSM enthusiasts promote it as a humanitarian OSM event, etc.  The <a href="http://mapgive.state.gov/why-map/">Map Give Why Map Video</a> is a great starting point for all.

### Emails

* Send emails to listservs for Geography department, and other relevant departments
* Coordinate with any international student offices, to have emails sent to all international students
* Contact local/regional GIS professional bodies, and send out information to GIS professionals in the area
* Send out targeted invitations to individuals not covered by the above
 
### Event Calendars
* Post notice to local/regional OSM Meetup Group calendar of events
* Post notice to local/regional GIS Meetup Group calendar of events
* Also post the event on the general university event calendar.

### Personal appearances

* Arrange to give short pitch at the beginning of class in several geography classes with geospatial technology focus
* Talk personally with key faculty / students to encourage them to attend
 
### Flyers

* Post flyers for the event at key locations across campus
* Put flyers in geography faculty/graduate student mail boxes
 
## Registration and Agenda
 
### Registration
It is often helpful to “require” registration.  Although there is no fee for participation, having participants register beforehand gives a very good sense of how many people will show up, and additional event details can be provided on the registration page.  Plus, this provides a way to track who attended and acts as a failsafe in case something comes up that requires a change in venue, rescheduling, or cancellation.
 
<a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/">Eventbrite</a> is good.  This is free, if the event is free, and it has some nice features that allow management of the tickets/event.  Sometimes, events like this charge a nominal fee to encourage people to actually show up if the register. Eventbrite also allows you to have multiple registration types, for instance you can have people register as beginner, intermediate, or advanced mappers to better plan your event.
 
It's not necessary to turn anybody away for the event who show up, but who did not register. Again, registration is mainly a tool to help with logistics.
 
### Agenda

It can be helpful to start with an OSM beginners workshop at the front end of the event (for an hour or so), then have experienced OSMers join in. Or perhaps assign an experienced OSMer to a small group of people during the first hour to work with them closely. Aim for having at least a 1:4 ration fo experience to new mappers.
 
## Venue Logistics
 

### Space

Based on registrations and level of promotion, find a space with appropriate capacity. Not everyone who registers will show up, and people may come and go during the event as well, so capacity can be lower than total expected attendance. It's helpful to have some overflow areas prepared, just in case.

With many laptops whizzing away, some rooms can get a little warmer than usual, keep this in mind.  Try to set up the room to have a as much space as possible while maximizing the number of seats for our participants.

### Internet

This may be obvious, but a reliable internet connection is a requirement. Test out internet ahead of time, if you can. Investigate if IT support needs to be aware an event if going to happen. It is possible that an ISP can block a connection if too much activity is happening on the network and the provider thinks it is suspicious.

If your event has more than fifty mappers and you are all mapping from one IP address, let the OSM Operations Working Group(<EMAIL>) informed to ensure that throtteling won't slow anyone down.
 
### Computers and Power

Usually best to ask people to bring their own laptops.  This has both the benefit of not having to secure a computer lab for the day (which generally do not allow food/drink in the lab room), and there is a subtle message that says “you can do this on your own computer, anytime, anywhere.”

Helpful to remind people to bring an external mouse (usb/wireless) because digitizing with a touchpad can be frustrating.  And, it is important to have power available to for each laptop. Round-up a bunch of extension cords and power strips. Go in before the event to map out the power supply strategy and identify where all of the outlets were and how many extension cords and power strips are needed, and how they would be laid out on the tables.  In addition, have a few extra laptops for those that do not have laptops they could bring.

### Food

Try to secure a little money to provide free food and beverages for the event.  Buy plenty of soda/water, various snacks, and pizza to keep people happily mapping all day.  This in an important thing to offer, if you can, because this is both a draw to get people to participate, and hunger/thirst are not a reason to leave.
 
### Collaboration

Involve other groups who may be mapping at the same time or create an option for people to attend virtually. A Google hangout or Skype session will work for this. Test the video session before the event. In addition plan messaging to create better facilitation. A video call is a good time to show metrics, prizes, and motivate. Have comms open between organizers during event. Have a speaker broadcast to group.

### Ambiance
<commit_msg>corrected grammar pointed out by Mikel<commit_after>---
layout: resource
category: plan
title: Event Guide
permalink: '/plan/event-planning/'
tags:
  - planner
---

Here are helpful tips for planning an event, including recruiting participants and managing logistics.

Also, there are even more good ideas for <a href="http://education.nationalgeographic.com/media/file/HowTo_Event_Educators.pdf">event planning shared by National Geographic for Geography Awareness Week</a>, and the <a href="http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Mapping_Weekend_Howto">OSM Mapping Weekend HOWTO</a>.

For educators, there is <a href="http://teachosm.org/">TeachOSM</a>, guidance for bringing OpenStreetMap into the classroom.

## Recruitment

Students are a primary audience, but the event can also to professionals/citizens who likely to have GIS/OSM skills or interest. And reach out beyond geography and GIS; particularly for students studying international affairs or international students, there would be interest in international humanitarian efforts. Outside of school, there may be local meetups or OSM groups with whom to coordinate.

Nearly all of the strategies produce results by either connecting to unique groups or reinforcing the message to the point that people are committed to participating.  Put your marketing hat on. Customize each email, flyer, and calendar posting to what would be of interest to that group. For instance, to international students, emphasize that they would gain skills that would allow them to assist when humanitarian disasters strike their own countries; to the OSM enthusiasts promote it as a humanitarian OSM event, etc.  The <a href="http://mapgive.state.gov/why-map/">Map Give Why Map Video</a> is a great starting point for all.

### Emails

* Send emails to listservs for Geography department, and other relevant departments
* Coordinate with any international student offices, to have emails sent to all international students
* Contact local/regional GIS professional bodies, and send out information to GIS professionals in the area
* Send out targeted invitations to individuals not covered by the above
 
### Event Calendars
* Post notice to local/regional OSM Meetup Group calendar of events
* Post notice to local/regional GIS Meetup Group calendar of events
* Also post the event on the general university event calendar.

### Personal appearances

* Arrange to give short pitch at the beginning of class in several geography classes with geospatial technology focus
* Talk personally with key faculty / students to encourage them to attend
 
### Flyers

* Post flyers for the event at key locations across campus
* Put flyers in geography faculty/graduate student mail boxes
 
## Registration and Agenda
 
### Registration
It is often helpful to “require” registration.  Although there is no fee for participation, having participants register beforehand gives a very good sense of how many people will show up, and additional event details can be provided on the registration page.  Plus, this provides a way to track who attended and acts as a failsafe in case something comes up that requires a change in venue, rescheduling, or cancellation.
 
<a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/">Eventbrite</a> is good.  This is free, if the event is free, and it has some nice features that allow management of the tickets/event.  Sometimes, events like this charge a nominal fee to encourage people to actually show up if the register. Eventbrite also allows you to have multiple registration types, for instance you can have people register as beginner, intermediate, or advanced mappers to better plan your event.
 
It's not necessary to turn anybody away for the event who show up, but who did not register. Again, registration is mainly a tool to help with logistics.
 
### Agenda

It can be helpful to start with an OSM beginners workshop at the front end of the event (for an hour or so), then have experienced OSMers join in. Or perhaps assign an experienced OSMer to a small group of people during the first hour to work with them closely. Aim for having at least a 1:4 ratio of experienced to new mappers.
 
## Venue Logistics
 

### Space

Based on registrations and level of promotion, find a space with appropriate capacity. Not everyone who registers will show up, and people may come and go during the event as well, so capacity can be lower than total expected attendance. It's helpful to have some overflow areas prepared, just in case.

With many laptops whizzing away, some rooms can get a little warmer than usual, keep this in mind.  Try to set up the room to have a as much space as possible while maximizing the number of seats for our participants.

### Internet

This may be obvious, but a reliable internet connection is a requirement. Test out internet ahead of time, if you can. Investigate if IT support needs to be aware an event if going to happen. It is possible that an ISP can block a connection if too much activity is happening on the network and the provider thinks it is suspicious.

If your event has more than fifty mappers and you are all mapping from one IP address, let the OSM Operations Working Group (<EMAIL>) informed to ensure that throttling won't slow anyone down.
 
### Computers and Power

Usually best to ask people to bring their own laptops.  This has both the benefit of not having to secure a computer lab for the day (which generally do not allow food/drink in the lab room), and there is a subtle message that says “you can do this on your own computer, anytime, anywhere.”

Helpful to remind people to bring an external mouse (usb/wireless) because digitizing with a touchpad can be frustrating.  And, it is important to have power available to for each laptop. Round-up a bunch of extension cords and power strips. Go in before the event to map out the power supply strategy and identify where all of the outlets were and how many extension cords and power strips are needed, and how they would be laid out on the tables.  In addition, have a few extra laptops for those that do not have laptops they could bring.

### Food

Try to secure a little money to provide free food and beverages for the event.  Buy plenty of soda/water, various snacks, and pizza to keep people happily mapping all day.  This in an important thing to offer, if you can, because this is both a draw to get people to participate, and hunger/thirst are not a reason to leave.
 
### Collaboration

Involve other groups who may be mapping at the same time or create an option for people to attend virtually. A Google hangout or Skype session will work for this. Test the video session before the event. In addition plan messaging to create better facilitation. A video call is a good time to show metrics, prizes, and motivate. Have comms open between organizers during event. Have a speaker broadcast to group.

### Ambiance

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