The Ground Work for a Successful Event Who is your core team? Take the time to create a list of individuals, groups, and organizations you can call upon for help. Think outside the box -- and ask all of your family, friends and co-workers to help, too! Collaboration can give you twice the reach (membership, email lists, media contacts) and can cut in half the work for an event. Make a list of educational, environmental, health, and social justice groups, film and cultural groups, humane societies and animal advocacy groups, as well as schools, universities, and faith based organizations. There are probably more groups than you think! Each may have experienced leaders and highly motivated members who can help in many different ways. Once you've recruited some potential team members, spend some time identifying who has experience in areas such as event planning, audio-visual technology, volunteer organizing, public speaking, and publicity. Decide who will be the team leader. Click here for a list of key roles and responsibilities for your core team.
Select a venue Libraries, colleges, schools, churches and community centers are often available free or at low cost and sometimes have video projection equipment available for use. Community and art house theaters can be a good choice for larger scale screenings. Keep in mind that it's easier to get people to go to places they already know, and can be difficult to get them to go to an unfamiliar place. Venues closer to concentrations of people are inherently easier to fill.
Set the date and time Check public schedules for community events, holidays, elections, school breaks, etc., to avoid unnecessary conflicts. For evening events, start times between 6:30 and 8:00 PM seem to work best. Set the date far enough in advance to allow for adequate planning time and publicity. Again, our recommendation is a minimum of 2 months in advance (i.e., a month to plan and a month to implement), depending on the size of the event. After you have determined your screening location, date, and time, register your event on our web site calendar. Video projection and audio equipment Tribe of Heart films on DVD can be projected onto a screen with a video projector. Countless screenings to audiences of up to several hundred have been held this way. If the location where you want to hold the screening does not have video projection capability, you can rent a video projector, a portable screen and a sound system. If you go this route, however, we recommend you recruit an experienced volunteer or hire a professional with A/V experience to be your tech person to handle the very important task of selecting, setting up, testing and running the projector and sound system on the day of the screening. For larger venues, consider setting up a microphone for the introduction and post-screening discussion.
YES! Free food is a great motivator for getting people to come to your screening, PLUS it’s a great opportunity to introduce people to tasty, compassionate snacks free of animal products! If you decide you have the resources and volunteer help to provide simple refreshments, we recommend serving them after the film and discussion, because people generally want to stay afterwards and talk about their experience. Be sure the venue has two tables you can use, one for refreshments and one literature to be displayed after the event. You may have to bring your own fold-up tables if they do not come with the space. It's good to have literature available at the end of a screening to help your audience members learn more about the issues, make changes in their own lifestyle, and learn more about working for change. Many audience members appreciate receiving a variety of materials related to the issues in the film that they can then take home and absorb at their own pace. Contact Tribe of Heart in advance for order forms and other materials about the films. There is also a lot of quality educational literature that is available for free or for a minimal charge. Assemble in advance enough literature for your anticipated audience. Any left-over materials can be used at future screenings and events. Develop a timeline Read the Sample Timeline and customize it to your event, working backward from the date you have decided upon. Creating and following the timeline will increase your success. It will become the ‘spine’ of your event planning, listing all of the tasks that must be done, and reminding you of the details. Once you have created your timeline, identify WHO on your core team is doing WHAT task. Each member of the team should have a copy of the timeline as well as access to this step-by-step guide (the guide and the timeline are designed to be used together).
Create a budget If you are doing a small screening, there will be few if any costs involved. However, with larger screenings, potential costs could include venue rental fees, equipment rental, printing, mailing, food and beverage, advertising, etc. It is possible to get all or some of these items donated depending on who is on your core team and if you have organizations collaborating with you. |
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