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[Outdated] SOP: Organising Events

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The Centre for Internet and Society

Events Best Practices

Preparation

  1. Decide on a suitable date, location, and venue for the event. This may be tied to the nature of the event (Workshop, Symposium, Roundtable, etc).
  2. Coordinate with the respective administrators (Delhi- Nisha, Bangalore- Ajoy) to block halls at the decided venue. Common venues: Delhi- India Habitat Centre, India Islamic Cultural Centre, India International Centre. Bangalore- TERI, Omidyar (approach via Sunil instead, or directly).
  3. Most venues require an advance payment, while some do not charge at all. Coordinate with the the heads of the corresponding CIS project to obtaining approval and signatures for the required payments, and coordinate with the administrative teams to enact the transaction. Keep all formal communication recorded in email form, and cc the project head/director on these mails.
  4. Also decide if meals/snacks/beverages will be served at the event, and arrange for payments similarly. Commonly used caterers: Bangalore - Food Vision (Shakun: +91 98807 63351). Delhi - ________ .
  5. Other expenses likely to be incurred prior to the event include: Standees/Banner, Notebooks and Water Bottles for participants, Audio-Video services/equipment, Material printed out for distribution during the event, Transport for participants, Accommodation for participants.
  6. Draft a tentative Concept Note and Agenda for the event, which is internally reviewed by the project head/team, and format them to be sent alongwith invitations.
  7. Decide on a list of participants/speakers at the event, and collect their email addresses and other contact details (from the CIS databases, if possible). Prepare email invitations to the event, and use mail merge to send them out. Ideally, invitations to speakers for workshops/symposia must be sent out as early as possible. Invitations to participants, or audience invites must be sent out by 10-15 days before the event.
  8. All events organised at CIS must have a registration form to be filled out by all participants/attendees.
  9. The form must collect the contact details of each participant, ID proof, and will also have an undertaking that the participant shall conduct themselves appropriately and they understand that CIS is within its right to blacklist the person and remove the person from the premises if any incident of inappropriate behaviour is reported.
  10. The “Event Delegation Kit” must be presented to all attendees prior to the commencement of the event. (The kit contains a copy of CIS policies along with a list of terms and conditions and/or do’s and don’ts for appropriate behaviour).
  11. Posters or notices must be prepared and put up detailing information about CIS’s IC and the redressal mechanisms, along with the relevant contact numbers. The event page on the CIS website must also link to the anti-sexual harassment policy of CIS.
  12. Note: For lengthier events, CIS should consider preparing an independent set of terms, conditions, and code of conduct for the participants and attendees.
  13. Upload an Event page to the CIS website, with the concept note, agenda and formatted banners. The page must contain the following details about the event: Time, Location, Google maps link to the venue, RSVP Contact (email, and phone number), Google Forms Registration link, and notable confirmed speakers/attendees. (alternatives to Google may be used).
  14. Mark the event on the CIS online calendar.
  15. Based on the nature of the event (public, or closed door), the event page may be circulated on social media, notably Twitter, using the official CIS handle. Additionally, a Facebook event page may also be created (This requires a CIS Facebook Page, which does not presently exist).
  16. Send an email to [email protected] with the event details, and if needed, an invitation.
  17. A response email must be sent to each participant/speaker that replies. For negative responses, conditional to the nature of the event, it might be a good idea to enquire about colleagues who might be able to attend in the invitee’s place. It might also be a good idea to request that the invitees circulate the invitation amongst their colleagues.
  18. Reminder emails and phone calls must be made at regular time periods, leading up to the event. Suggested: Reminder mails 1 week before the event, 3-4 days before the event, and emails and/or phone calls the day before the event/morning of the event. A brief list of recommended readings must be prepared and sent with one set of reminder mails.
  19. Make sure standees and banners are ready latest by 1-2 days before the event.

Checklist for Event Day

Check if the following are ready on the day of the event:

  1. Venue: - Water, Notepads, Tea, Lunch.
  2. Print material.
  3. Banner/Standee(s) set up in the right location(s).
  4. Recording equipment/crew.
  5. Speakers (Reach out to them once more on the day of the event).

Post-Event Tasks

  1. Obtain a recording of the event, for the purposes of drafting an event report.
  2. Create a mailing list, if needed among the participants to share resources/feedback.
  3. Otherwise, send thank you emails to the attendees/participants.
  4. Follow up with selected participants/speakers for interviews (if needed).
  5. Draft an event report, ideally within a week of the event date.
  6. Coordinate with CIS administrators to finish pending payments (catering, venue, etc).

Note:

  1. India Habitat Centre - +011 24682002,
  2. India Islamic Cultural Centre - +011 43535353,
  3. India International Centre - +011 24619431,
  4. TERI - +080 25356590, +91 9550164234 (Srikanth),
  5. Omidyar - Email [email protected], or [email protected], Ph. No - 080 67197575, +91 9686709663 (Sheela BG).
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