Friday, March 15, 2024

Local Events in your community and region

Are you aware of the local events taking place in your community and region? Every week, communities across Australia plan, and host events to promote their towns, activities, festivals, and regular celebrations.

So how can you:

  • find out about upcoming events
  • participate in events
  • promote events.
Finding out about events in your local community and region isn't all that difficult.  Simply begin by visiting your local information centre, googling, going to the local Facebook noticeboard for your town, or looking up your regional council events calendar.

There are always events and opportunities to connect with your community taking place.

For example:  Here in Yungaburra we have a monthly "Sunday afternoon in the park" event where local performers can showcase their bands and talent to our local community. (Reference: https://www.facebook.com/yungaburrarotunda).

My local community is always hosting events to encourage connection.  We have monthly markets, an annual book fair, monthly N-F-P group meetings for various interests, and groups that work together to promote our local environment, classic vehicles, sports, and the wider region.

Participating in events?  A suggestion is to simply attend some of the promoted events and take a look.  There's an opportunity to meet people and make connections.  You may find like-minded people and a group where you fit. 

Promoting events - what skills and talents do you have that could assist groups and n-f-p organisations to promote their events?  Can you use social media well or have the ability to write promos, take photos, or event planning?  Getting involved may mean some of your time, but your involvement helps to create a more positive community and a means of connection.





What do you know about your community?  How can you use your skills to enrich the area in which you live?  

Friday, March 8, 2024

Event Planning (don’t be afraid to ask for help)

 To successfully ensure your event runs smoothly, you will need help. Even a small-scale event runs better if you have help.

If you are planning a small afternoon tea for an executive group, it might be as simple as booking a table at a café and advising the date and time, plus any dietary needs, as well as advising tea/coffee preferences and who will be paying the invoice and how.

Larger events can run more smoothly if you enlist the help of others, whether paid staff or volunteers.

Some help you may need:

A person assigned to the registration table to ensure delegates/attendees are registered and given any items for the events (program/sponsorship promos),

Someone to collect speakers/presenters from the airport/train station, etc,

Someone to help you oversee the final preparations of accommodation, catering, and staging (decorating).

Someone to help you ensure permits/insurance and advertising are met.

Tip: Communication is key!  Ensure you provide regular communications to registered attendees, staff (and volunteers), sponsors, and your managers.

Ensure you keep invoices, receipts, and financial paperwork and continue to update the budget to reflect what is taking place.

Have your paperwork ready and together so that all agreements, insurance, permits, risk management and incident reports, etc. are easily found, should you need them.

Tip: write up a post-event report and note what was successful and what could have been better.  If asking attendees for comments, take note of both positive and negative comments for future planning.


Friday, March 1, 2024

Event Planning (so you have an idea)

So, you have an idea!  That’s great.  How do you execute this idea from simply that, an idea to an actual event?

When tasked with ensuring a successfully planned event, what are the first steps that you need to undertake?

Timeline and initial planning -

What is the event for and who do you want to invite/expect? Will the event be open to the public, is registration required and is there a cost?

What do you expect to achieve from this event,

Budget and reporting - cost of event and costs to plan and execute event? How will you fund this event?

Venue for the event (Risk Management and insurance, technical equipment required, staging of the event, security, permits (e.g. RSA),

Date/s and time/s of event,

Presenters and speakers – what is their availability and what needs do they have regarding accommodation, catering, transportation and health.

Staffing requirements: will you have paid staff or volunteers, or a mixture?  What crews are needed for planning, set-up, working through the event, and then pulling down/tidying up.

Advertising (Print/social media/website) and invitations – printed/online/ticket sales/registration),

Required travel and accommodation – is access easy to transport people or park vehicles, will people need to fly or drive, can they use public transport?

Catering for the event (food and beverages).

Whilst there is much to be considered and undertaken, with some forethought and proficient follow-up and planning, a successful outcome can be obtained.

Firstly, set up a timeline leading up to the event itself.  When is the event to be held – and what do you need to ensure that this will be a successful event?

As you will require funds to ensure a successful event, begin researching on costs of venue, catering, insurance, travel, advertising, staffing, registration, staging the event (how it is presented), technical equipment, cost of presenters/speakers, time needed for ensuring each person involved knows what their role is and how to undertake that role, etc.

Tip:  Have a “Plan A” and a “Plan B”




Friday, February 23, 2024

Diary planning and Scheduling meetings

 Diary planning…scheduling meetings!!!

Do you groan with frustration when this task is next on your list, or do you find it easy?  From many years of scheduling meetings and adding tasks, events, etc into different managers’ diaries, I have found that the main component of concise, well-planned diary management versus frustration, stress, and ‘pull-your hair-out’ diary planning and scheduling is one simple word:  Communication!

Communication is key to ensuring:

·        Meetings are planned with breaks, appropriate notes and reports, and travel time allowed (if required),

·        Meetings are concise and all attendees know the time allotted and the reason for the meeting,

·        The diary is well-maintained with appropriate information included and easy for the manager and assistant to review quickly.

When communication is poor, the secretary/assistant arranging meetings and scheduling the diary will be frustrated, not able to include appropriate documentation or information and then often feels that the task is overwhelming.  I have been in different areas of both paid and not-for-profit where people assigned to scheduling meetings put it off and then the meeting/s do not accomplish their purpose.

Some tips that may help:

·        I cannot stress enough how important COMMUNICATION is to successfully plan meetings.

·        Review daily/weekly the meetings that need to be arranged and book them as early as possible.

·        Gather all documentation required (reports/data/plans) and have the required number of copies ready for attendees.

·        You may find using color coding in the diary system helpful.

·        Ensure an email is sent after you have phoned to book an appointment, confirming the appointment/meeting.

·        Send a follow-up email 24 hours prior to the meeting as a confirmation.

·        If you need to postpone/cancel a meeting, do so as early as possible and if required, re-book.

·        Have your scheduled meeting list ready and all your folders/documents together so that you can quickly access the required information.

Communicate with co-workers/volunteers as required to advise when you will be available to speak between meetings so that interruptions are kept to a minimum.

Hopefully, some of these tips are helpful and I am sure you will have more to add from your years of experience.

 


Friday, February 16, 2024

Following up Post Meeting

 One of the key points I have learned over the past 30+ years of working in the N-F-P areas and participating in meetings is that having an ‘Action Sheet’, or ‘Follow-up post meeting’ sheet for the different people involved is a very helpful document.

So, what I am talking about?

You attend a meeting, take notes, type minutes, correspondence, etc. as a secretary.  You send out the final minutes, and a week before the next meeting, one of the managers/directors, etc. will contact you asking what they were supposed to complete before the upcoming meeting? So, you scurry through the last set of minutes trying to note where they were assigned tasks and then collate all you’ve found to send to them.

One way I have learned to overcome this issue from many years of experience writing minutes is to have an ‘action sheet’ where I note the tasks to be completed by different portfolios/managers as I am finalizing the minutes to be sent out.

You may have one sheet and note all actions with the name of the assigned person and perhaps a ‘tick box’   next to their name; alternatively, you may choose to have a sheet per portfolio/manager and list for them all their assigned tasks.  It would be very helpful to them if you also include where in the minutes each task has been assigned to them.

Example:

Name of Portfolio:                           XXXX XXXXXXXX

Minutes of Meeting:                       XX – XX XXXX

Tasks Assigned:

             Item #                                 Task: ______________________________________________

             Item #                                 Task: ______________________________________________

 

This step in your finalizing minutes and post-meeting steps will assist, not only you but also the portfolios/managers who have been assigned tasks.

You may think, well it’s their responsibility, and that is true, however, as the secretary/administrator, it helps you to be a positive communicator.