Category: Events and Activities

What questions should I consider as I plan an event?

Before you start planning your event, you’ll need an idea. Whether your organization has done the event every year for the past ten years or you’re trying something completely new, below are some considerations you should make to your event planning team:

• What are the needs of our organization and how can an event help meet those needs?
• What are the needs of the campus community and how can our event help meet those needs?
• What do we want participants to learn or experience at our event?
• What is the mission of our organization? How do our events align with our mission?

Going through these questions with your event planning team will help to focus your efforts and decide what methods would be effective in meeting the needs of your organization and the UP community. Once you have reflected on and discussed these questions, it is time to start brainstorming the details:

• What’s the purpose of the event? Are you trying to raise money for your organization or a non-profit? Are you trying to increase the visibility of your organization on campus? Are you trying to provide a social or experiential opportunity for the UP community? Are you hosting an event to celebrate a holiday, milestone, or historic event?
• What activities and elements will we incorporate to support the purpose of the event and the mission of our organization? Live music? Speaker or lecturer? Sports activity? Food? Novelty act?
• Are there opportunities for collaboration with another organization? Are there organizations or departments that have similar missions or functions to ours?
• Who will take the lead in coordinating the event? Who will be the point people? The marketing coordinator? The logistics coordinator? The co-sponsorships coordinator?
• What time and day of the week are ideal for our event? Select a few different options to remain flexible.
• How many people do we expect to attend our event? Make sure your expected attendance matches the room capacity of your location.
• What locations would be ideal for our event? Select 2-3 different options to remain flexible.
• What would be the ideal start and end time of our event? How much set-up and breakdown time will we need?
• Who is most likely to attend our event? Who is your target audience?