how to book
how to plan an event
This is a primer from a super-activist we know named Kate Palmer who has worked with Third Wave, roadied for Erin McKeown, and organized our visit to Ohio Wesleyan from scratch. We asked her to describe how to set up an event in case you could use ideas. Kate is so cool that she has provided her e-mail address and is willing to offer personal assistance and advice if you need it. orangesock@hotmail.com
In addition to Kate, Nina Schichor (who arranged for Jen and Amy to speak at Swarthmore during her final weeks there) has volunteered her expertise to Soapbox Inc: Speakers Who Speak Out. Nina has organized many events -- on campus and off--and knows how to maneuver the system. E-mail Nina at ninaschichor@hotmail.com if you need help organizing your event!
When I decided to invite Amy and Jennifer to Ohio Wesleyan University the first step was mentioning it in various conversations I had. I simply could not keep my mouth shut because I could not contain my excitement about the prospect of them coming to speak about Manifesta—which proved to be beneficial in the long run. I would mention it to my friends and to people I especially thought would be interested—the director of the Women's Studies department, the Women's Resource Center interns, professors who had previously supported similar events.
I started noticing that the more I talked about it, the more other people started talking about it. Soon someone came to me and said "I heard you're bringing the authors of Manifesta to our campus!!" The word got out before I had even booked a date. Word-of-mouth advertising proved to be very helpful because I got a sense of whether or not my campus would be supportive and also got a sense which groups on campus would be interested in supporting the event.
The first person I approached about supporting this event was the Women's Studies departmental head, Connie Richards, who was extremely supportive and eager to work on this project. My next step was contacting Amy and Jennifer. To my advantage, I had met Amy earlier in the year—so I had a direct connection with her. However, do not get intimidated by contacting speakers and lecturers through large agencies without any direct personal connection. Most writers and speakers have contact information on their website, or, you can contact their publisher and track them down.
It is actually really easy to call a large agency and tell them you're interested in getting their client to come to your event. I've worked on other projects where I've had to go through agencies to bring speakers—the key is to contact them really early in the planning stages so you have more flexibility on the date (and often times the price too!). Agencies often plan a regional tour so if you show interest early enough and are willing to have them decide the date of the event, the fee can be decreased even more.
You will probably have to provide your speaker housing and meals for the night. Some schools have an apartment set aside on campus for this use or you can probably get a deal at a the local hotel that your school uses—your Student Activities department might know the answer to these questions. By offering to pay for housing and meals, you may be able to lessen the fee by a considerable amount.
My next step was officially approaching campus organizations and asking them to lend their financial and moral support on this project. The first organization I approached was the main women's group on campus, "Women's Task Force." When I proposed the idea, I included the fact that the Women's Studies department was supportive and also brought along a copy of Manifesta to provide a visual aid. While this group was interested in the idea, they were not ready to fully endorse it with their time or money. So I moved on and did not give up. I really feel that the key to my success in organizing is not giving up whenever I encountered a hurdle. Once I realized that this group was not going to fully support this event, I looked around campus to see who else would be interested. Instead of working with "feminist" clubs on campus, I devoted my energy to working with the Women's Studies director, Connie.
After Amy and I set a date, I immediately went to the campus event coordinator (the person in charge of organizing and reserving rooms for every event on a campus. Most campuses have an equivalent to this person. It is very important to get the time and date and room in which you want the event to take place cleared with this person. Otherwise, someone else could be using the room you wanted to use or there might be another big event going on the night of your event.
After I realized this event was really going to happen and I found someone to help me organize it, and I set a date, I now needed to find funding. I have always believed that somehow the event funding will appear—it is just a matter of not giving up and trying unique and creative routes to get the money. I have to admit—funding was the largest obstacle in planning and organizing the event. Connie and I brainstormed how we could get money. The Women's Studies department could give a little bit, but (with their already small budget) they couldn't afford to give much. We then started thinking of other departments that might be interested in this event. Jennifer is a journalist, so we asked the journalism department to help sponsor.
We next approached the NARAL group on campus—they were immediately supportive because of Amy and Jennifer's dedication to pro-choice issues. I then approached the house on campus I in which I live, the Peace and Justice house—which has always been supportive of progressive speakers especially when organized by members of their house. Connie had a connection with the school Provost so she approached him about financially supporting this event. After a few weeks of consideration he then agreed. His financial dedication to this event was key in meeting our goal. We had almost enough money so we re-approached the Women's Task Force and the Women's Resource Center, this time because of the buzz that had been created about this event, they were willing to support it.
By this time, there was about three weeks before the actual event. This is the time when I made the hotel reservations, contacted professors about offering extra credit for attendance, double-checking on our reserved room, and worked on publicity. Aside from securing funding, publicity is the most important aspect of putting an event together. A week before the event we blanketed the campus with flyers, had professors announce it in class, put up a display featuring the book, a photo, and flyers in the high traffic area of the student union. We also "chalked the walk," which is something many college event organizers do—advertise on the sidewalk in the main parts of campus. Besides that, we just did more word of mouth advertising. I literally told every person I knew on campus (and many I didn't) about it and encouraged them to come.
Overall, the event was a success. More people came than expected including people from the local community, professors, the university newspaper and many others. The audience was very receptive to their message and the discussion was continued with a reception afterwards.— Kate Palmer
September, 2002
