How to Stage a Public Event

As many members already know from experience, public events can be an important challenging and fun way of drawing public attention to issues of national and local concern. They’re a critical part of “exercising democracy” and essential to building a strong grassroots movement of citizen-activists.

Public events come in all kinds – panel discussions, public forums, information pickets, video screenings, street theater, demonstrations. What form they take is limited only by your imagination, the needs of the moment and the resources available. The more compelling and creative the event, the more likely It is to attract the public and the media.

That makes remembering the basics all the more important, here’s a checklist of some things to keep in mind the next time you organize a public event.

Objectives

• Consider your group’s immediate and long-term campaign goals and discuss what kind of event is best suited to advance those goals. Good group discussions often emerge when the topic turns to objectives.
• All political events share elements of education, mobilization and action. Consider which element you wish to emphasize.

Resources

• Determine what money, people and in-kind donations are available to help stage your event.
• If necessary, develop a plan to find additional resources (e.g., fund-raising, help from members of other groups).

Timing

• Consider the “political moment” – the day or date you can expect to get maximum participation and exposure for your event Some of the best events are timed to coincide with other occasions- – a public holiday (Canada Day), a corporate meeting (an annual shareholders’ meeting) or a political gathering (the annual convention of a political party or a meeting of a global decision-making body)

Tasks

• Make a list of all the tasks to be performed, the day or time they are to be completed and who is responsible. It’s important to make sure that these tasks are shared and that no one person is made responsible for everything.
• Schedule a series of planning meetings before the event to address new questions and hear progress reports on the tasks assigned.

Promotion

• A public event by definition needs the public, so set aside plenty of time to make promotion of your event a priority.
• Consider the ways in which you can promote your event and choose the most effective – for example, flyers, posters, telephone calls, faxes, announcements in other organizations’ mailings or events, e-mail, event listings in community newspapers, announcements on alternative radio and, of course, word of mouth.

Media

• Satisfy yourself that the event is timely and creative.
• Plan strong visuals for photo opportunities.
• Prepare media kits that contain background information and a media release featuring quotable quotes.
• Practice delivering a clear and succinct message, including a few sound bites for Interviews
• Distribute a brief media advisory a day or two before the event and follow up with a friendly phone call on the day of the event.

Last minute work

• Don’t kid yourself-there will always be last-minute work prior to any event. Be prepared to help set up equipment, scramble to find a last-minute replacement for a speaker who can’t make it and, in general, troubleshoot

Enjoy the event

• Although you may often feel frazzled by the time of the event, be sure to take time to have fun. You deserve it!

Evaluation

• Take the opportunity in the days after the event to ask what went well and what could have been done better. Answering such simple, straightforward questions will lead to even better public events in the future.

Article by Brent Patterson, Council of Canadians
Canadian Perspectives / Fall 2000

In solidarity,

Jeannette Meunier-McKay
National President
CEIU