A meeting with experts and/or decision-makers is a category that was created based on the guest with whom we want to talk. Such a meeting, however, can take very different forms - we can meet with an expert person in a very small group to deal with an issue that is important to us, we can have a moderated conversation with residents (which assumes the active participation of a dozen - a few dozen people), or it is possible to have a lecture or speech by a decision-maker that hundreds of people can listen to. The crux of organizing such events, however, is that for some reason we decide that it is worthwhile to enable a certain group of people to meet with an expert or decision-maker of our choice, in order to learn something from them or convey something to them.
I. What you need to know at the start
Ideological assumptions
When organizing such a meeting, there are a few key things to keep in mind:
the person we invite must actually convey value to the group he or she is to speak to (he or she must deal with a topic important to the group, have an impact on the group's life, etc.).
The invited person must know exactly what he or she is agreeing to - how the meeting will proceed, what we expect of him or her, what we care most about,
it is easiest to get people interested in the event if their role is active (absolutely best if it is equal, and if they feel that they are as important as the expert or decision-maker); it is good if they can ask a question, take a photo, make a statement on the forum,
to conduct such a meeting, it is necessary to prepare well; it is advisable to familiarize yourself with the most important interviews with the invited person, his articles, published texts, speeches, program, social media (especially if you moderate the meeting),
to conduct such a meeting, it is necessary to prepare well; it is advisable to familiarize yourself with the most important interviews with the invited person, his articles, published texts, speeches, program, social media (especially if you moderate the meeting),
it is worthwhile to take care of the rules of the meeting or the rules that apply during the meeting so as to ensure the culture of the conversation and a safe space for all participants to express their beliefs.
Required competencies
In order to conduct a meeting with a decision-maker or expert, we first of all need basic logistical skills (to rent and arrange the space). If additional sound, lighting or streaming of the event is needed, technical skills will also come in handy. In order to contact the invited person and ensure their participation, efficient communication is needed. Other competencies depend on the form of the meeting - if our team will be moderating a discussion, experience in conducting discussions is needed, if the meeting will be held in a small group, negotiation and self-presentation skills will be useful, and if we want to ensure a large audience, the help of a person competent in promoting offline and online will be useful.
Dobre praktyki
Organizacja spotkania z udziałem ekspertów/ek i decydentów/ek
Nie musimy mieć “prywatnych kontaktów” z daną osobą, żeby móc do niej dotrzeć. Prawie do każdego eksperta czy decydentki można znaleźć adres mailowy w Internecie - jeśli nie bezpośredni, to do sekretariatu, biura czy asystenta. Warto próbować, przypominać się mailowo czy telefonicznie (oczywiście nie będąc zbyt nachalnymi).
Wysyłając zaproszenie, pamiętajmy o podaniu bardzo dokładnego opisu wydarzenia. Napiszmy co najmniej o tym: - kim jesteśmy, - czym się zajmujemy, - na kiedy planowane jest spotkanie i gdzie się odbędzie, - jaką formułę spotkania chcemy przyjąć, - dlaczego organizujemy spotkanie, - dlaczego chcemy zaprosić akurat tę osobę (jaką wartość wniesie?), - kto jeszcze będzie uczestniczyć w wydarzeniu, - o czym chcemy porozmawiać. Jeśli takimi dysponujemy, warto też załączyć materiały informacyjne - stronę internetową organizacji, prezentację o wydarzeniu, cokolwiek, co dostarczy więcej szczegółów o spotkaniu w ciekawej formie.
Nie zrażajmy się, jeśli osoba, którą chcemy zaprosić, odmówi - oczywiście, gdy mowa tu o spotkaniu z Prezydentką Miasta, ciężko jest znaleźć zastępstwo (choć ostatecznie zawsze można spróbować poprosić o udział Wiceprezydenta!), ale eksperci i ekspertki są zazwyczaj “zastępowalni”. Chodzi o to, że odmowy zdarzają się często, i zazwyczaj nie jest to nasza wina. Trzeba być na to przygotowanym i zapewnić sobie zapas czasowy, żeby zdążyć zareagować i na ten sam termin zaprosić inną osobę.
Z osobą, która przyjęła nasze zaproszenie, należy ustalić szczegóły wydarzenia - jak dokładnie będzie ono przebiegać, jak warto się do niego przygotować, czego oczekujemy, kto pojawi się na widowni lub jaka grupa będzie uczestniczyć w spotkaniu, jakie pytania przewidujemy. To zwiększa komfort, zaufanie i buduje dobrą relację między organizatorem a zapraszaną osobą, a także wpływa pozytywnie na jakość spotkania.
Spotkanie powinno mieć swój harmonogram i scenariusz, nawet, jeśli byłyby one stworzone wyłącznie na wewnętrzny użytek - organizator lub organizatorka musi znać przebieg wydarzenia minuta po minucie, by uniknąć chaosu.
To bardzo ważne, żeby zadbać o dobre samopoczucie osób uczestniczących w spotkaniu: zarówno eksperta czy decydentki, jak i osób uczestniczących. Ważne, żeby wszyscy wiedzieli, czego się spodziewać (warto więc zadbać o prostą, przejrzystą komunikację przed wydarzeniem), czuli się dobrze przygotowani, wiedzieli, jak dotrzeć na miejsce i odnaleźć się w przestrzeni, ufali prowadzącemu lub prowadzącej, że kontroluje sytuację i dobrze wie, co zaraz się wydarzy, ale też mogli wziąć czynny udział w spotkaniu, czuli się tam ważni, docenieni i usłyszeli od organizatora słowa podziękowania (w końcu nie musieli się tam pojawić - warto to docenić!)
Dbanie o atmosferę to nie wszystko. Jeśli ktoś narusza zasady ustalone na początku spotkania, zachowuje się w sposób krzywdzący lub okazuje brak szacunku, należy zareagować poprzez upomnienie, zablokowanie krzywdzących wypowiedzi czy zachowań, a nawet wyproszenie danej osoby z przestrzeni spotkania.
Po zakończeniu spotkania koniecznie należy skontaktować się raz jeszcze z osobą, która była naszym gościem lub gościnią - wystarczy telefon lub mail z podziękowaniem i krótkim podsumowaniem wydarzenia. To kończy współpracę w dobrym tonie.
II. How to get started
Placing activities in time and dividing tasks
The organization of the meeting itself seems to be a fairly simple and not particularly time-consuming undertaking, but, contrary to appearances, it requires quite a long preparation time - mainly due to the external factor of contacting the invited person. Therefore, it is worth starting to think about it well in advance.
List the tasks for each activity
List of tasks
Meetings with expert(s) and decision-makers
35 tasks, 6 categories
Preparation of the event concept:
Consultation with people potentially interested in attending the event (what are their needs? who do they want to meet? what do they want to get out of the meeting?)
Prepare a list of potential people to whom to extend an invitation
Choice of meeting format
Establishing its framework
Logistics of the event:
Establish a disposable budget (if necessary)
Contacting potential spaces where the event can take place (unless you choose to meet online)
Preparation of the content of the email, informing about the details of the organized meeting
Prepare any attachments to the email
Establish a list of potential people we want to invite and number them according to priority
Determine how to contact the person at the top of the list
Sending the invitation along with a set response time
Regular reminders
If the invited person did not respond in time despite reminders or refused to participate, we ask him or her about the possibility of a replacement (if we care more about having someone representing a particular institution, such as a city hall, show up than a specific person) or send an invitation to the next person on the list
Communication of the event:
Selection of channels / ways to promote the event
Preparation of graphic materials to promote the event
Prepare an enrollment system (if it is important to monitor the number of interested people); remember RODO!
Publication of materials (creativity is important - these can be posters, posts on Instagram, but also information on Facebook groups, private messages, requests for sharing by recognizable people, appeals in schools, etc.) and a link to the enrollment system
Provide the enrolled persons with the details of the meeting
Reminding enrolled people about the event
Provide photographic coverage of the event
Publication of materials summarizing the meeting (after the event)
Substantive preparation for the event:
Establishing the purpose of the meeting
Determine a format that will achieve the goal of the event
Selection of the main topic of the meeting
Selection of persons responsible for conducting the meeting
Preparation of the meeting scenario
Contact of persons responsible for conducting the meeting with the invited person to determine its details (e.g. proposals for questions to be asked)
Summary of the meeting:
Determine how to summarize the meeting (how will we find out if we have achieved our goal?)
Prepare materials necessary for feedback on the success of the meeting (e.g., evaluation questionnaire for those attending, list of questions for the invitee to receive after the event)
Conducting a summary
Learning lessons for the future
Grouping of tasks into areas of responsibility (quite broad)
As I'm sure you've noticed for yourself, the tasks in the various activities sometimes repeat or are similar to each other. Now group them into categories. Remember that the areas should not be too narrow or too broad.
EXAMPLE
How tasks are divided into areas of responsibility
4 areas
area 1: Relationships
Includes tasks from the section: Invitations to expert / decision makers
area 2: Marketing and promotion
Includes tasks from the groups: communication and promotion
area 3: Logistics
Includes tasks from the department: logistical preparation of the meeting
area 4: Meritory
Includes tasks related to setting up the event concept, preparing for the event and summarizing the meeting
Timing of tasks (Gantt)
Now try to put all the generated tasks on a timeline. The Gantt Diagram tool will be useful.
TOOL
Gantt diagram
A Gantt diagram is a tool used to plan and track the progress of projects. Imagine you have a big board with days or weeks marked on it. On this board, you place different bars that represent the various tasks needed to complete the project. Each bar shows when the task starts, how long it takes and when it ends. This makes it easy to see what needs to be done, when it's happening and how the different tasks are related to each other. The Gantt Diagram helps teams organize their work, makes it easy to track progress and helps keep the project on track for completion. You can find a Gantt Diagram template in Google Sheets, for example.
Division of responsibility for task areas
At the very end, see your plan, analyze whether there is definitely nothing missing there, and finally divide in the team the responsibility for given areas of activity (we suggest you share not tasks, but whole areas). Take into account the competence and time capabilities of the people in the team in question.
Budget
The final piece of logistical planning is to create a budget. As you can see, depending on the format of the event you have adopted, you can manage without cost (online event), but you can also invest quite a lot in this endeavor (space rental, equipment, streaming, coffee break, speaker's salary). Based on your planned activities, prepare a statement of all the costs you will incur for the activity.
III. Important matters in progress
Resource inventory:
You already have a preliminary plan for the event, you know your budget, you have divided the tasks, everything looks really good. Now take a cold, critical look at what you have at your disposal. Will you have enough time, enough money, will there be enough people at the meeting, does your team have enough experience and preparation to carry it out? Of course, it's not a matter of understating your potential, but of rationally assessing it. This is the last moment to see where you need to put more work and effort. Look at each area one by one. If you notice that something is not right, think about possible scenarios for improvement. What can be done to address the problem?
EXAMPLE
Challenge: "I'm afraid we are not so familiar with computer graphics to prepare professional posts to inform about the event."
Solution: Find the time to look for a helping hand to the "Marketing and Promotion" team, such as announcing a call for volunteers at art schools, among friends, cultural centers, etc.
List of tasks
Determine what competencies you need,
writing the announcement,
research among friends, forwarding information to places where people interested in graphic design are educated,
recruitment of a volunteer/volunteer,
Agreeing on the principles of cooperation
things to remember
At this stage you should already know perfectly well what to do. To put you even more firmly on the right track, we have prepared some instructions on how to work in each area:
Concept of the event
This is the most important moment within the preparation. It should not be underestimated. Take enough time to ask yourself the important questions: Is this meeting really necessary? Why? Who will be interested in it? What value will it bring to the lives of those attending? How to make the best use of the presence of the invited person? How to encourage her to attend the meeting, why will it be attractive to her? How to make the course of the event interesting? Imagine that you are on the side of the people who are to come to the event. Try to think what such a person can expect, what will encourage him/her to attend the meeting, will he/she enjoy it. This will help you create an attractive list of potential guests and choose the most interesting format for the event.
Logistics
Book the hall well in advance. Ideally, if you manage to "make a deal" with the local community center, school or city hall to provide you with such a place for free. Remember to agree in advance on the terms of cooperation - preferably by contract. Also make sure that the room is well lit and large enough, there are enough chairs, tables in the room, and that it has a screen, projector and other equipment you may need.
Make yourself a list of the equipment you need well in advance. Take care of every detail and determine what you have provided as part of the room rental and what you need to get on your own. Make sure the invitee has any equipment and space needs.
If the room is large, you plan to have a coffee break or use a lot of equipment, you may need a larger team to clean up after the event - for this it would be a good idea to get some male and female volunteers to help you on site. Remember that these individuals must know their tasks well.
If the meeting is held virtually, choose an appropriate program for this (e.g., Zoom); one that will meet your needs: allow the anticipated number of people to participate, allow you to control the event, ask questions in chat if you anticipate them, etc. Be sure to do a trial run to make sure everything will work as expected!
Invitations to expert / decision makers
Use all sources of contact you can come up with - an email to the secretary's office, a phone call to the office, a Facebook profile, Instagram, an assistant's LinkedIn - the most important thing is that the invitation gets through. It is better to receive a refusal than to be aware that the message never reached the addressee.
The email must have a catchy title. We're not talking clickbait, but it's important that it implies that it's an invitation to an event on a topic that's important to the person you're writing to.
Think about what might convince an invited person - what does he or she care about? If it's a local politician, and an election is coming up, it will probably be a little easier, because such a person is looking for contact with potential voters and female voters. In the case of an expert person, you have to be a little more adventurous. Maybe it's important for such a person to get in touch with young people? Or maybe she wants to expand her business online, and you can provide her with content by recording the entire event? You are limited by your imagination!
Communication and promotion
Choose the right channel for your preferred target audience. If you want to reach young people, Instagram will probably be best. Facebook if your target group is middle-aged people from your local area, and TikTok if you care about reaching a group from all over the country. Speaking of seniors - think about outdoor advertising, such as posters, as well as information in senior citizens' homes or even an announcement from the church pulpit, if you know a friendly priest ;)
Remember to monitor the number of people interested in attending the event, that way nothing will surprise you. Prepare, for example, the simplest Google form. You do not need to collect exact personal information, just the name and a declaration that the person wants to appear. This way it will be easier to assess whether you will fill the whole room, what coffee break to serve the group, etc. Remember, however, that these are only declarations. On the day of the event, slightly fewer people may show up (because someone was sick, because it rained, because he stayed at work a little longer, however...)
Never underestimate the power of Facebook events!
You can ask friendly (or less friendly, and sometimes even a little stranger) organizations in your area, or ones that deal with a similar topic, for help with promotion. Sharing on an account with a large reach can make all the difference. If the invited person has such an account or is affiliated with an organization, ask them to add the material you have prepared.
Meritory
The main task in this area is to prepare a scenario for the workshop. Here is what should be included in it:
purpose of the event - why we are holding it and what impact it is expected to have
duration - how long the individual parts will last, and how much the whole thing will take. Without this knowledge, we cannot predict how much time we need to carry it out.
program - that is, a step-by-step description of what is to happen.
Biogram of an expert / decision-maker - when launching the event, the guest or guest speaker should be properly introduced (it is a good idea to obtain such a bio directly from the source)
Short description of the organizers - be sure to introduce yourself too!
Principles of cooperation - it is worthwhile to present to the whole group how the meeting will be conducted, the arrangements we want to stick to and the situations in which we commit to respond.
Script of the meeting proceedings - depending on the format, it will look different; if it's a small meeting, just the points you want to touch on will suffice so you don't forget anything. If it's a Q&A session, let's prepare opening statements to explain the rules, and closing statements. If it's going to be a moderated discussion, then it's a good idea to write out the questions you intend to ask the invitee.
Acknowledgements - in the fervor and excitement it is easy to forget the simplest things, so a small astringent at the end will save the announcers.
Summary
Depending on the format of the meeting, we may choose to evaluate the event in different ways:
If you are meeting online, it will be easiest to send the participating group a link to a Google form (or similar), where you will ask about their impressions (e.g. How do you rate the preparation of the facilitator / moderator? How do you rate the atmosphere during the meeting? Did you learn anything new?). It's difficult, because sometimes someone won't like something, and we may expose ourselves to criticism, but the answers in the survey are only available to us, and by analyzing them we can draw conclusions for the future. The online survey can also be sent to the group attending the offline meeting, if we have their email addresses.
If we do not have the ability to send an online form to participants, we can prepare question cards to distribute at the beginning or end of the meeting. Then remember to prepare a cardboard box/box where the completed questionnaires will go.
The invitee should also be asked for his or her opinion - we can do this by phone, email or in person. It's a good idea to prepare questions for this beforehand, thinking about what information will help us better plan similar activities in the future.
Self-control mechanism
Bravo! You already have everything you need to start implementing your action. Now the most important thing is to monitor progress and respond to problems. To this end, we offer you the solution of periodic evaluation meetings. Choose one person among you who will be the coordinator/coordinator of the activity. Her task will be to conduct, for example, weekly meetings, during which those responsible for particular task areas will be able to tell you how the preparations are going and say whether they need any help. Such an arrangement will allow you to lean together on emerging problems and ensure a good flow of information within the team.
We are keeping our fingers crossed for you! Good luck!
IV. Example
CASE STUDY
Premiere of the "Youth Activism" report of the Important Issues Foundation
PURPOSE OF THE MEETING
The Important Matters Foundation has published an original report on its survey of young male and female social activists. We wanted to share the results from the report and at the same time make the event more interesting for those invited. We were concerned that the presentation of the data alone might not be engaging enough to encourage too many to attend, so we expanded it to include a meeting with a representative of the Ministry for Civil Society.
TARGET GROUP
We expected the participation of people working in social organizations, schools, state institutions working for the younger generation, as well as social activists and activists themselves. We wanted the group to meet with someone who has a real impact on their daily work and activity, who can provide them with valuable knowledge, information and perspective.
Expert person:
Michal Braun, Ministry representative for civil society, then Director of the Program Council of the National Freedom Institute
Preparation process:
Establish the purpose of the meeting.
Target group description.
Prepare a schedule for the meeting - to make it as engaging and interesting as possible for the target group.
Choosing the topic of discussion with an expert person, which we decided to conduct (we agreed on the topic of institutional support for social activities).
Choosing the format of the meeting with an expert person (we decided on a moderated conversation with an opportunity for the audience to ask questions).
Selection of a person from our team to prepare and conduct a moderated interview.
Preparation of invitation content.
Getting a contact for the Ministry for Civil Society (we called the Prime Minister's Office to ask for an email address to which we can address the invitation), sending an invitation and regular reminders about the issue.
Obtain a response (due to limited term availability, the Minister offered us the participation of her representative, which also fulfilled the purpose of our event).
Contact an expert to arrange the details of the interview and the date of the event.
Preparation of the scenario of the event.
Space Reservation.
Creation of promotional materials for the event.
Develop a recruitment form and promote the event on social media.
Hiring a person responsible for photo-reporting.
Acquisition of necessary equipment.
Contact people signed up for the event to provide them with logistical and content details.
Conducting the launch.
Summary of the event (e-mail thanks, evaluation survey and contact with expert person).
