Events
Events!
This document tries to cover all the basics for a simple one day event happening at AHA. This document is not meant to cover the intricacies of Summer Camp, building curriculum, doing a dry run for your class, etc. There are many small details that go into running a successful event, hopefully this document will help cover the basics.
People who want to run an event at AHA should be able to do so with ease, and there should be someone at AHA who can help facilitate this in an efficient way.
People who want to participate in an event at AHA should be able to find out what we are doing via our shop, staff, web site and other local / online means. An event description should give them everything they need to know. Our submission form is one example of the information we should have collected to form a solid description.
Needs / In Progress
- Feel free to attach your name if you can help out with this!
- A documented process for events (Josh)
- That is this document.
- Eventually this should be split into two documents:
- One for people who wish to run an event
- One for people who handle the processing of events
- A submission form (Josh)
- This has been created, now we need to:
- Clarify who the event staff are that this will notify via email
- Clarify the process that event staff follow once they have been notified.
- This partially depends on the following items being resolved. But we shouldn't wait until then.
- This has been created, now we need to:
- A process for handling payments (Nate, Tyler, Ken)
- Currently Paypal, and currently a PITA to setup for each event
- A process for handling events/registration/recurrence. (Nate, Tyler, Ken)
- A process for automating submission to multiple outlets, ie: Wordpress, Facebook, Google Calendar (Nate, Tyler, Ken)
The Process
An idea for an event is formed (Anyone can do this)
- A Name for the Event
- A Date and Time for the Event
- Check the AHA Google Calendar to find open slots
- A Description
- Your contact Information
- General Requirements of Attendees
- Age is good to know! If no age specified, we should make sure to note "All Ages Welcome" in our event description.
- General Requirements of AHA
- Min. and Max. # of people you can handle attending
- How much money AHA should Charge
The idea is submitted (Anyone can do this)
The idea is reviewed (AHA Event Staff)
- Event staff should review this posting for
- Possibilities of double scheduling
- Working out any monetary issues, ie:
- Is the teacher being compensated?
- Do materials need to be purchased?
- Is AHA available to fulfill any requested requirements?
- At this point in time, this process is not here for us to decide whether an event is appropriate for AHA. This process is to facilitate someone running an event at AHA.
A confirmation email is delivered to the submitter (AHA Event Staff)
- This should include any questions that may need answering
The Event is Posted (AHA Event Staff)
- Tyler/Nate/Ken have some input some automation.
- Setting up payment processing method
- Online: At the All Hands Active event page for that event
- In store: Set up Square Item (Works for Cash/Check/Credit/Debit)
- ???
- Posting to internal sources:
- AHA Google Calendar First (Doesn't require images, payment, registration, etc.
- AHA Website
- AHA Facebook Page
- AHA Facebook Group
- AHA Members Discussion List
- AHA Public Discussion List
- AHA Announce List (Mailchimp, ask Josh for login details)
- Posting to external sources, ie:
- Arborweb
- Craigslist - Not actively using, maybe a good idea?
- Meetup - Not actively using, maybe a good idea?
- [1] - Not actively using, maybe a good idea?
- Ann Arbor Observer
- Ann Arbor Family
- The teacher / leader of this class or workshop should be involved in the promotion of it. Ideally to communities that are more specifically related to the event.
- Posting to physical media
- Monthly Event Listing print outs
- Fliers / posters if appropriate
Day of, but prior to event'
- Staff should have some way of knowing that an event is happening that day (Assuming we are open)
- Space should be cleared / cleaned up
- Any people using the space where the class will be held should be notified that an AWESOME event is happening that is SO awesome they might have to move.
During the event
- Someone should be able to take money and point people to where the workshop is.
- Someone else (teacher/leader) should be able to handle people once they have paid.
After the event
- Can we get feedback from the people who attended it?
- Can we get feedback from the teacher/organizer?
- Can we provide feedback to the teacher/organizer if appropriate?
Resources
Directory of Major Events - Includes Template for the Printed List of Events]
- Previous Printed AHA Monthly Event Listings - Contact Josh for full access online, or access down at the shop on one of the Lab computers via: \\aha-control\shared\dropbox\Official AHA Stuff\
Event Submission Form Responses
Previous Document for keeping track of events Has some useful information, may no longer be useful
AHA Logos - Contact Josh for full access online, or access down at the shop on one of the Lab computers via: \\aha-control\shared\dropbox\AHA Logo Stuff\
General AHA Artwork - Contact Josh for full access online, or access down at the shop on one of the Lab computers via: \\aha-control\shared\dropbox\Official AHA Stuff\
Automation
- Google calendar to Twitter -> When an event starts on Google Calendar Ifttt.com automation will publish a tweet. (allhandsactive email account)
- Google calendar to facebook page -> When an event starts on Google Calendar ifttt.com automation will post to the facebook page.
- Google calendar to facebook events -> Using this app https://apps.facebook.com/569405306473689/ we publish our google calendar to facebook events. This supports pictures via an X- extra field. We don't have this configured at the moment. The current setting is to publish all events up to 35 days in advance.
GAE App: https://bitbucket.org/tsworman/ahaevent - Develop event plan, post events, publish to social media, manage attendance and paypal payments, payment tracking, attendance contact information.