By :Tyler Sepcoski NER Area 5

What is the Point of the Event Why are you holding the event? Trainings?Fund Raiser?Fun? What do you want accomplished? Fun weekend?Increased awareness? How do you accomplish this? Lots of activities?Trainers?Selling goods?

Is your event a solution? If your event is the solution to something, understand the problem so you can set your goal and make your event be what it needs to be. ProblemSolutionGoal Need Money Fund Raiser Money

Does the Event fit the Goal? If your goal won’t be met by your event then change your event a bit. If your goal is to run a training event, then a weekend at camp filled with activates might not cut it, but a weekend at camp filled with activities AND a three hour session training participants how to run a effective crew meeting can work. There is more than one solution for most things, so think of a few ways and then chose the best.

Who’s Planning What? Don’t need to do it all yourself! Split up the jobs and make sure everyone knows the goals and is up-to-date. Activities Schedule VP of Program Fliers Video promos VP of Communication Help VP of Program with contacting consultants Help VP of Comm with video filming VP of Admin

Is there a Theme? Themes can put a fun twist on any event. Aquatics can be much more fun if you’re acting like a pirate! Theme’s can be simple or complex, but keep it understandable. What do I wear to the Zombie-Ninja Turtle-Pirate weekend???

Themes-Continued Make sure no one else is planning a similarly themed event. If a council in your area is planning a Space Jam event this Fall, don’t plan a Space Jam event for a while. You don’t want to confuse participants or “steal” participants from their event.

Themes-Part 3 Re-using yearly theme is fine, and might even help keep participants coming back, but make some changes so things don’t get old. A repetitive event can get boring… A repetitive event can get boring… A repetitive event can get boring… A repetitive event can get boring… A repetitive event can get boring… A repetitive event can get boring… A repetitive event can get boring… A repetitive event can get boring… A repetitive event can get boring…

Keep things Active Keeping a good pace for activities at a weekend trip is important. It helps set the feel for the entire trip. Too Fast Tired and overwhelmed participants Too Slow Bored participants waiting around Just right Happy participants and good reviews

Where is your Event Make sure you know where your event will be early on. This way you can plan for details like what you can bring, what you can do there and how many people can come. i.e. Area event open to everyone at a camp that has a dinning hall that only fits 250 scout = Cap of 400 participants Camp doesn’t have a waterfront = No aquatic activities

LET THE WORD BE KNOWN!!! Get the word out about your event long before it happens. More time to advertise, more time to register, participants can save the date and you’re less likely to have conflicting schedules like someone else booking the camp before you.

Fliers Fliers are probably the first time someone will learn about you event, so make them look good. Microsoft Publisher is you friend! It can help guide you to a smooth looking flier. Make sure you have the 5 W’s on your flier: Who, What, When, Where and Why.

Fliers- Continued Who: Who’s holding the event P.S. You and your area What: What’s your event, its theme and what will be happening there When: Date Where: Place and address Why: Trainings? Fun? Fund raiser? It’s also a good idea to have you website and area listed so they can look for more info as it comes out or ask questions.

Weather Keep the weather in mind. Holding a sports oriented event during winter makes it become winter sports. If you were hoping for soccer, basket ball and volley ball, you might end up with skiing, ice skating and snow fort building. Mother Nature loves Scouting! She shows it by giving us the most extreme weather she can share with us! So be prepared! And that leads to…

KEEP A PLAN B! Plan for Murphy’s Law, if it can go wrong, it will go wrong. If your outside activities get canceled due to poor weather, keep a plan of back-up activities you can hold inside. Your aquatics canceled due to thunder at your Zombie-fest event? Keep some zombie movies and a projector ready just incase. Or play zombie tag in the open side of the Dinning Hall.

Timing Timing can mean everything for some activities. Climbing the rock tower? Cool. Climbing it at night with glow sticks? AWSOME! Playing soccer? Fun. Playing soccer at night? I can’t see the ball anymore… Keep timing in mind when making the schedule. Minor changes can make a good thing great or make a great thing only o.k.

Food 13 th point of the Scout Law? A Scout is Hungry. A good meal keeps everyone happy. A well-fed scout is a happy scout, so make sure to leave enough time for everyone to eat well. Participants are likely very active at your events, and their meals gives them a time to rest and talk about all the fun they’re having. Themed event? Why not theme the food? Makes things a little more fun and completes the themes feel.