Guidance for event organisers
The event organiser section has a wealth of resources to help you plan and deliver your event. It includes advice and guidance on marketing, posters and factsheets to hand out and tips for perfect pathology presentations.
Before deciding what to do, it is a good idea to consider what you hope to achieve for:
- Yourself
- Your organisation
- The organisers
- The participants
- Pathology
You must identify your target audience so you can develop your event. Think about your aims. Which audiences would be best?
- Patients – families, children, adults
- Healthcare professionals
- Medical undergraduates
- Secondary school students
- Primary school students
You will need to consider the subject matter, theme and format of your event. What type of event would interest your target audience? You can find ideas and inspiration almost anywhere, for example:
- Topical issues in the media (newspapers, magazines, radio, television, internet)
- Brainstorming with friends and colleagues
Pathology can be explored through many formats, ranging from hands-on activities to tours of laboratories. Some popular formats for events include the following elements:
- Hands-on activities
- Public discussions
- Demonstrations
- Exhibitions or displays
- Talks or presentations
Choose a venue that suits your audience and the type of event you plan to run. Events can take place in a number of places:
- Laboratories
- Meeting rooms
- The internet
- Schools
- Shopping centres
- Lecture theatres
- Anywhere else you can think of!
Make sure you check the suitability of the venue well in advance, and ensure you know where the facilities, toilets and exits are in case of an emergency. Also make sure that audio/visual equipment is working well before your event.
Letting people know about your event is the only way to attract an audience. The success of your event is largely down to your publicity campaign. How you market the event will depend on the event itself and whom you wish to attract. You should contact your Communications Department for advice.
- Decide on your event and your audience
- Contact your Trust Communications Department to let them know about your event
- Create posters and flyers about your event
- Market your event
- Send out invitations
- Identify who is going to speak to the media
- Contact your press office about sending out a press release to the local media.
- On the day – Take photos, but make sure you get consent. You should have a signed consent form for anyone who is clearly identifiable in the photographs of your event, especially for anyone under 18.
- Don't forget evaluation, ideally both before and after the event
- After the event – Thank all those involved and those attending the event
- Talk to your Trust’s Communications Department
- Draw up your media mailing list
- Send out press invite – 4-6 weeks in advance
- Issue press release – 1-2 weeks in advance
- Keep message clear and short
- Have snappy quotes and statistics
- A picture paints a thousand words - book a photographer or take photos (but remember to get consent for photography, particularly with children)
- Decide who is going to talk to the press on the day and the key points they want to get accross
- Follow up with a “thank you” to any journalist who attended/covered the event
- If you would like advice about working with the media, you can contact the College's press office at [email protected] or 020 7451 6752
Audience feedback will help determine whether your event was successful and assist in future planning. Develop an evaluation form that will provide you with information such as:
- How many people attended your event?
- How did they find out about your event?
- Did they enjoy it?
- How could your event be improved in the future?
- We will provide guidance and questionnaires in organiser's packs.
Guide to running an online event
There are three particularly important areas to consider when organising your event.
Promoting your event
Organisers can register public engagement events on the website by completing the event registration form. Why not contact your Trust's Communications team to coordinate local media interest? We've created a document of top tips for working with the media.
Use posters and flyers to advertise your event and promotional materials to attract and reward your audience.
Gaining consent for photos
The photographs you send us of your events, meetings and presentations really help illustrate the important work you do in educating and inspiring people about pathology. On 25 May, a new, European-wide law – the General Data Protection Regulation – comes into place. This places greater obligations on how the College handles personal data. What this means for people taking photographs is that they must obtain consent and this has to be freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous.
Essentially, anyone in a photo must be asked whether they are happy to have their photo taken and clearly told how it will be used (for example, published in The Bulletin, published on the College website, used on social media). If you are at an event where there are children, it is essential to get the consent of their guardian if they are under 16 years of age. It may be easier to take photographs from the back so that children and young people can’t be recognised. Please download and print a consent form and send them to us along with your photographs.
For people who do not want to have their photos taken, a good option is to provide 'no photography stickers'. Print out provided below:
Evaluating your event
Evaluation is an important part of your event, as without it you have no idea what effect your event has had on the audience, as well as on you. Please read our guidelines for evaluation before you decide on an evaluation strategy. We have questionnaires for different audience types below or you can use other methods in the guidance document such as voting or a visitors’ book if that is more appropriate to your event.
