Lessons Learned from a Speaker Event

This week we have a guest post from student club leader Tori Miller:

The University of Michigan Students of Objectivism recently hosted Dr. Yaron Brook for his lecture "Capitalism Without Guilt." Here is our insight on hosting a lecture event:

What we did right:

1. Make good use of the tips on the OCN website when planning the lecture event—they were invaluable.  From these tips and our own brainstorming sessions, we wrote up a spreadsheet of responsibilities and necessary tasks, which we posted to Google Docs for the club leadership to use and update as things got done.  This was a great time-saver, and helped with communication all around.
2. Expect people to arrive late to the event; it is a fact of life.  If one of the doors to the room is near the speaker, have someone stand outside and direct people to the other entrance, if possible.
3. Advertise.  Sidewalk chalk, flyers around campus, word of mouth, our own email list (send plenty of reminders), and the Facebook event seemed to be the most useful methods for us.  Also, don’t be shy about contacting other campus clubs and local media outlets.  (Not just the campus paper!)

What we learned:

1. Don't schedule the event the same day as a major exam.  This reduced attendance and made reserving a room difficult.
2. Assign tasks very clearly for the night of the event.  Tell club members exactly what time you want them there, and maybe tell them a time earlier than when you absolutely need them.  Insist on firm commitments, and get everyone’s phone number so that you can call them if they aren't there.  This is on the online tips, but it bears repeating.
3. Have plenty of club members in the room to greet people as they arrive and field questions about the club.  People started arriving very early, as much as 45 minutes before the time of the event, so make sure you account for that possibility.
4. Hand out a short survey at the door as people arrive asking how people found out about the event, what sort of lectures they want to see in the future, etc.  We did an online post-survey (again using Google Docs), which was great, but it gave skewed feedback because it only counted people that who on our mailing list or actually visited the website.
5. Arrange with the speaker ahead of time how long the Q&A will go.  Otherwise, your speaker could be trapped answering questions longer than he wants to.
6. Recommend parking for non-student attendees.
7. Bring doorstops.
8. Check to see if the room is climate-controlled.  If you attract a lot of people, it gets awfully warm!

Good luck on your next speaker event!

The University of Michigan Students of Objectivism

Tori Miller is Vice President of the University of Michigan Students of Objectivism.