Pre event activities
Form an organising/planning committee
The role of a workshop/seminar committee is to take responsibility for putting on the event.
The size of the committee will depend on the size of the event, but as a general rule there
needs to be an adequate numbers of members to ensure that the work load and responsibilities
are shared and not too burdensome for any one member.
Draw up a timetable/ timeline
A timetable is an important planning document identifying:
All the activities to be undertaken,
Individuals responsible, and
Deadlines for completing each activity.
Decide on a date
The date will depend on the availability of the venue and the presenters. Care should be taken
to ensure that the date does not conflict with public holidays, religious celebrations and other
association events.
Develop a program
Developing a program is an early task that needs to be undertaken by the committee. To do
this:
Review past workshops/seminars and in particular ‘lessons-learnt’,
Determine specific goals and learning objectives for the session,
If your association has a continuing professional development program, decide if
points or credits will be allocated for seminar attendance,
Decide on themes, topics, number of sessions,
Identify possible speakers,
Determine the format (e.g., interactive, lecture style),
Develop a draft program,
Issue invitations to suggested speakers,
Decide on whether proceedings will be printed, and
Finalise the program.
Draw up a budget
Drawing up a budget will allow the committee to identify where money is expected to come
from and what expenses are likely to occur. With this information the committee will be in a
good position to say how much money will be needed, how much money will be available to
be spent, determine the registration fee, how many attendees are needed to break even,
whether or not a profit is expected or whether the association...