Part III – Chapter 9
Planning Member & Community Education Meetings
i. Step-by-Step Public Meeting Implementation Guide
Sponsoring a public meeting is manageable when you define the relevance of the meeting to members and the community, identify a community partner, form a planning committee and robustly advertise. The following step-by-step guide can be used as a foundation for planning a successful event.
Identify topic of interest for public meeting:
Will this be an education fund project? If so, apply to LWV Minnesota to use your Education Fund
Identify target audience.
Consider forming coalition to sponsor event:
Local Leagues often have the opportunity to collaborate with other organizations or groups to hold events, do advocacy work, do voter service work, share information on social media, or do other activities. For guidance on what questions local Leagues should ask themselves when considering these collaborations, see: https://www.lwvmn.org/coalitions-and-partnerships
Invite organizations; confirm their participation in writing, including the purpose of the public meeting.
Review any limitations on distribution of materials by coalition’s members on the day of the event.
Get Board approval for sponsoring public meetings, forming coalition
Responsibilities of the working committee:
Initial planning.
Set meeting date, place, beginning and ending times.
Make certain the location is accessible.
Identify meeting sub-topics for presentations, panels, breakout groups, etc.
Design meeting format
Agree on lengths of segments and any limits on individual speakers’ prepared remarks and responses to panelist statements or audience questions.
Will questions from the audience be allowed? Determine format.
What are the facility requirements - lecture hall, breakout rooms, etc.?
Identify speakers to invite. Ensure appropriate balance in speakers’ perspectives.
Set admission fee, if any. Determine if advance registration will be required.
Working out the details:
Confirm all arrangements with speakers.
Confirm logistics, topic each speaker is requested to address.
Specify time limit for prepared remarks.
Request biographical information.
Have speakers arrive early - consider holding reception for speakers, committee representatives, etc. prior to meeting to ensure early arrival.
Confirm whether the speaker plans to make available a written copy of his/her prepared remarks for the handout table.
Make facility arrangements:
Tour facility - determine physical arrangement on stage, location of podium, etc.
Confirm sound, lighting arrangements.
Arrange for refreshments, meals, etc. - What are deadlines for head counts?
Publicity - Determine best approaches to reach target audience:
Press release
Media – internet, newspaper, television, radio
Interviews on radio, etc. regarding upcoming meeting
Meeting flyer
Set up a timeline for completing publicity pieces and decide how and where to distribute them.
Coalition members’ newsletters to members
Personal invitations to key legislators, other state/local officials
Try to get in-kind contributions to cover as many of these costs as possible.
Plan to videotape the meeting or invite your local cable TV personnel to videotape and play it on local public access channel.
Line up helpers to assist with tasks on the day of the meeting: registering attendees, disseminating handouts, screening questions, collecting questions, photographing meetings, serving refreshments, collecting evaluations at the conclusion of the meeting, etc.
Prepare and copy meeting handouts.
Obtain name tags for committee members, speakers.
Day of meeting:
Arrive early.
Tour facility to verify setup
Set up a handout table - Speakers prepared remarks, meeting evaluations, etc.
Greet speakers, committee members as they arrive.
Name tags for committee members, speakers.
Consider the appropriateness of selling LWV publications, etc.
Distribute evaluations and collect them at the end of the meeting
Follow up activities:
Add posting of broadcast timing and publicize the results of the meeting on internet sites.
Broadcast video on public access channels, make available to wider community in other ways, etc.
Consider other follow up activities. Was the purpose of the meeting to provide a forum for information on the chosen topic or was it to serve as the springboard to making changes or taking action?
Send thank you notes to all speakers, coalition members, etc.
Review evaluations to learn about how to improve in the future!