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Student-Run Events
Contributors:
Maddy Diamond
Introduction
Introduction
This article describes how to, as a student, plan and run an outreach event. It specifies the steps that should be taken to make sure the event runs smooth.
Section 1 | The Initial Planning
Section 2 | Reaching Out
Section 3 | Basic Information
Section 4 | Planning
Section 5 | A week Before
Section 6 | The Day Before
Section 7 | Outreach Event Day
Section 8 | After The Event
Section 9 | Helpful Links
Section 1 | The Initial Planning
Section 1 | The Initial Planning
First, you need to decide what type of outreach event you want to plan. Start by asking yourself the questions of 1. who do you want your audience to be? 2. Do you want to do something new or take control of an event we already run?
After asking yourself these questions it should be easy to decide what type of event your going to run.
To the left is a list of the different types of outreach events you can choose from with the descriptions.
Any event that you choose to do will fit under one of these categories and when documented it should be labeled as the correct type.
Section 2 | Reaching Out
Section 2 | Reaching Out
After figuring out what you want to do and the basics of your outreach event you then have to start reaching out to people
If you already know where or who you want to work with and have a connection to this place, then reach out and continue on to the next step.
If you don't know where or who you want to work with then you should start by taking to other people on the team and any mentors. We might already have a connection that can help you with this outreach. If there aren't any connections then start finding places on your own (community centers, middle schools, shelters, ect.) use whatever best fits your outreach. Connections have to start somewhere.
Section 3 | Basic Information
Section 3 | Basic Information
Once you know who you are going to be working with, you should be continuously emialing or reaching out. Set up a date and a time (making sure the time, date, and place of the event work for multiple members of the team so you have people to help). Once you know this information you should send it out in Google Chat as a reminder to the team.
Section 4 | Planning
Section 4 | Planning
Now, you get to start planning (The steps of planning looks different for each type of outreach)
ALL OF YOUR PLANS SHOULD BE COMMUNICATED WITH THE PEOPLE AND PLACE YOU ARE WORKING WITH
Connect - While working with professional engineers and scientists the planning with differ based on who you are working with but much of the plans should be a collaborative effort between you, your team, and the professional.
Motivate - There are so many different options to choose from for a demo (Howard the fish driven robot, Mario Kart, our old competitions robots, depending on the time of your event maybe this year's robot, any of our side projects, etc.) this is all up to you. You can showcase whatever you want at your outreach event. (Have more than one option in case something breaks)
Service - Once you know where you are going to be doing this service there is typically not much left to plan. When planning service events, you need to find out if you there is anything that you need to bring (gloves, shovels, etc.).
Drive - Running a drive includes a lot of advertising. For example: posters should be made, in addition to announcements at school meetings, and social media posts.
FIRST - Hosting FIRST events involve a lot of planning. Some things to consider is making sure all team attending have all the information they need (start time, end time, what will be provided for them, what they should bring, map of the venue, etc.), information provided to volunteer should also be provided, the setup time and what needs to be done for the setup (the same should be considered for takedown), in addition to planning lunch (if applicable). When planning FIRST events you should not try to do this on your own, ask for help.
BFF - making sure the event is advertised, and all team attending have all the information they need.
Internal - These events need to be advertised in Google Cchat and a form should be set out for the most convenient day for the majority of team members. You should then plan out what needs to be accomplished during this outreach and consider factors such as food, and drinks.
Section 5 | A Week Before
Section 5 | A Week Before
Reminders should be sent out to google chat about the event a week before, and any side projects you are using should be tested to make sure they are functioning correctly.
Section 6 | The Day Before
Section 6 | The Day Before
All projects should be ready to go, and a final reminder should be set out about the location and time of the event that will take place tomorrow.
Section 7 | Outreach Event Day
Section 7 | Outreach Event Day
You should arrive at the venue at least 15 minutes early to find where you are going and get to set up for the day.
Before leaving the location, everything should be picked up and the venue you used should look like no one ever used the area you were in.
Section 8 | After The Event
Section 8 | After The Event
The night directly following the event, you should send a message in google chat thanking your team for showing up for you and helping out.
An email should also be sent to the place or people you were working with, thanking them for such a great event and for working with them. You should start to build a connection and possibly do this event again in the future so thank them for everything they did to make this possible.
The event should be documented in the outreach achieve binder.
Any side projects or robots that were damaged during the outreach event should be placed in GitHub as a project that needs to be completed.
Section 8 | Helpful Links
Section 8 | Helpful Links
A link to the Outreach Tracker Binder:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/13nikYeYcgA0D-gIgenA-aJ4xu-8exY2Y3gl2qyGN5fg/edit?usp=sharing
A link to our GitHub Projects
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