Section 5: Events

Event Approval Process

No matter where the event is held (on campus, off campus, online), student organizations must submit an Event Request via The Link at least 2 weeks prior to the event. To submit an Event Request, go to the Events section of your organization’s tools and select “Create Event”. Submitting a request does not mean your event has been approved. Do not promote the event or book any outside speakers, catering, or venues until you have been notified that your event has been approved and the event appears in the Explore Page of The Link.

If the event is approved, the request will be forwarded to the Events Office for scheduling. The Events Office will then reserve the necessary room(s) for the event. Please do not submit a reservation request on DeaconSpace. Once the reservation has been created, you will receive a confirmation email and the Events Office will submit the event to the law calendar for publication.

In cases where additional risks may be present in hosted activities, student organizations may be asked to require attendees to fill out a Liability Waiver and Release form before participating in said activities. Examples of circumstances where a Liability Waiver and Release form may be required include, but are not limited to: events involving travel, physical activities, and activities where participation may reasonably pose an increased risk to participants. 

If you are asked to require a Liability Waiver and Release form,  attendees should not be allowed to participate in the activity unless they sign the waiver. Please ask that participants not sign the form in light ink colors (i.e., yellow and orange). You are encouraged to keep the completed forms with you during the event as many will contain emergency contact information for the participants. Following the event, you are required to bring all waivers to the Office of Student Affairs so that we can store them for an appropriate amount of time in accordance with University document retention policies. 

Planning An Event

When you have an idea for an event you want to host, the first thing you should do is arrange a planning meeting with your Board to determine what needs to be done to successfully execute the event. Some tasks that are standard for each event (like submitting an Event Request and advertising the event). There are also some tasks that you will always have to complete for certain types of events. To assist as you begin to to plan your event, we have created 3 broad event categories and will review the basic steps of planning each type. The categories we will use are as follows:

Large Events

Large events take the most effort to plan. We recommend that you spend at least 3 months planning large events. Large events are events that meet one or more of the following criteria:

• Contracted events

• Events that will last longer than 3 hours

• Fundraisers

• Events with more than 70 expected attendees

• Events that occur over multiple days

Medium Events

We recommend that you spend at least 2 months planning medium events. Medium events are events that do not meet the criteria for a large event and meet one or more of the following criteria:

• Event will have an outside speaker/guest

• Event is a workshop

Small Events

Small events take the least amount of programming effort. We recommend that you spend at least 1 month planning small events. Small events are events that do not meet the criteria for large or medium events. Small events typically include small socials, internal events (not open to the student body), and study group sessions.

Suggested Timeline for Events

Large Events

You should use at least 3 months to plan a large event. Below is a sample calendar that shows the tasks you should complete during the 3 months.

Medium Events

You should use at least 2 months to plan a medium event. Below is a sample calendar that shows the tasks you should be completing during the 2 months.

Small Events

Small events only need 1 month of planning. Below is a sample calendar that shows the order of tasks that should be completed.

Creating a Task List

In the next few sections we will go into more detail about the tasks you need to complete to plan the 3 types of events we listed in the previous section. To help make the planning process easier, we created an excel spreadsheet that will automatically create a task list for your event based on the categories you select. 

Downloading the Spreadsheet

Below is a link to the Event Checklist. Download a copy of this Checklist by clicking on “File” and “Make a Copy.” When creating your copy of the Checklist, make sure that you copy the attached Apps Script file “Event Checklist Code.” The way this spreadsheet is able to generate a custom task list is by using this script file. You do not need to know how to write scripts to use the spreadsheet, the code has already been written. 

Once you have made your own copy, you can start inputting the details of your event into the spreadsheet on the Event Data tab. Below are the standard questions that are asked for each type of event.

• Type of Event - Options are Small, Medium, and Large. The size of event you select will tell the Spreadsheet what timeline should be used when creating the due dates for your tasks. For example, if you select a large event the spreadsheet will generate the tasks using a 3 month timeline. 

• Event Date - Please write the date in MM/DD/YYYY format. The event date will be used by the spreadsheet to generate the due dates for each task

• RSVP Close Date - Please write the date in MM/DD/YYYY format. This question is optional and should only be used if you are requiring/encouraging RSVPs. If you add an RSVP close date, the spreadsheet will shift your marketing timeline to be based off of the RSVP close date instead of the event date.

• Volunteers - Options are yes or no. Select yes if you will have volunteers helping you with the event. Enabling this option will generate tasks that only need to be completed if you have volunteers. This includes hosting a volunteer training, sending out shift information, and communications to volunteers.

• Catering - Options are yes or no. Select yes if you plan on ordering catering for the event. Enabling this option will add tasks that only need to be completed if you plan on ordering catering. This includes reaching out to the catering and confirming the headcount with your catering company.

• Outside Venue - Options are yes or no. Select yes if you will be using an outside venue (not in the Law School). Enabling this option will add tasks that only need to be completed if you will use an outside venue like touring the venue and reserving the venue.

Once you have finished answering the standard questions, click the Event Size on the bottom that matches your event. This will take you to additional options for your event. Before the script can be completed, Google Spreadsheet will ask you for authorization to run the attached script file. Click “Continue” and “Allow” to give the spreadsheet access to run the script. You will need to do this everytime you download a new copy of the spreadsheet. 

Small Event Options

For small events, the only additional questions you need to answer are the types of marketing you plan to use. The available options are emails, digital signage, social media posts, and physical flyers. For more information on marketing and tips for a successful marketing campaign, see the Marketing and Communications Section of the Student Organization Handbook.

Once you have selected your marketing methods, click “See Your Tasks” to generate your task list. This may take a few seconds to complete. Once the task list is complete, you should be automatically navigated to the Specific Tasks tab.

Medium Event Options

For medium events, you will be asked to select the types of marketing you plan to use and whether or not you plan to invite an outside speaker or guest. For the marketing options, your available options are emails, digital signage, social media posts, physical flyers, and tabling in the Commons. For more information on marketing and tips for a successful marketing campaign, see the Marketing and Communications Section of the Student Organization Handbook.

If you plan to invite an outside speaker or guest, select “Yes.”  Enabling this option will add tasks that only need to be completed if you plan on inviting an outside guest like reaching out to the guest, confirming the date, and sending a thank you to the guest. 

Once you have answered the questions, click “See Your Tasks” to generate your task list. This may take a few seconds to complete. Once the task list is complete, you should be automatically navigated to the Specific Tasks tab.

Large Event Options

For large events, you will be asked to select the types of marketing you plan to use and whether you plan to invite an outside speaker or guest or if you are hosting a fundraiser. For the marketing options, your available options are emails, digital signage, social media posts, physical flyers, and tabling in the Commons. For more information on marketing and tips for a successful marketing campaign, see the Marketing and Communications Section of the Student Organization Handbook.

If you plan to invite an outside speaker or guest, select “Yes.”  Enabling this option will add tasks that only need to be completed if you plan on inviting an outside guest like reaching out to the guest, confirming the date, and sending a thank you to the guest. 

If your event is a fundraiser, select “Yes.”  Enabling this option will add tasks that only need to be completed if you are hosting a fundraiser like submitting a fundraising request. 

Once you have answered the questions, click “See Your Tasks” to generate your task list. This may take a few seconds to complete. Once the task list is complete, you should be automatically navigated to the Specific Tasks tab.

Using Your Task List

Once you have generated your task list, you can review the tasks that need to be completed and add any other tasks that you can think of. The generated task list is just a base that you can use to work off of. There are also a few blank columns that you can use to customize your tasks.

The first 2 columns will list the task name and description of the task. The 3rd column is left blank so you can add the name of the person in your organization who is responsible for completing the task. The 5th column has a list of status options for the task. We recommend that you share the spreadsheet with your members so they can change the status for their tasks and all of the Board can see the progress of your event.

The 4th column has the date the task is due. This is based off of our suggested timeline for planning events and your event date. The 6th column uses the due date and today's date to generate the number of days remaining to complete the task. If you change the due date of the task, the number of days remaining should automatically update with the new due date. 

The 7th and 8th columns are what the spreadsheet uses to generate your task list. You can ignore these columns 

If you add new tasks to your list,  you can re-sort the task list by the due date by clicking on “Sort Your Tasks.”