EVENTS 101 PROGRAMS

The student experience at an EVENTS 101 session depends a bit on which type of program they attend, which varies based upon the needs of the communities to be served and the objectives of local co-hosts and sponsors.

In addition to Foundation’s highly customized offerings, the primary EVENTS 101 professional development programs include:

  • Foundations – A classroom- or theatre style presentation of six core event-focused topics during a single-day session.
  • Foundations+ – A two-day, super-sized session that typically presents four event topics each day (in total, two more than the basic Foundations program), combined with classroom and group exercises, networking, and other activities to elevate the professional development experience.
  • Event Horizon – An optional workshop add-on, Event Horizon pairs Foundation Events consultants with teams from participating community organizations to assess and develop recommendations for putting Events 101 insights immediately to work on real-world event challenges.

FOUNDATIONS

EVENTS 101 Foundations presents six core topics that develop within your team a powerful foundation of skills and insights needed to envision, produce, and manage successful events. Delivered as classroom- or theatre-style lectures in single, full-day sessions, Foundations seminars transform your team’s understanding of fundamental event production concepts and empower them to design events that engage your audiences and deliver mission-focused outcomes.

MORNING HOSPITALITY, REGISTRATION, & WELCOME
SESSION 1: DESIGNING & PRODUCING EFFECTIVE MISSION-FOCUSED EVENTS

Understanding the true purpose of your event, like a nonprofit fundraising gala, festival, or program, is a crucial first step to accomplishing your objectives. This session paints a big picture perspective for your events, helping you identify what constitutes (and how to achieve!) mission success.

SESSION 2: EVENTS AS ENGAGEMENT: BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH MEMBERS, GUESTS, AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS

Engagement is the secret sauce for your organization, the magical ingredient that gives you the ability to truly connect with your audience. And, as we all know, engagement is the real reason why we produce events in the first place.

In this session, we’ll share our Foundation Engagement Model, a proven set of simple to understand points you can easily adapt into your engagement planning.

BREAK
SESSION 3: 7 STEPS TO SUCCESSFUL VOLUNTEER RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION

Have you ever thought, “we can never find enough volunteers?” You’re not alone, but the real issue is retention and relationship-building. Building on our Engagement session, we’ll discuss volunteer motivations, how to cultivate their interest in your organization’s success, and how to create lasting relationships as opposed to incremental volunteerism.

LUNCH + BONUS SESSION “30 IN 30”

The final 30 minutes of our lunch hour will feature a quick-hit review (only a minute per topic!) of various planning and management elements that are often overlooked when producing events.

SESSION 4: A ROADMAP FOR EVENT SPONSORSHIP SUCCESS

Revenue generation is crucial to organizational and event success. In this session, we will discuss how to develop and build successful sponsorship programs. We will look at how to value your benefits, how to create attractive win/win relationships with sponsors, and provide a step-by-step road map on the life cycle of a sponsorship.

SESSION 5: CREATING AND IMPLEMENTING EVENT MARKETING CAMPAIGNS

You could create the perfect event, but without the right marketing campaign, who will be there to enjoy it? This session focuses on the opportunities and challenges of event marketing, the strategies and tactics to be successful, and how to use the passion and FOMO of your potential audience to maximize positive engagement.

BREAK
SESSION 6: EVENTLAB!

This exciting and informative session features our panel of events professionals – EVENTS 101 instructors and occasional guest speakers – brainstorming approaches and solutions to events-production challenges submitted by EVENTS 101 students in real-time.

FINAL Q&A, EVENT ENDS

FOUNDATIONS+

With Foundations+, every aspect of the standard Foundations session is super-sized as part of an enhanced program delivered over two full workdays. In addition to the core benefits of Foundations, students in a Foundations+ program enjoy:

  • Two additional professional development lectures (topics selected by hosts/sponsors);
  • Networking opportunities;
  • Collaborative, full-class and small-group exercises;
  • Scenario-based training;
  • Competitive game-based knowledge assessments;
  • Opportunity to develop take-away strategies and tactics to attack your greatest engagement and event challenges.

Additional topics that can be covered during a FOUNDATION+ training can be found in OTHER TOPICS WE TEACH.

EVENT HORIZON

An optional add-on to the FOUNDATIONS or FOUNDATIONS+ workshops, the EVENT HORIZON program helps participating community-focused organizations better understand their existing events-related challenges, identify opportunities, and quickly transition from classroom theory to practical application of Events 101 professional development lessons.

Available for up to three organizations who have completed the Events 101 program, EVENT HORIZON provides an opportunity for each organization to spend focused time with executive-level events consultants from Foundation Events ECC.

LEVEL 1 (Included) 
Foundation Events consultants meet with your team the day after Foundations/+ wraps up to review your engagement challenges, opportunities for growth, event successes, and the limitations your organization is facing. In a 60-90-minute interview, Foundation Events ECC will also share some tactics for immediate application by your organization.

LEVEL 2 (Included) 
In a virtual 1-hour follow-up session, our consultants meet with your team and provide an Executive Summary that details strategies and tactics to take your organization’s events to higher levels of successful engagement, organizational awareness, fundraising growth, and mission attainment.

LEVEL 3 (Optional) 
For those organizations that wish to contract with Foundation Events ECC, our consultants will develop and implement the recommendation plan, provide on-site and/or ongoing mentoring and guidance, and offer a variety of optional retainer-based services.

Simply put, we know first-hand that consultant recommendations can be difficult for an organization to implement without increased and experienced team members; our goal is to guide you to successful outcomes without negatively impacting your existing programs and staff morale.

BRING EVENTS 101 to your team or community!