Sustainable Event Guide

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Committee: Goals

Setting goals is crucial for determining everything from budget to location to success. Setting goals early on will help minimize future chaos and help everyone get an idea of the big picture; it will also be key in determining which actions are necessary to make your event sustainable.

SUSTAINABILITY GOALS

The group should take a look at the sustainable event checklist and determine the actions that apply to the event and how many of them are feasible and desirable. Remember that this is only a guide and if you have your own sustainable ideas, go for them!

CONTENT GOALS

What kind of event is it going o be? Will there be a speaker? A movie? A conference? Food? Workshops? What is the content of the day going to look like?

MESSAGING GOALS

The organizing committee needs to know why this event is being held. What is the idea behind the event? What is the message you wish to communicate with the event? What do you want people to walk away with when it is over? Who are you representing during this event?

LOGISTICAL GOALS

The group should also come up with a rough estimate of how many people they would like to attend the event, a rough budget, an event date, how long the event will be etc. This will give the group a rough outline of the event; details can be worked out once committees are formed.

When setting goals, don't limit the group. Start with a brainstorming session of anything and everything, this gets everyone excited about the event. Once the big ideas are out the group can narrow it down based on what is feasible.

CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS

The criteria for event success will become clear after the goals are set. The group should create a checklist of all of the goals that were agreed upon, this will make it easy to evaluate the success of the event when it's over. You can even post it on the wall if the group works out of an office. These criteria will also help you assess whether you met your sustainability goals.

These criteria can be crucial if the group decides that the event should become a yearly, monthly or weekly happening; the criteria will prove to sponsors, administration and the community that the event was successful and that there is a demand for it.