Preparing for DITW
How far in advance you start planning will depend on the scale of your DITW, but we recommend you plan at least a 1-3 months in advance to allow time for organising speakers and driving attendence.
On this page you’ll find:
Event Preparation
Create an event schedule with defined objectives for each event using your Master Spreadsheet Template.
The objectives of your event will vary depending on the growth stage of your hub, your ecosystem, and the knowledge of D&I within target audiences.
Tip: At Dogpatch Labs, we prioritise delivering workshopping style D&I events because the conversations that happen between attendees is just as valuable as any guest speaker or panel discussion.
Resourcing
Clarify what resources you need before you suggest DITW event to executives, partners or the community.
- Create budget for each event
- Create pitch deck summarising the theme, format and benefits involved in hosting DITW (you can repurpose this later to ask partners for sponsorship)
- Identify who your key resources for planning this event will be & notify them of your intention of your intention to plan DITW.
Engage Your Team
Once you get the go-ahead you should host a D&I Lunch & Learn and identify who can act as champions/advocates for your DITW. Make sure you provide volunteers with Inclusion and Sensitivity Training for those who sign up.
Get Organised!
Given the amount of moving parts associated with organised 5 consecutive events, we’d advise you to define effective communication rules and folder structure before the project begins.
Here’s an example of how we organised our folders for DITW 2019. Each event had its own folder within Phase 2.
Brand Design
The messaging surrounding your event is equally as important as the event itself
Create A Strong Visual Brand
Create strong brand for DITW, informed by core offering and adapted for local environment and to reflect objective.
You can do this by creating a mock pitch deck to be handed over to you design team with a clear brief.
Decide On Your Core Messaging
Use the DITW PR core document to define the core messages for to promote your DITW across your communication channels to create consistency across all your events.
You can use a large scale event like DITW to act as an annual audit to critique and update your hubs practices and process around messaging. It can help ensure your hub team has a shared vision and goal which consistently emphasises your commitment to D&I at all levels.
Any leftover or parked content should be logged and used for future messaging or PR.
Create a ‘Press Pack’
Create a centralised place to locate all marketing assets that will be used to be used throughout the promotional campaign. Distinguish which will be used on social media and which will be shared with a PR liaison.
- A folder with high resolution logos of all partners
- A folder with high quality photos from the event to share with media
- Create a short 2-3 minutes video
Event Design
Identify core format and theme of your initiative – what’s that one word that ties everything together.
Your D&I Statement and Goals will help clarify your objectives for DITW and the effect you want to have.
Outline the Plan
Plan for effective delivery of each event by creating a structured program to ensure entire hub team is engaged with the DITW initiative, providing feedback on plan.
Plan for effective delivery of each event by creating a structured program of events.
Master Spreadsheet Template: Create detailed event plan which can be shared with all people involved in execution and use the Gantt Chart format to manage it.
Event Brief Template: Use this template to create detailed ‘Event Briefs’ for each event. These briefs will help clarify the details of your event and each team members responsibilities. You can also refer to these briefs for a high overview of the event when organising with external stakeholders
Choose A Theme and Format
Create a ‘Topics to Consider’ tab in your master spreadsheet to log feedback and suggestions from your team and your community.
This tab can be used to help inform the theme of your event and help you create an events schedule.
Use this deck to explore event types which focus on different themes to achieve different outcomes.
Tip! Ensure all your events are designed with optimal inclusivity in mind