How to Create Events When You're Having A Brain Fart and Your Calendar is Due!

As a leader, you'll be in charge of creating events that are both fun and meaningful to your campus community. However, this is easier said than done when trying to work with a limited budget and a long assignment list. You may have been already brainstorming new and creative ideas, but then got stuck. Here are my tips for the creating events when you're have a brain fart and your calendar is due. 



Things You'll Need:
- Something to write on that everyone can see 
(Chalkboard, White Board, etc.) 
- Electronic Calendar 
- Important dates for your college and organization
- Your Committee (of course) 
- Your Programming Budget 

Plus/Delta Example. 

Reflect.  Think about the successful and unsuccessful events that you had in the past. I like to start with writing a Plus/Delta. In one column, titled Plus, you will write down the things that your audience enjoyed and what went well. In the Delta column, you'll write down what you want to change or improve upon. Additionally, recall events that you had to cancel last year or ideas that you weren't able to do because of time/money constraints. 

Reuse. Consider reusing a few successful events that your organization has done in the past. As the saying goes "there is no need to reinvent the wheel." You can take this old event and market it as the 2nd Annual of its kind. However, you should customize the event to make it better than before. For example, if you had a great panel discussion event last year. Then host it again this year, but try asking different questions and/or integrating more social media to make it interactive. 

Resource. Utilize the resources (talents and skills) that you have around you to make an event. For example, if you have a member that loves to paint, you can create your own version of painting with a twist. If there's a department or organization that wants more exposure to your audience, host an event that allows others to see what they do. Non-profit organizations and student affairs departments are great resources and often will speak at events for free if available. Furthermore, if there's a special themed day or month, use that as inspiration to host an event in it's honor. National Day Calendar is a resource that I like to use when thinking of ideas. 

Respectfully Respond. If a member contributes an idea that you do not think is going to work. Frame you concern in a question and avoid sarcasm. This allows the member to think of alternate ways to express his or her ideas and maybe even come up with a better one. Let's say, someone has the idea to throw a party, but you know that the organization does not have enough money to pay all of the fees associated with a party. Respond with "I like your idea, how could we get the money to pay for it?" Someone may come up with a response about collaborating with an organization to split the cost and gain a wider audience. Remember all ideas are valuable to the discussion even if they cannot be used right away. 

Reduce. Your problem may be that your have way too many great ideas and not enough time or money. For this, you will need to prioritize the events that are necessary for your organization to fulfill its mission and garner enough exposure. The last thing you want to do is try and do everything and stretch your members way to thin. 

Remember: Quality > Quantity. 

Those are my 5 R's for creating events when I'm not feeling that creative. If this process worked for you or if you have additional tips to add, feel free to comment below. 


-Danae 

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