Guidelines for organising workshops

  1. Timing:  Decide on a  timeline for Workshops  and  advertise ideally four weeks in advance.
  2. Save the Date: Pick a date and add it to various calendars
  3. Adopt a Dripfeed strategy when promoting it through social media
  4. Promotion: The event should be promoted two weeks in advance. through usual library networks and associations.
  5. Venue: Ideally the  venue should be confirmed first before advertising the workshop, but this may not be possible in certain instance
  6. Teams:A small team consisting of three people should be established with each person’s role clearly defined.â This avoids any potential confusion or miscommunication at a later stage.
  7. Presenter: Initial contact with presenter should be made via email or phone, explaining who LIR are, the purpose of the workshop, and its intended audience.
  8. Vouchers: Gifts for Keynote speakers/ presenters should be in the form of vouchers to an agreed value before hand.
  9. Venues: When booking a venue it is best to use a local person to book a local event. Trinity College Dublin uses departmental cost codes which their own staff can purchase to book a venue.
  10. Fees:  Non LIR membersâ should be charged a flat rate of  €75 for a standard workshop, and more depending on the calibre or reputation of the presenter.However if sharing the costs of  an event or speaker with another group a set fee should be agreed beforehand.
  11. Reservations: Bookings should be taken on âa first come first served basis.â All participants who wished to attend should be emailed to confirm their booking.
  12. On Day of Event: Arrive early at the venue introduce yourself to relevant staff and  ensure all equipment is working properly.
  13. Lists: Have a list of all participants registered for the event.  Issue name badges or sticky labels to each participant on arrival âso the presenter can easily identify them.
  14. Catering: In terms of catering tea coffee and pastries should be included in half day events (small price to pay âto keep participants happy)
  15. Costs: To keep costs down for half day events participants should purchase their own lunch. This should be communicated at the beginning of the session
  16. Introductions: Introduce the presenter and welcome everyone, outline briefly some general  housekeeping rules and point out the location of the fire exits.
  17. Receipts: Pay for the presenters lunch and keep all receipts. All Invoices for the event should be addressed to the LIR Treasurer.
  18. Slides: If the presenter is agreeable to having any slides from the workshop made available to participants, they should be placed on the LIR Wiki. This should be communicated to the audience prior to the workshop ending.
  19. Evaluation: In order to improve workshops or find out the types of events members require, it is necessary to get feedback from participants. The most efficient way is to obtain instant feedback by using an online tool
  20. Certificates: Attendance certificates should be made available to participants upon request.