Create Your Registration System

It is crucial to your success that attendees be able to register and pay for your event. Without a good system in place, your otherwise-well-planned event can quickly become a disaster.

But there’s good news: InterVarsity Faculty Ministry is able to help you with this part by providing an online registration system. Read more about what is needed to set up an online registration form. This service is available only to symposia that are part of InterVarsity Faculty Ministry, so please contact Howard Van Cleave if you have any questions about whether your event qualifies.

If you choose to use this service for your registration system, you will be provided with:

• Regular updates of new registrants in the form of a simple spreadsheet, which can be used to generate mailings, registration lists, name tags, etc.
• A simple way for registrants to pay for your event by credit card.
• Evaluation forms for your event.

Remember to set a registration deadline that provides you with enough time to prepare materials (name tags, folders, etc.) for the event and to turn in your meal counts.

Promote the Symposium

This step is vital to your symposium’s success. You could have the most demanded speaker or the hottest topic, but if you are not diligent about getting the word out, no one will come!

As soon as you have decided on the speaker, location, and date, you can begin to spread the word to others. It is vitally important that you give yourself enough time to let people know about your event; three months would be a minimum and six months would be ideal in most situations.

Develop your promotional plan with these things in mind:

• Faculty Ministry can help you promote your event by posting an event announcement on various InterVarsity websites (such as the GFM, FM, and ESN sites).

• If you have the expertise and resources, you should consider setting up your own symposium website for up-to-date information, but we can help you with this if you request it and provide the necessary information well in advance. Read the Event Website Set-Up Checklist for more details.

• While we are able to help with creating an event website, if needed, you will need to think about developing brochures and other print communications. Unless you have a graphics person locally to work with, plan on learning more about your favorite word processing program! For Faculty Ministry-sponsored events, we can provide logos as well as Faculty Ministry font and color scheme information. Contact Rachel Bawden for this information.

In your first wave of publicity, send initial information about the event to those on your local or area mailing list. Also, consider electronic mailings and posting to other ministry websites on your campus or area, as well as the electronic events calendar over every campus in your area.

In the second wave, send out a detailed symposium announcement, including a tentative program and information about how to register. This is important if you want to help motivate people to attend.

Plan for the Food/Luncheon

Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity. – Voltaire

Well-planned meals and snacks are critical to a successful symposium. However, don’t try to do this all on your own. You should find someone other than yourself to take care of meals and snacks. Consult with your campus food services or with a local caterer to determine what is needed and what it will cost. If you have InterVarsity staff to help, some of the preparing and serving could be assigned to them. Otherwise, let food services or the caterer do the work. (Be aware that some campuses have policies that allow only campus food services to cater meals that occur on campus.)

Thinking about the cost of food is an important part of planning the meal:

• Negotiate food services in such a way that you are not liable for food costs beyond what you can cover through participant registration fees. Usually food planners will allow up to 10% more people than you contract for (e.g., for late registrations), but be sure this is clear up front.

• To reduce costs, seek sponsors for your luncheon or even snacks if possible. Some larger vendors are happy to get the publicity that comes from sponsoring a breakfast, lunch, reception, or even the dinner at the conclusion of your symposium. Your own church or a local business person may be willing to sponsor such an event. In any case, it doesn’t hurt to ask. If the sponsor desires it, let them choose the caterer and take care of the arrangements.

If you are having people come in the night before, extra meals can be left up to the attendees. Be sure to provide a good list of local eateries. Include information about which are within walking distance, which are not, and how to get to those that are not.

Strategically scheduled snack breaks, with drinks and fruit or cookies, can add a touch of class to your symposium. These don’t usually cost too much and can be covered by registration fees. Don’t skimp on the time allotted for breaks, since attendees will want to network and will take the time anyway.

If you do have a catered luncheon, be sure to allow for special dietary considerations.

Plan for Housing

As you think about housing, keep these things in mind:

• Estimate the number of people who will arrive the night before (this would be most people who are not from your city) and help them make arrangements accordingly.

• In addition to lodging that you might be able to line up in faculty homes, you can suggest on your website a local motel/hotel for those who prefer that kind of housing.