Unit 3: Event Production Lead – NEW

THE PLAYBOOK

Event Production Lead

EVENT PRODUCTION LEAD

As the Event Producer, you will work with the Project Lead and the rest of the Committee to put together the plan for the event itself. Plan plan plan, so that the execution of the event is as stress-free as it can be!

To remind you, the 10×10 model has core goals around the straightforward concept that:

The Project Committee each bring 10 people to an event

Event guests will hear stories/pitches from one or three grassroots organisations

The Project Committee succeeds in raising funds, awareness and volunteers

Prepare a Timeline

The Head of Community and Events will share a draft timeline with the Committee and it can be found in your Google Drive. Talk with the Project Lead to plot key activities on the draft Project Timeline provided to them, incorporating:

The proposed event date and time
Securing a Shark
Securing a venue
Finalising the event run sheet and distributing it to the Committee
Personalising the MC script with the MC to suit their personality

Recruitment, Liaison & Management of ‘The Talent’

Prepare to engage the Project Committee to help brainstorm the key talent who will help to make the campaign a success. You will need to recruit an MC and a Shark. The role of MC is fairly obvious. Someone in the Committee might have a contact in mind, or they might volunteer to MC the event themselves!

What is the 10×10 Shark?

The #SharkforGood or #DragonforGood is typically a high-profile philanthropic or business leader with social impact experience, capable of asking thoughtful questions to the three organisations at the event about their business models and impact outcomes. They are responsible for asking the organisations questions after their pitches and play a big role in helping them tell their stories.

Your Role In This Process

Your role involves collaborating with the Project Lead to handle key responsibilities related to talent selection for the event, specifically the Shark and MC. Your tasks are to:

1) Brief the Project Committee on the importance of the Shark and MC roles, and initiate a brainstorming session for ideas.
2) Organise, compile, and coordinate the suggestions generated by the Project Committee.

Start your shortlist in the Shark Suggestion sheet in your Master Document located in your Committee’s Google Drive.

Pitching the Talent

Reaching the Shark

Sharks are often very busy people and should be locked in early! Reach out to the chosen Shark with the following email template, and be prepared to provide an overview of 10×10 (we suggest attaching this 10×10 Explainer Doc).

You can adjust this template to reach out to the MC, too.

Dear ………,

My name is ……… and I am part of 10×10’s ……… event committee. 10×10 Philanthropy is on a mission to empower the next generation of giving to social purpose organisations. We host crowd-funding shark tank style events in support of innovative, emerging charities to grow their capacity to make an impact, while creating opportunities for young people to connect and engage with charities and their peers to accelerate social change.

I am reaching out to you as you are an influential and business savvy member of the philanthropic community and I believe you would be the perfect fit as our #SharkforGood at our upcoming …………. event.

Please find attached a little bit more about 10×10 as well as everything you need to know about being our #SharkforGood.

Feel free to contact me with any questions!
I look forward to hearing from you soon

Kind regards,
……………

Securing a Venue

Find a venue that includes the following criteria:

1. Large and modern

2. Can fit 100 – 200 people

3. Is in a central location

4. We recommend you use a corporate space or a pub with suitable space, funky venues with a vibe are a plus.

5. Minimum spend (if you hire) is within budget

6. Room layout is conducive to audience feeling involved/ interactive atmosphere

7. Can provide or can accommodate audio system (ideally two microphones, one roving)

8. Chairs: typically if 85% of audience has chairs they are more engaged

9. Is available on the event date from approximately 5pm-10pm

Start your shortlist in the Venue Suggestion sheet in your Master Document located in your Committee’s Google Drive.

Confirm the date and potential catering options linked to the venue:

– Aim to hire the venue with ‘in-kind’ support. Try to negotiate this by offering a guaranteed minimum bar spend based on sponsorship funds

– Dry hire/ wet hire or combination (i.e. buy food, bring alcohol)

– Ideally cap expenses to $1.5-$2k to maximize ‘match funding’

– Explore ‘in kind’ sponsorship of alcohol and/or food as an option

Reach out to potential venues with the following template:

Dear [NAME]

My name is [NAME] I’m part of the 10×10 [CITY] committee.
10×10 is a crowdfunding for purpose organisation that is empowering the next generation of changemakers. 10×10 events are run by a team of skilled volunteers and are designed to support innovative grassroots organisations. They feature a pitch from 3 organisations in the style of Shark Tank, and are a fun mix between a networking event, cocktail party and pitching contest.

Our next event is going to be held in [CITY] and we are currently looking for potential event venues who would like to support the work we are doing and the change we are making for the people and communities our charities serve.

We are looking for a large room that seats at least 100 and has access to a sound system and kitchen or food preparation area. Ideally we would also love some waitstaff as well.

If you are not the correct person to deal with this inquiry, then I would appreciate it if you could pass it onto the relevant person within your organisation. We are looking to have our venue confirmed by [DATE].

Look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
[NAME]

Again, it’s always a good idea to attach the 10×10 Explainer doc.

Run Sheet

Open the draft run sheet in the Master Doc in your Google Drive folder and start creating your event, with special consideration for the stakeholders who will play important roles:

Venue
What time is it booked for? What time do you have to be out?

Catering
(Arrival + set up, pack up)

Arrival time of the talent
Would you like the MC & Shark to arrive early?

MC Script
Key speaking parts of the MC

Sponsors
Recognition included in the MC script where appropriate

The draft already includes key timestamps of SPO pitch 1 + warning bell + Shark questions + audience questions x 3 – just adjust the start and end times according to your run time.

Share your draft the Project Committee meeting and ask for ideas, feedback, and approval so that you can proceed. Don’t forget to have the Charity Lead share a copy with your organisations, and don’t forget to send a copy to your chosen Shark!

Brief the Talent

Once the Project Committee has agreed on your run sheet, organise a briefing to take the various presenters through the planning for the event. 10×10 HQ will provide an event briefing document that outlines the work of 10×10, an overview of the event itself and who the organisations are. You will need to add or edit the bios for the MC and Shark.

The MC is pivotal to the success of this event, finding the right balance between the important tasks of:

Keeping the event on track and on time

Bringing the emotion

Assuring the audience that TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE, that giving time or money will have a real impact upon the most vulnerable

Providing the platform for any special guests to shine

Coordinating questions from your audience (and being prepared to fill silences)

Acknowledging any sponsors as agreed

10×10’s Events Lead will provide you with a draft script for the MC, which you will personalise. You will need to input some paragraphs that cover housekeeping and introductions.

Some examples:

Founded in Australia,10X10 is a movement of skilled volunteers working in 14 cities across seven countries. You can think of 10×10 like the VC of the social purpose sector, identifying and boosting the best early-stage and emerging ideas for overcoming the most complex social problems at the grassroots. We collaborate in producing an event just like this, a Shark Tank-style pitching showcase where we raise not only funds, but also awareness for the charitable cause areas and new social entrepreneurs tackling the tough issues in our local community.

The Project Committee scoured the four corners of _____ for the city’s most innovative charities. In a moment, presenters from each of them will deliver a 5-minute pitch on the work they do, the impact they’ve had, and what they’ve learned along the way. They’ll then be grilled by our “Shark for Good”, whom we’ll meet in a moment, to get a deeper understanding of their vision and potential. We’ll then unleash you – the fish that nibble leftovers stuck in the sharks’ teeth – on them, to ask questions of your own.

We want to keep things fair and timely, so we’ve got ___ on bell duty. Speakers, when you hear a bell for the first time, it means you’ve got one minute left. When you hear it a second time, it means your 5 minutes are up. If you hear it a third time, it means we’ve already released the hounds!

Now – this is important – after the pitches are over, you’ll be asked to allocate your charity dollars [hold up charity dollars]. Maybe you’ll give to the organisation that most inspires you? Or the one whose values are most aligned with yours? Or perhaps the charity in our community where you think there is the greatest need? You have three choices: give everything to one charity; split it evenly, or buy more charity dollars so you can donate to all three. If you want to go down that route, the volunteers are waiting for you at the charity booths at the back. It’s totally up to you, so choose wisely!

Before we get started in a moment, bathrooms are up the stairs at the back. The bar you’re already well-acquainted with – especially you lot back there!

QR codes up on the screens here, on the back of your charity dollars and printed on your table. They will take you to all the event info and also enable you to choose where your money goes, chip in more, and see our fabulous list of live auction prizes you’ll all be bidding for later.

Tip: The Charity Lead can liaise with the organisation spokespeople to pass on short stories about their work which you might like to include!

Example Shark Questions

If inexperienced in the model, it could be useful to supply example questions – 10x10HQ has compiled the following question bank:

1. Different organisations attack the same problem from different angles – what is your organisation’s unique strategy?

2. What are the various avenues of funding and sponsorship that you have received and what are future plans for this?

3. How accountable is the organisation? Are you willing to show financial reports etc. is the organisation audited? What governance procedures does the organisation have?

4. What gave you the idea for this and motivated you to get going?

5. How does the organisation show its donors that their donations are put to good use?

6. Tell us about your business model. What is your plan to become sustainable?

7. What are the vetting processes for hiring, training, evaluating and ongoing development for staff and volunteers?

8. How can people from the audience get involved with your organisation in non-financial ways?

9. Do you have plans to scale your organisation or replicate what you do in other areas?

10.What outcomes has the organisation seen through its work (give us specific results and accomplishments)?

11. Do you have requirements for volunteers or people with specific skill sets?

12. How will you measure the impact of the money that is raised tonight and how will we the audience know about that?

13. How reliant is the organisation on you? What happens if you leave and move on to do other things? Will the organisation be able to continue on without you?

14. Where do you see the organisation in five years?

If you raise $10,000 today – run me through how that money is going to be spent?

TIP: Your appointed speakers are likely to have good speaking/presenting experience. Go into the briefing process ready to take on board their suggestions and ideas for the further improvement and refinement of your run sheet (and script).

There will be some necessary admin throughout the campaign, and 10×10’s Events Lead will be in touch regularly with reminders and deadlines, such as:

– Ensuring that all Project Committee members add their contact information to the Contact Sheet in your Committee’s Google Drive folder.
– Request that all new Project Committee members are subscribed to 10×10 HQ for email communications by visiting 10×10’s homepage
– Coordinating the submission of content from various stakeholders to 10×10.
– Input into EDMs.

Go back to all units