conducted including seating, shape, and size of tables for participants, displays and food; amount of food and beverages; number of flip charts and materials needed; adequate acoustics, microphones, and other AV equipment. ● If conducted virtually, online, you'll want to be sure the conference hosting platform allows for chatting, breakout rooms, video recording, and possibly translation services (depending on the topics).
NOTE: Additional considerations for in-person or virtual forums are included in the Tool 3: Considerations for In-Person or Online/Virtual Forums in the Tools section of this how-to guide.
7. Consider Available Financial Resources. As you begin planning a forum, you will need fairly accurate estimates of your expected expenses. And you’ll need to identify sources of financing. You may need to consider space and food for an in-person forum, as well as postage/printing, travel expenses, meeting supplies, training costs associated with facilitator training, stipends for facilitators and guest speakers. For a virtual forum, you may have some of the same expenses excluding space and food costs. You may also consider offering incentives for evaluation completion. Tool 4: Forum Budget Planning Template is included in the Tools section of this how-to guide. 8. Announce and Promote the Forum . You almost can’t start early enough to announce the forum, so people save the date on their calendars. Promote the forum as you get closer to build excitement and provide information. 9. Identify and Train Facilitators . Facilitators are key to engaging participants, implementing adult learning and other principles. They will need sufficient training so they understand the intended outcomes, processes, etc. and have sufficient confidence that they can do the facilitation. Not all facilitation is the same — especially if you are using an evidence-based process such as Strategic Doing™ that requires some specific tasks and guidance. 10. Engage Technical Expertise . Whether a forum is in-person or virtual, it is important to have someone in place to handle the technical aspects of the forum. In-person tasks involve managing the audio-visual elements of the session. In a virtual environment, tasks would include managing the platform, such as Zoom. Some items to consider include: ● Registration Table (In-Person) / Waiting Room (Virtual) ● Use of Videos (Computer & Projector (In Person) / MP4 Videos (Virtual) ● Tables (In-Person) / Breakouts Rooms (Virtual)
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