“Cover Your Basics” for a Successful Community Event

"Cover your basics" is one thing I always stress when asked how to run a successful community event. While the tips and methods below are based on my own experiences organizing tech and entrepreneurship events of all sizes, they also apply to community building in a broader perspective. 

The three most important steps in organizing an event are: inviting guest speakers, securing a venue, and recruiting attendees. Surprisingly, the third step is often overlooked. I’ve seen many events with great topics and guest lineups flounder because the basic task of recruiting attendees was considered unnecessary. In this article, I will provide several tips on avoid these common mistakes.

So, what exactly do I mean by covering “the basics”? These “basics “refer to the key tasks in completing the steps mentioned above. In my four years of experience as an event organizer, the best way to ensure that all your “basics” are covered is by fulfilling three requirements: create marketing content, have reliable distribution channels, and extend personal invites. Let’s take a closer look!

1.Marketing Content 

Nothing fancy, just simple blurbs, both long and short, suitable for posting on different social media sites. In China, this includes WeChat moments, WeChat groups, and various event platforms. Create posters of different sizes for different platforms. For posters or promotional materials, don’t forget about the conversion step - what makes people finally purchase a ticket or sign up for an event? Also, keep in mind what people really want to know when they look at your posters - who, what, when, where and how. They want to know about the guests, topics, agenda, time and location, and how to pay. Make sure this information is front and center in an easy-to-read design. 

2.Distribution Channels 

Once you have prepared all your marketing content, make sure to promote on all your basic distribution channels. In Startup Grind Shenzhen 's case, we have our WeChat public account, Huodongxing (the Chinese version of Eventbrite), various Startup Grind WeChat groups, organizer and volunteers' WeChat moments, and our partners' WeChat groups and moments.

3.Personal Invites 

After these two steps are completed, watch your sign-up numbers. If they don’t go up fast enough, you should probably start manually sending invites. I once created 50–60 personal invitation cards for people in my contact list who I thought might be interested in an event. I personally sent the invitations and asked recipients to share them with their networks. This can be time-consuming and takes more effort than most people are willing to put in, but I can assure you it works. And we’re not the only ones using this tactic. AngelHack recently did this to recruit participants for their hackathon in Shenzhen. TechTemple also uses this strategy to promote their event. It's a common practice for event organizers.

These are just the most basic tactics we use at Startup Grind and other projects I’ve consulted on. Nine out of ten times, they work as expected. There are other elements that go into creating a successful and memorable event, but I’ve found that if you skip any of these “basics”, it is very difficult to pull off a successful event. 

Naturally, what works also depends on the type of event and how your organization is set up. The way you execute an event may vary from case to case. What “basics” do you always cover when organizing events? Share your approaches in the comments below!