Plan Your Idea
First, have an idea. Then, start asking around to see if others are into the idea. Try to ask more than one or two people. You want to see if there is any interest at all.
If people like your idea, and especially if they seem excited about it, then you’ve got something. What you may find is that when you are asking them about your idea, they will have other ideas that either improve, or slightly alter your idea. Let this happen!
Use the altered idea as you ask more people. Letting your idea evolve as you gain more interest will only make it more popular, since it will fit in with the ideas of your audience.
Also try to think ahead. What details can you predict? Try to think about how the whole thing will look from start to finish. The more you predict and plan for before you actually do your event, the smoother it will run. The more experience you get organizing meets, the better you will get at predicting what you will need to plan for, even when the events are very different. You will find that most events have a lot of things in common.
Find A Venue
Once you have a good idea of what you want to accomplish, start searching in your area for a location that can accommodate your idea. Once you’ve located some potential spots, don’t just call them. First, go and see the place for yourself. When I plan a meet that is going to be in the public, I go and see the potential locations before I even bother to call them. I want to see what locations are clean, roomy, have a potential space for changing into fursuits, etc. Visit at least locations (if you have that many options) before you decide.
Coordinate With The Management
Once you think you’ve found a good location, you can either speak to a manager in person, or you can call them. Don’t just email. Make a phone call. Calling them can be helpful to you if you are a little nervous and do not feel comfortable speaking to them in person. Eventually, you will get better at this and you will not mind talking to them in person.
Also, make sure you are speaking to the person who can make decisions. Do not spend all your effort trying to ask questions or make plans with someone who does not have the authority to make promises. Speak to the manager who is in charge!
The more you already know about your event idea, the easier it will be to talk to the manager about holding your event. You should already know a good deal about what you want your event to look like before you talk to the manager. This will give you good questions to ask and the manager will be able to make better suggestions based on your details.
The manager may ask you questions that you did not think of. His questions may result in slight changes to your event plan. That is ok! Let this happen. No plan survives enemy contact. So, it is not a big deal if you have to make some adjustments to make your event idea fit within the venue.
You will also have to decide what parts of your idea are deal breakers and what parts can be changed without altering the point of your event. Try not to be too rigid, but also try to remember why you are there. As a good example, every time I have planned a bowling event, I would always ask if it would be ok to wear our fursuit feet on the bowling lane. If the answer was no, I would look for another venue. It makes no sense to plan a fursuit bowling event if half your suiters cannot wear their fursuits.
If you did a decent job of predicting what you will need for your event, and if the manager you spoke with had reasonable questions, the result of your conversation will likely have some slight changes to your idea, but they will be doable, and you will have a really clear picture of what is going to be happening for your event. You should also have a good idea of what your event will cost.
It Is Not Always About The Money
Cost is not as important as you might think. Yes, it is true that most poeple will not pay $100 to go ice skating, but you might surprised to learn that many people will pay $30 or $40 dollars for ice skating if it also includes food. Or maybe you can include hot coco and a warm changing room. Or if there is some kind of game involved with the event, so that it is not just skating. If you can create something that has some value, people will pay. Anyone would.
Do not just assume that if the cost is more than $5, no one will go. If the cost is a little higher than you would like, try to find some way of increasing the value of what you are offering. People will pay for a perceived value.
Small-Time Advertising
After you have planned your event and coordinated the details with the management of your chosen venue, you will need to start letting people know that you have an event. It does not hurt to continue talking about your event with your friends even while you are planning the details. This will only help you to get the word out for your event.
It will help you to advertise your event if you are part of local chat groups. Publicize your event in as many ways as you can.
Be Positive
Also, be confident! Do not tell people, “Yeah, it should be ok. I kinda’ hope it will work, but I just don’t know. Maybe it will flop. I don’t know.” When you advertise your event, people should believe that it will be the greatest thing they have ever done. You do not have to feel this way! Fake it ‘til you make it. Your enthusiasm, even if it is a little bit phony, will catch on. People will go to your event and spend their money if they are confident that they will have a good time. If you want them to be confident, YOU have to be confident – even if you are faking it.
Let’s talk about something I just said to you. People will spend their money, if they are confident that they will have a GOOD TIME. No matter what your event is, you are only selling one thing – a GOOD TIME! That means, anything you say about your event that goes against this principle is only hurting your event. If the place is not as clean as you wish it were, do not tell people that. If there is the potential that some local weirdo might show up, do not talk about that. If you think the manager is a prick, do not mention it. ANY negative details that you provide are excuses to NOT attend your meet.
This is just one of the reasons why I downplay all of the drama that everyone wants everyone else to frontload their meets with. Any drama you associate with your meet before it happens will only hurt YOU!
The Home Stretch
You will find that 95% of organizing is done before even one person shows up to your event. You will also find that no matter how often you organize events, there will always be last minute issues. The fewer last minute issues you encounter, the better your organizing skills have become. This is a great way to gauge your ability to organize, and it is also the best opportunity to improve your skills. If you missed something during your planning and coordinating, it will not be hard to miss. Next time, you will not forget that detail!
So, be prepared to answer questions and coordinate details with the manager on the spot. No matter how good you are at organizing, there will always be a few small fires to put out at your event. Do not take this as a sign that your event is falling apart. It is just part of the process.
Moderating
You may encounter one or two problems that are entirely due to the fact that you foolishly decided to invite other human beings to your event. Event attendees can be difficult to deal with. Do not worry! And, never let them see you sweat. Be calm, stay rational, and listen to both sides carefully. If you need to, step aside and take a few minutes to make your decision if the issue requires moderation.
Major issues are actually very easy to deal with. Go get the manager. They will ensure the safety of their customers and it is easy to lean on them to do major moderation. Your biggest concern is knowing the difference between a major issue and a minor issue. Here is a tip: There are very few major issues. That means that the likelihood that you will never encounter a major issue is very high.
Even if your entire group is running around screaming as though their hair were on fire, that does not mean it is a major issue. As the organizer, it will be up to you to recognize what needs to be treated as a major issue and what can be dealt with by using just a little bit of simple moderation. Every reasonable human being should be able to rationally present their issue and be heard while allowing the other person involved to do the same. All you have to do in that case is calmly listen to both sides and then make your decision. Decisions in this care are not that bad. You will most likely find some compromise between the parties. So many people will tell you this is not true. So many people are wrong. You will be fine. Just be calm.
An Alternative To Moderating By Yourself
If you are worried that you will be a terrible moderator, try to find a few friends to do it for you. Appoint them as the moderators of your event. Ask them to act as a panel of judges to moderate issues when they arise. Just make sure you choose calm heads. Do not choose the most radical or hot-headed folks. Find the most moderate, even-handed folks you can. Choose 3 to avoid any stalemates when they make their decisions.
Give them these rules:
- Make sure they have a copy of YOUR rules. They are not here to make rules. They are here to make judgements based on YOUR rules.
- The issue must be related to the event you are in right now. No one is here to solve daddy issues.
- The issue must be related to the rules of the current event. “He has orange hair today”, is probably not in the rules.
- They do not have to accept exactly what was demanded of them. The accuser may have an overly extreme idea of “justice”. They should figure out what happened, and then decide what kind of a response would best fit the “crime”.
After you have given them this job, let them do it. Do not keep stepping in to disrupt their decisions. If you want them to make decisions, trust them to do that for you. Back them up and they will back you up.
Judges will also serve as great cover for you. If you get a complaint, you can always say, “What did the judges say?” Now you can wash your hands of it, which is pretty friggin’ sweet, because drama is dumb.
~Sisyphus