Host Expectations
YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES
By agreeing to become a Meet, Plan, Go! Kick Ass Host for your city, we ask that you:
Secure a venue for your local Meet, Plan, Go! event by August 1, 2012
Venue is very important – it dictates how many people we can reach and it directly affects your ticket sales. We do not reimburse you for venue space, but your ticket sales revenue can go towards any of those costs if you’d like.
Previous hosts were able to secure free venues in restaurants, private bar rooms, meeting space at major retailers, colleges, and hotels. The space must be conducive to a presentation and include audio/visual aides, seating, and room for sponsor/resource tables.
You will be required to secure local presenters to participate in the event and lead discussions. We will provide you an event format, agenda, and discussion topics for the evening to help guide you through this process in picking qualified people. And we can give you guidance based on our contacts and resources.
All presenters will be highlighted on the Meet, Plan, Go! website and must be approved by Meet, Plan, Go! in order to ensure no conflicts of interest with National Sponsors.
You are expected to lead the event and be a part of the discussion. You will also need to secure volunteers to help with the venue setup, check-in, and general organization of the event.
You will be required to promote the event in local event calendars, as well as your own website and social media accounts. We will be putting together a National PR campaign, however, we’ll be looking to you to promote the event at a local level. The more local press you receive, the more sign-ups and revenue you’ll have! Isn’t that Kick Ass?
To help introduce you to our audience, you will also be responsible for writing one inspirational post to be used on our website and/or newsletter. Here are examples of previous posts:
– San Francisco Host Sarah Lavender Smith
– Las Vegas Host JoAnna Haugen
– Seattle Hosts Paul & Christine Milton
In addition, we recommend that you have at least 2-4 casual meetups in the months prior to the main event. These are simple to organize and are helpful to build momentum, brand recognition, and put more butts in seats (which means more dollars in your pocket)! More info on organizing a local meetup.
As a local host, you can make the event even better by obtaining or organizing some travel products or services to be given away or promoted at the event (including your own if you have any). These local sponsors will be put on the Meet, Plan, Go! site once approved.
Please note: obtaining sponsorship is NOT required of you, it simply makes your event more Kick Ass.
If you pass us a Kick Ass lead for a national sponsor, you will receive a commission of 10% of that sponsor sale.
You are responsible for communicating with your attendees from time to time with event updates as well as managing the attendee & waiting lists. We will also conduct a formal update with you via phone or Skype in June and in September.
Regular online communication is also expected with the Meet, Plan, Go! coordinators and fellow hosts via an our online discussion group.
You will also be responsible for capturing the event in some way. This includes taking pictures or video and uploading those files to a shared site within one week after the event. You will also be asked to write a follow up post about the event for the Meet, Plan, Go! site which can also be used on your own site as well.
OUR RESPONSIBILITIES
We are here to assist our Kick Ass Hosts! So don’t feel like you are a one man/woman show. In addition, we will connect our hosts so they can also learn from each other.
We will support you with:
– A complete event agenda/powerpoint presentation along with guidance on the skillsets of the presenters you will need to secure. Presentation will include the overall message of the evening, agenda, specific speaking points, and topics covered.
– Access to our Career Break Database to help connect you with fellow travelers and experts in your area to serve as participants.
– Kick Ass Host communication platform to share best practices and provide regular updates.
– Our national press release that can be utilized at a local level.
– Potential giveaways and promotional items on a national level.
– When possible we will provide assistance locating a venue in locations where we have contacts or sponsor relationships. Ultimately you are responsible for securing the venue, but we will assist when we are able to.
– Meet, Plan, Go! badges to be utilized on your website or Facebook page.
– Post-event eGoody Bag for all attendees filled with useful travel resources and discounts.
– Promotion, Promotion, Promotion! We will of course provide you a lot of hype and publicity as we promote this ‘conversation about travel’ nationally! We will do this through our social networks as well as our website/blog.
Still with us? Continue to the Application!
