Manage a seminar


	Manage a seminar Minimum version: FirstClass 8.0 Audience: Business professionals Experience: Features we use: documents conferences conference permissions Summary Want an easy way to organize the details of a seminar? Use FirstClass to organize all of the details, such as choosing the date, booking resources, managing speakers and participants, registration, publicity, and providing information. You can also use FirstClass to hold the seminar. Provide participants with laptops so they can view the material directly, post questions on the fly, and follow along with presentations. Have presenters use FirstClass presentations, and have discussion groups post their responses to a FirstClass conference. Take a look at how you would traditionally organize a seminar and how you could do it in FirstClass. Example Michael Green is the VP of Sales and Marketing at Husky Planes. He has decided to organize a seminar to showcase some of their products and get feedback about their sales tactics. To organize the seminar, he needs to do the following: � set a date for the seminar, choose a venue, and book resources � request speakers and get speaker papers/presentations � plan and distribute the programme � establish a registration system � advertise the seminar � create nametags � put welcome materials together � arrange accommodations for out-of-towners � choose participation strategies � prepare feedback surveys. BEFORE THE SEMINAR Organize the seminar Michael needs to accomplish a long list of tasks in order to ensure a successful seminar. He uses the task list feature in his FirstClass calendar to manage all of the seminar details. Once he has established his to do list, he creates a Summer Seminar conference to share information with participants and speakers. This conference contains the following containers: � a calendar to schedule the conference and post due dates � a folder called Speakers where seminar speakers can post their notes � a subconference called Registration to manage the registration process � a subconference called Planes! Planes! Planes!, which will be made available to participants during the seminar and the following documents: � a Welcome document that helps users navigate through the conference � a Programme document that outlines what will happen during the seminar � a Map document to help users navigate the area � an Accommodations document listing places where out-of-town guests can stay at a discount during the conference. Set a date, choose a venue, and book resources Michael uses the FirstClass calendar in the Summer Seminar conference to advertise the date of the seminar. At the same time, he books the location and any required resources. He also uses the calendar to post timelines, like when the registration forms are due back, or the deadline for cheaper accommodations. Organize speakers and presentations The Speakers folder contains a separate document for each speaker. Each document provides a short biography, outlining credentials, work, and so on for the respective speaker. Plan and distribute the programme Michael uses the Programme document to organize the programme details. In the beginning, he edits it as required. Once the programme is ready, he makes the conference available to participants. Later, if there are any changes to the programme, he doesn't need to send new information to participants. The document is simply flagged again for anyone who has already opened it. Establish a registration system Michael uses the Registration subconference to manage his three step registration process. First, a How to register document opens as soon as the participant opens the conference. From there, the participant knows to open the registration form (which is a stationery document), then complete and send the form. The How to register document then instructs the participant to check back in 24 hours to verify that their registration has been confirmed. They do this by opening the Registered Participants document. Advertise Using FirstClass, Michael can advertise the seminar to his customers in any of his public conferences. To generate interest for potential customers, some of the conferences are also visible over the web. Note To see how a FirstClass administrator would make a conference visible over the web, click here. Create nametags Michael uses the Registered Participants document as his source when he's ready to generate nametags. Arrange accommodations Michael provides a list of possible accommodations for out-of-towners in his Accommodations document. THE DAY OF THE SEMINAR Michael runs the seminar using FirstClass. When participants arrive, they sign out a laptop (and mouse if desired) and connect to FirstClass. They can stay tuned into the seminar all day and are still able to check messages and monitor other work. On the day of the seminar, Michael gives permissions for all participants to access the Planes, Planes, Planes! subconference. The Planes! Planes! Planes! subconference contains: � a Welcome Package folder � a Speakers subconference � a Q&A subconference � a Discussion Groups subconference � a Feedback survey document (as stationery). Permissions for the subconference before the seminar are as follows: Permissions for the subconference on the day of the seminar are as follows: Note Customers were given the permission of Regular Users. Welcome packages Before the seminar, Michael compiled the participants' welcome packages in the Welcome Package folder. On the day of the seminar, participants can go to this folder to access a more detailed programme, a map of the grounds and immediate area, and any other necessary documents. Note Before the seminar, Michael printed the documents directly from the conference to put hard copy packages together. Presentations and speaker notes Michael has a Speakers subconference inside the Planes, Planes, Planes! conference. There is a folder for each speaker where the respective speaker has posted their presentations, papers, notes, and any other relevant material. Feedback surveys Michael posts a feedback survey in the Planes! Planes! Planes! conference. In the last half hour of the seminar, participants are asked to complete the survey (which is a stationery document) and submit it to the Survey submissions conference (located on Michael Green's Desktop). Note Michael previously provided Send access to the Survey submissions conference to all seminar participants. Participation strategies Michael structures the seminar to include time for presentations, a question and answer session, and a group discussion. Presentations Before the seminar, each of the speakers creates a FirstClass presentation to assist them in their own presentations. Question and answer session Participants are asked to send questions to the Q&A subconference throughout the day. During the last part of the seminar, Michael opens the Q&A conference and answers the questions in a public forum. Group discussion Michael has posted a list of questions in the Discussion Groups subconference. During the group discussion portion of the seminar, participants divide themselves into small groups and answer the questions in a FirstClass message. They send their responses to the Discussion Groups subconference at the end of the discussion. Variation If Michael wishes, in addition to a Registered Participants document, he could use a mail rule to automatically generate an email message to let the participant know that their registration has been received and will be confirmed within 24 hours.