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How to host an event
- Check the schedule for the room you want and make sure it is available (see Facilities section below for room suggestions): http://cs.brown.edu/about/rooms/
- If the room is on the 1st or 2nd floor, email the MTAs to schedule. If the room is on the 3rd, 4th, or 5th floor, email [email protected] to book the space for your event.
- Check the IPP calendar to make sure it doesn't overlap with an IPP event (calendar: https://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=brownipp%40gmail.com&ctz=America/New_York ). We don't want to overlap with these events b/c it makes the department look bad. Talks hosted by professors should also be respected.
- Email Lauren Clarke ([email protected]) to make sure there are no anticipated conflicting IPP events. She'll also add your event to the IPP calendar if it is a tech talk!
- [optional] Email Kathy Kirman (kpk@cs) to get it on the CS Department Calendar. (calendar: http://www.google.com/calendar/render?cid=http://cs.brown.edu/events/current.ics)
Tips:
- Tech talks at noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays (with lunch provided) tend to draw larger turnouts because there are no classes during that time and everyone needs to eat lunch. --> this sentence is also a great way to subtly ask a company to arrange/pay for food if they ask you when is the best time for a tech talk
- If you are working with a recruiter for a tech talk, ask for a short blurb they would like you to use in your publicity materials so you can use that for your email and Facebook event.
- Keep in mind that the elevators to floors 3-5 are only unlocked during business hours (before 5:30)
- If you need the elevators unlocked for your event, email Lauren Clarke or [email protected] when you're booking the room to ask. Even if you do this, the likelihood of the elevators getting unlocked is unfortunately slim, so make sure you arrive early to sort this out with security before people start showing up.
Lubrano, 368, and Motorola (1st floor) are best for hosting talks and panels. 3rd floor atrium is best for hackathons and social events. For 3rd floor atrium, 368, Lubrano, and any other room that is on greater than or equal to the third floor, keep in mind that the elevators do not work after 5 and on weekends unless you ask for them to be unlocked (see Tips). See Scheduling above for how to book rooms in the CIT.
It is much harder to host an event outside of the CIT -- if you choose a room outside of the CIT, you will have to worry about details such as unlocking doors, contacting facilities, navigating fire regulations, and hiring media services (which is expensive), etc.
- Make sure to have enough food for expected attendance! We don't want to advertise falsely!
- Buy drinks before the event, and then refrigerate them so that they are icy cold by the time the event comes around.
- When purchasing food or drink, be sure to ask for (and keep) receipts (see Finances).
- When ordering food from a restaurant, do not order drinks. It's more economical to purchase them at CVS.
- For a particularly distinguished speaker, a reception afterwards with food could be reasonable. If it's a company, they will probably arrange and pay for food (see Tips).
- Mama Kim's
- Chipotle
- East Side Pockets
- Kabob and Curry is delicious but also expensive; expect to pay about $430 dollars, feeds up to 50 people. Get delivery; carrying Indian food 3 blocks is really painful. Also, IPP companies seem to love catering with Kabob and Curry, so you may want to use an alternate option.
- Nice Slice/Antonio's ...these are just suggestions. Anywhere on Thayer is fine, just make sure you order at least one week in advance (exception: pizza).
Purchase food on your own, if that is possible. After paying for food, photocopy the receipt, but also hold onto the original receipt.
If a receipt is less than $20, e.g. drinks, snacks, and tableware, it is possible to be reimbursed from petty cash. In this case, go to [ASK CHARLES]
For receipts that are more than $20, go to Lori Agresti to be reimbursed via campus mail. Note that she will only accept original receipts.
NEVER reimburse a speaker out of your own pocket (ie: for train fare): let the department handle it. Before the event, go to Janet Eager. She will give you a form for reimbursement and an envelope addressed to her: give those to the speaker.
Make sure cost distribution is in writing! Be careful!
- Should know when the event is and where the CIT is
- Should know the technical level and interests of the audience
- Have a good introduction
- Have a person dedicated to preventing grad students and others from stealing food until the talk has begun
- Email [email protected] with the message and subject as you want it sent to the department. Someone will approve your email and forward it to the list serv. Email ugrad one week prior and then again the day before the event.
- Have someone make you an admin in the CS DUG Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/hackersatbrown/. Create an event from within the group (it will automatically invite all group members) ~one week before the event. Copying and pasting the email for the event description is totally fine.
NOTE: Below are more publicity methods that have been less used (and unnecessary?) in the past couple years, but still useful to know how to do if you want to use them.
This one is important, because all the other electronic sources refer to it. It should contain the full description of the event. It is good to have a consistent blurb and title for the event (consistency of content across morning mail/various announcements)
Title can be up to 50 characters, content can be up to 500 characters. This will generally require some major editing. After you've cut the description down to size, reread it and make sure you aren't missing any critical pieces of information. The most important things to include are probably who, when, where, what, and any buzzwords that may be likely to attract attendants. Make sure to include a link to the CS DUG's events page at the bottom. Send to professors, grad students, and/or undergraduates, depending on event. Be sure to time the announcements so the last one falls on the day of the event (you can only post one day a week). All events must appear on the online university calendar (http://events.brown.edu/cal/) in order to be approved for Morning Mail.
Class lists (e.g. cs32 class), ugrad and concentrator (email Lauren at [email protected]), talks digest ([email protected]) and announce (email Genie at [email protected]). If the event might be relevant to non-cs students, email the announce equivalents for those departments. The emails need not contain the entire description of the event, but should contain a link to our events page.
The Metcalf Copy Center, located on the west side of Thayer Street just south of CIT, can print these out and cut them properly, for a fee. Alternatively, printing them out and cutting them by hand is free but more time-consuming. BDH shows your table slips in the paper - Email a PDF or JPEG to [email protected]. No fee. For information, check any printed edition of the BDH. Also could advertise in the university section, for a fee.
The SPOCs (maybe MTA's and/or head consultants too?) can change the login pictures if we have a really awesome event. Amy Tarbox ([email protected]) controls the screens on the first floor by the elevators.
We can put a PowerPoint slide up on the big monitors by the elevators, which slowly cycle through the advertisements. Can also just give Amy (abt@cs) the poster image file.
We have to put our events on the department calendar at http://www.cs.brown.edu/events/calendar.html if we don't want other people to schedule over them!
Fliers need:
- Title & blurb
- Time, date, & room
- That there will be food there
- That it is hosted by Hackers @ Brown (!important)
- Give 8 copies to the CIT reception desk, and you can post 1-4 more in various locations. Be sure to check in the next day to make sure they are put up.
- [iffy, better to put in stairwells/bathrooms] To put fliers on the doors of the CIT, talk to the cleaning lady and to the CIS service/repair people so that they will not get taken down immediately.
- Also, don't forget to bring sticky stuff to put them up on the walls. For CIT: posters in elevators, on the first floor, and in bathrooms get taken down quickly. Make sure to get some good adhesive (looped masking tape) so they can be put up quickly and frequently. (of course it is better to speak with the cleaning persons first, so they won't be taken down)
- Put 4-8 on the doors to the VDub
- Give 4 to the SAO for JWW and Faunce Arch
- Put a couple in the SciLi.
- Put 1 outside the Ratty
- Barus and Holley lobby, entrances, room 168
- Wilson
- Salomon
- Dorms
Can reserve space for banners (like those in front of the ratty) at the SAO.
Get in contact with the relevant DUGs (this is particularly time hard, not necessarily worth the effort?) contacting the DUGs is hard. You have to be persistent and email the department, then from there you might get a students email, who might respond to your email. be sure to get in touch with any relevant RI groups who might want to attend. Have professors email their classes (in addition to talking about it in class).