User:Burning Freebies/Events Guide

The Guide
Planning on making an event? Then why not read this guide! Compiled by an events expert, using the planning of 100's of events, Freebies plc brings you the ultimate guide on setting up your own event.

This guide is split into several sections:


 * Organisation
 * Marketing
 * Finance
 * People
 * Type of event tips

=Part 1-Organisation=

Organising the event. This involves a lot of decisions, such as:


 * What type of event am i going to run? (see Type of event section)
 * Where and when will i host it?
 * How big do I want it?
 * Do i need staff?
 * Will I partner with someone?

Hopefully this section can help.

Firstly, you need to decide the type of event. Large giveaway? PvP? Festival related event? Without solid ground here, you cannot run an event.

Hosting it is another major issue. Will i have time to host it then? Will the event attract customers then? The marketing section may cover more on this.

Size is another issue. Event growth can affect you greatly. Remember-you MUST be able to farm all materials by yourself well within the time. If you cant, try to get help from a friend, a guild member or an organisation eg Blade Radio.

If your event does grow, you might need to introduce staff. Storage, gamble table operator, gift giver, filmer, photographer and co hosts are the most common forms of job. Always try to look for references from the person, as previous experience means less hard work training them for you.

Partnering is a form of staff. It basically means spreading the items between 2 people. Some peope tend to run events alone, or through a guild. Guild event involve large amounts of guild members in the event.

=Part 2-Marketing=

Marketing is a large part of event running. It involves 3 main factors:


 * Product
 * Promotion
 * Place

Product
This basically means, what are you offering to a stake holder (event attendee)? Golds? Greens? Large money? This will largely depend on the type of event you are running. If you are running a competition, large sums of money often appeal to potential stakeholders. This can mean a physical item, or service, such as a run to somewhere or a run to get something.

Place
This basically means "Getting the product (event) to the right people at the right place at the right time". This involves choosing the right event venue, the right time of day, the right day, the right month, and the right time zone. For example, there is no point hosting an event that provides new players with first class weapons if the event is hosted in somewhere like the Realm Of Torment, or somewhere far away from new players. The timing is essential to-why host a Wintersday event in February? The day and start time are important factors of this, as target time zones may not be able to attend, and peope may be working on that day.

Promotion
Probably the most important section. How can someone know to be at an event if they dont know it exists? Use forums, gamers radios, websites and the official Guild Wars website to let the community know where to be, so you can give to them. Remember to not give too much information about the event away when writing forum layouts-a suprise is always good!

Research
Research your chosen event area. Look at what past event organisers have done, and ask them how they did it, and how they can help you. If you want community opinion, try to open a planning thread to give the community an insight in to what to do. This works well with large events that you cannot plan that well on your own.

=Part 3-Finance==

Finance and funding is essential. Most events require some form of capital (goods to give away)

To be added