Be part of Victorian Law Week
Information to help you prepare your Victorian Law Week event.
Registered event information
If you can clearly define these elements, then you’re well on your way to creating a meaningful event that will benefit your community.
Why are you running your event?
It sounds like a simple question, but it can take some serious thought. When you’re identifying your purpose your focus should be on your attendees – what will they get out of it?
The effort you put in during the planning stage will pay off at the other end when you hold a successful event.
It is important to be specific, as the purpose of your event should be factored into all elements of your event planning and delivery.
It might be helpful to consider:
Your event will be more effective if it is targeted to a specific group, as you will be delivering the right information to the right people in the right way.
Ideally, Victorian Law Week events should aim to provide legal information directly to the groups that need it most.
Who do you want to talk to? Who needs to know the information you are sharing? Who will be interested in attending your event? Be specific.
It might be helpful to consider:
Your first thought might be that your target audience is everyone who has a particular legal issue.
This may not be specific enough, as different groups will have different needs. For example, you might want to run an event about future planning for anyone without a will. But the information needs, mode of delivery, and even the most convenient location and time for your event will differ greatly between groups such as young parents and retirees.
Your target audience should not be the general public. Why? In order to communicate effectively with your audience, you need to speak to them in a manner that is appropriate, relevant and useful – and you cannot speak to everyone effectively in the same manner. If you try to speak to everyone, you’ll end up speaking to almost no-one.
When planning your event, you should think about your hook.
Keep in mind that not everyone is able to recognise that there is a legal dimension to their problems and/or seek appropriate help.
Your target audience should dictate:
When identifying your target audience, it is also important to consider if you have a way to reach that audience to let them know about your event.
When deciding on your event format, it’s always essential to consider your target audience’s needs and capabilities.
Your target audience is the most important factor to consider when choosing an event format. What type of event is the most suitable for them? It might be helpful to consider:
Here is some information about different specific event formats to help you make your decision.
In-person events will be more likely to attract your target audience if held at locations that the target audience frequents (such as libraries, neighbourhood centres, community groups) – go to where your audience is, rather than expecting them to come to you.
If you would like to run an in-person event, it might be helpful to consider:
Make sure you have a back-up plan in place, in case the rules about public gatherings change and your event cannot proceed in-person.
Live online events can be a cost-effective way to reach a wide audience. You may want to consider running an event online to take advantage of the benefits.
It’s important to consider the limitations of online events and whether a live online event meets the needs of your target audience
If your event deals with a sensitive topic, privacy may be very important to your target audience. Online events allow you to control privacy settings, so that attendees are not publicly visible.
Most platforms allow you to easily record your online event, and you can share the recording to extend its reach.
Online events allow you to use multiple speakers in different locations. This is a great opportunity to collaborate with other organisations, incorporating speakers with different expertise or perspectives.
Some online platforms have accessibility features such as captioning and audio description. Are you making a recording of your event available? This will enable people to view the event at their own pace and will allow you to provide further accessibility measures, such as transcripts. Always let people know in advance about the accessibility measures you are providing.
Analysing viewing and engagement data will help you evaluate the effectiveness of your event. This data is easy to access for online events.
Online technology has made life easier in recent times, but it’s not without its challenges. It is a good idea to have a dedicated person who is not participating in the event to manage the streaming technology and brief your speakers.
There is no getting around the fact that online events are less interactive than in-person events. Consider using live chat, live Q&A and polls to engage with your audience.
One advantage of a live event is that, once people are at the venue, they are focussed on the event. When people attend an online event from home, they often have other things competing for their attention.
Online events are not accessible for everyone. Is your target audience computer literate? Do they have access to the internet? Are there specific login requirements that might be difficult for some people to navigate? If you are relying on attendees reading supporting materials, are they accessible?
Who is your target audience? This will influence your topic and the ‘voice’ you use to address that audience.
Why are you running the event? What do you want attendees to get out of it?
Does your event meet a specific legal need of your target audience? How has that need been identified?
How will your event educate people about an existing or emerging legal issue?
Does your presenter have the skills to engage your target audience?
Does the event format you are considering suit your target audience’s lifestyle and the way they prefer to receive information?
Do you have a way to let your target audience know about the event? Will they be interested in attending?
How will you assess if your session achieved some or all of its purpose? How will you collect feedback from participants to find out what they thought and to inform your planning for next time?
Find resources and support to help Event Organisers plan an event and bring it to life.