Difference between revisions of "Events policy"

Revision as of 23:07, 16 March 2013

IN DRAFT

About this policy

This policy is how things stand at present. If it doesn't work we'll change it!

General principles

• All events are organised by one or more members.

• If you aren't a member and you want to organise an event in Makespace, you either need to persuade members to host your event, or become a member yourslf!

• We strongly recommend that at least TWO members are happy to host an event, as this makes the event more likely to be a success.

• For any event open to non-members, the usual rules about guests in the space apply.

• Event organisers/hosts are always responsible for what happens at events. In other words, the members organising the event are responsible for the people attending and must be ready to handle emergencies, escort them out in case of fire, and if anything goes wrong (kit is broken or stolen, etc) the member(s) running the event will need to deal with the consequences as they will be held responsible.

If a member brings in a few guests to show them around, have a meeting, work on a project etc, that's not an event, because it's all people the member knows and is escorting in the space - that's normal Makespace stuff :)

Children attending the space should always be accompanied by a responsible adult; no more than 1 child per adult member or visitor (as it isn't always possible to supervise more than 1 child in a workshop situation).

Events are either:

• members only
• open to the public

Members only events

These events are organised by one or more members.

• because everyone attending is a member, things are fairly straightforward
• event may anywhere in the space
• if most of any one room in the space will be used and it won't be possible/nice/easy for other members to do stuff in that room whilst the event is happening, then the event should book the room(s) in advance on the calendar.
• the event can be free or subject to a charge (the funds could pay for materials and/or a trainer's time or travel expenses etc, or could be donated to Makespace). If the event has a charge, the member(s) organising it are responsible for collecting the money and making any payments.
• The event can be open to all members or restricted to just some members (for example, only members who have been trained on the 3D printer; only a fixed number of members; only specific members for some other reason).
• No event should allow more than 100 people into the space at once. It may be useful to count people in on the door so you know when to stop admitting people.

Events open to the public

These events are organised by one or more members but non-members are able to attend.

• It's useful to run some sort of RSVP system so you aren't overwhelmed with people turning up unexpectedly. Whether you do or don't get an idea of numbers in advance, if more people turn up than the organisers or space can handle, the organisers MUST close the doors and not permit more people in.

• remember, if you're the sole organiser, you have to be there or your event can't take place! You might want to make sure you can notify attendees if you are ill or unable to attend at the lsast minute.

• We encourage events to be open to members if at all possible, and that members who happen to be in the space can attend events if possible. However we understand that sometimes this isn't possible, as some events may be restricted to just some members (for example, only members who have been trained on the 3D printer) or other limits may apply (such as a training event where the trainer can only work with up to 8 pre-booked learners, or a meeting is only open to people who have paid to attend, or where preparatory work is required).

• Events may be free or subject to a charge (which may be either formal, eg "£5 per person", or informal, eg "please chip in a couple of quid if you can"). It is totally fine and even good to charge non-members more than members.

Numbers of guests

Depending on the number of people attending, there are requirements on how many members must be organising and attending the event.

• For up to 10 guests, one member can organise the event but we strongly recommend at least two members organise any public event because it's really hard to keep an eye on everything when hosting an event; for up to 20 guests, two members; for up to 30 guests, 3 members, etc.

• No event should allow more than 100 people into the space at once. It may be useful to count people in on the door so you know when to stop admitting people.

• If the space feels overcrowded, immediately close the front door and do not permit more people to come in.

Hosting a public event

• Non-members attending your event should be encouraged to read the Visitors rules (posted at the internal door of makespace (NB not posted quite yet)) and to sign in the Visitors Book (if we have one) and to sign in on any sign-in sheet (see below).

• Encourage non-members attending your event to take a Makespace card and consider becoming a member :)

• If there are more than 10 non-members present, the organiser should give a brief housekeeping intro at the start of the event, pointing out fire exits, and potentially also other useful info (toilet location, first aid or other safety information that may be needed).

Doors

• The exterior front door should not be propped open unless you have a member waiting in the foyer at all times

• For larger events you may want to open the inner front door so that guests can let themselves out. DO NOT DO THIS if the exterior front door is propped open, or anyone could just walk into Makespace!

• there is an access token in the cafe which can be used to give access to the toilets. for big events you might want to relocate the token to the corridor just outside the cafe so anyone returning from the toilets can let themselves in. If you do that when your event ends YOU MUST BRING THE TOKEN BACK IN TO MAKESPACE.

big events and regular events and tracking attendance

Knowing who attends our events is important for Makespace to demonstrate its reach, which both meets the criteria of our bootstrap grant funding and is likely to unlock future funding opportunities. In particular we have a target to get 500 people each doing 6 hours of Makespace stuff!

So, if your event is 6 hours or longer, please ensure you have a sign in sheet where everyone signs in with their full name and signs to confirm they are attending a 6+ hour event. Once you have this sheet completed please scan it or email an electronic copy to management@makespace.org, so we can report to our funders.

If your event is less than 6 hours long but forms part of a series, for example, a course of 6 or more 1-hour talks or workshops, where you expect many people to attend the whole series, you will want to have a sign in sheet where it's easy to see how many events each person attended. You could use a matrix where each person signs in once and then ticks or signs for subsequent events. Again, once the course is complete (or you have lots of people who have done 6 hours of stuff) please scan it or email an electronic copy to management@makespace.org, so we can report to our funders.

The target is 6 hours in total of engagement and this can be made up of one 6 hour block, several shorter blocks of time, whatever.

Publicity for events

• Events open to Members only can be advertised on the google group and/or on the Meetup group. It's essential that the event clearly indicates that it's members only.

• Events open to the public can be advertised on the Meetup group

Signage

If you are using the classroom or main space and you don't want other members wandering through make sure there's a sign outside to say what the event is and apologising for the inconvenience! If you are using the main space it's almost impossible for people not to wander through.

Space

• Whichever room the event is held in should be returned to its usual layout after the event.
• Events are strongly preferred to take place in the classroom, especially if there's more than 10 people attending. Obviously some events may need to be in the main space (eg a 3D printer demo) but remember that use of the main space is more likely to inconvenience other members. (the same applies to events which use specific kit!) As a rule only general interest events which are agreed on list should use the whole main space. If in doubt use the classroom.
• Make sure tables and chairs don't block the fire exits or the paths to them. If you are using the main space, ensure other members can still move between the workshop, cakespace etc.
• Organisers are responsible for cleaning up after events and this should be done immediately after the event, not later in the day or the next morning.

The classroom can be enhanced with folding tables (currently stored in the under floor storage) and the projector (currently locked in the store room, but can be unlocked by laura, jonny, simon, dan, roger, brianC, Alexis.)

Optionally we could alter this policy for all events to be in the classroom unless the google group or the directors agreed otherwise.

Food and drink

• Makespace doesn't provide catering.
• Organisers can arrange food and drink, or use existing honesty box snacks and tea/coffee facilities.
• Alcohol can only be served at events with the prior permission of the Directors. This applies even if there happens to be beer in the kitchen.

The Events calendar

We generally divide each day into morning/afternoon/evening and book time against these slots but more specific times can be used if that helps. Please try to allow at least 30 minutes between two events to let one clear down and the next set up.

Recurring events can occur:

• every day at the same time
• every week at the same time
• every month at the same time defined by day of the week (eg 7pm on the second tuesday of each month)

One off events are also fine.

For now we will use the Meetup group to schedule events. (We also have a Google calendar but that's not currently in use for community run events)

Contention for space

If events cause you problems...

If an event means you can't use the space or some kit you want to use, or otherwise is a notable inconvenience, or if people attending an event behave in a way which you feel is unsafe or abusive in any way, please let us know on the google group or by emailing management@makespace so we can figure out if we need to alter this policy or take other action.