Start the planning process at least 3 months before the date you intend to hold the forum.

INITIAL PLANNING STAGE
Form a committee.
Develop a planning committee comprised of individuals who will volunteer to fulfill the roles and tasks listed below. Invite a diverse (age, sex, ethnicity, occupation, etc.) group to participate.

  1. Person who will serve as primary contact and will manage overall planning of the forum. place, time, set-up, equipment, refreshments, etc.
  2. Person who will identify and secure host organization(s).
  3. Person who will write an article to submit to local newspapers in advance of the forum.
  4. Person who will profile exemplar organization(s) for forum, for website, and possibly for book project.
  5. Person who will manage all publicity efforts (i.e., advertising, press releases, radio announcements, etc.).
  6. Person who will coordinate outreach efforts to nonprofit organizations in the community. This may involve gaining support from these organizations, enlisting them as co-sponsors, or developing some type of partnership with them.
  7. Person who will organize and coordinate logistical aspects of the forum.
  8. Person who will conduct outreach to educational institutions in the community. This may involve gaining support from these establishments, enlisting them as co-sponsors, or developing some type of partnership with them.
  9. Person who will engage in outreach efforts to foundations. This may involve gaining support from these foundations, enlisting them as co-sponsors, or developing some type of partnership with them (such as asking them to inform their grantees).
  10. Person who will work with co-sponsoring organization(s) to discuss possibilities for the forum, or related activities, to become part of the programming of that organization.

Convene your committee to discuss what they want to achieve during the forum. Ask yourself what is the forum's message, primary topic (e.g., the ethics of urban redevelopment), and title (keeping in mind the overarching theme):

What shared values uphold the America of which you dream and for which you strive?

Once the committee has agreed upon the topic for the forum, the committee member responsible for securing a host organization should research, survey, and select (upon the committee's approval) local community organizations, businesses, etc., to serve as co-sponsor(s). (Co-sponsorship might involve cash donations, in-kind donations, volunteer time, and/or space in which to host the event.)

Bring the co-sponsor(s) into the planning process.
At this point, the organization(s) will begin to play a critical role in the forum's planning process. Working with the planning committee, all individuals will brainstorm and decide upon a space (i.e., library room, school auditorium, local community center, retail center, church, etc.) unless the committee has already selected a venue in consultation with the co-sponsoring organization(s).

The planning committee and co-sponsoring organization(s) will need to decide if it is necessary to contact local bakeries, coffee shops, florists, or other local businesses to secure in-kind donations.

Publicity
Create a fabulous flier that lists the title, location, date, co-sponsors, local donors, and topic for the forum.

  1. Collect any Content of Our Character-related materials.
  2. Send out press releases to local papers and radio stations.
  3. Ask your local paper to donate free ads.

SIX WEEKS PRIOR TO THE EVENT

  1. Review the location and decide what the set-up will be.
  2. Create a banner for the forum.
  3. Begin working on the program.
    • Draft biographies on any speakers and/or facilitators (if necessary).
    • Write a short mission statement for the evening.
    • Map out the agenda for the entire forum.
    • Discuss safe space rules.
    • List, and prepare to acknowledge, all donors, sponsors, and volunteers.
    • Prepare contact information for resources available in the community.
  4. Send invitations to city officials, schools officials, community organizations, and leaders.
  5. Consider recording, videotaping, broadcasting, and/or photographing the forum.
  6. Gather supplies for the evening.
    • Camera and film;
    • Name tags;
    • Pens and pencils;
    • Banners;
    • Microphones;
    • Balloons;
    • Name placards for speakers (if any);
    • Sign-in sheets (with the following participant information: name, organization, address, phone number, and email address) for mailing list and possible e-group; and
    • Evaluation forms.
  7. Confirm space, donations, etc., at least twice before the event. Ask all speakers, volunteers, caterers, etc., to arrive at least 60 minutes before the scheduled starting time for the forum.
  8. Send out press releases again.

DAY OF FORUM

  1. Set-up the forum space 60 minutes before the forum begins.
    • Organize sign-in table with name tags, fliers or handouts, etc.
    • Place 1-2 welcomers at each entrance.
    • Arrange chairs and place microphone(s) in desirable locations (if necessary).
    • Lay out refreshments.
  2. At the beginning of the event, announce any rules and/or format, introduce planning committee, etc.
  3. Depending upon the number of attendees, ask participants to introduce themselves. (This should occur either at the beginning or end of the forum.) If the size of the forum is large, simply encourage participants to state their name and affiliation before they speak.
  4. Ask everyone to complete an evaluation form before leaving, and invite them to have coffee/dessert at a closing reception.

IMMEDIATELY AFTER FORUM

  1. Collect evaluations from all participants.
  2. Clean-up the forum site.
  3. The planning committee should decide when they will meet to discuss what will happen next (preferably within two or three weeks). Perhaps one or several planning committee members can agree to review the evaluations and summarize findings prior to that follow-up meeting.

WITHIN TWO WEEKS AFTER FORUM

  1. The planning committee should reconvene, discuss the event, and evaluate possibilities for future programming. A representative from the co-sponsoring organization(s) should attend this meeting.
  2. What's next? Consider the following options:
    • E-group conversations;
    • Another community forum or event; and/or
    • Programming under the auspices of local organization(s).
  3. The planning committee should send out "thank you" notes to donors, sponsors, and volunteers.