How to Organise Small Scale Events

How to Organise Small Scale Events Recent research carried out by Yes Scotland shows that a large majority of people are interested in receiving information about the referendum. However, many of these people will not see the appeal of attending some of the more traditional political campaigning events such as public meetings. Instead they may be more interested in attending something that has a more informal and intimate atmosphere. Events such as these will also allow for a more two-way interaction between Yes volunteers and the public than can be achieved at a meeting with speeches from a platform with a short questions and answer session. Below are two examples that have been held by local Yes groups. Another event worth a look at is Yescafé organised by Yes Highland. You can find out more on its very own Facebook page - www.facebook.com/YesCafeForIndependence Coffee Mornings Margaret Malcolm, YES Glasgow “We held a coffee morning in our area to reach out to people who might not come along to public meetings. Good contacts included a teacher who works locally and was keen to encourage a formal debate in her school, as a continuation of the kind of work she was doing in her former school. We also got someone along from the local Community Council who wanted to register as a volunteer, and get more details on the resources available from Yes locally and nationally that would help with her community's issues.” Coffee House Events June Martin, Yes Linlithgow “After a trip to The Burgh Coffee House in Stirling in January to listen to Dennis Canavan, I came away from the evening inspired and determined to put on the same type of event in Linlithgow. We have now run two successful events with Jeane Freeman, founding member of Women for Independence, and Alan Bissett, well known writer and performer.” SCOTLAND’S FUTURE IN SCOTLAND’S HANDS Where and at what cost? “For the first event we used a local coffee shop which seated 35 and negotiated that if they opened they would get enough sales to make it worth their while. After the success of the first event, we moved on to a bigger venue, using the function suite of a local hotel and negotiated the same deal, so we haven’t had any hire costs.” How did we get the audience? “For the Alan Bissett event we published the details on the Yes Scotland website and sent an e-mail out to all local supporters. We also got to post the details on his website, used the diary pages of other local websites, put up posters throughout the town, sent out targeted letters and put it in the local paper. We were delighted to get 72 people along to a hugely entertaining performance.” What did we get from the events? “The events built our confidence in what we were doing and made us enthusiastic to continue. We started off thinking small and grew. It also revived some of the volunteers that had faded from sight. Most importantly, by the second event we had everyone sign in and then followed them up on their emails. We then invited them to get involved in Yes Linlithgow and this has led to a healthy number of new fresh faces all wanting to do something in the campaign. The events were interesting, entertaining and morale boosting and we look forward to planning more in the run up to the Referendum.” Have we forgotten anything? If you have any questions or queries which we haven’t covered or if you would like to feedback more ideas about what works (or what doesn’t), please e-mail [email protected] or phone 0141 221 4767. SCOTLAND’S FUTURE IN SCOTLAND’S HANDS.

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