Organising a Gathering

You can take inspiration from some of the events others have planned, or perhaps you have your own unique idea. Either way, you should make use of A gathering can be as small or as large as you like.  Whether you are an individual, a business or a community or sporting organisation, you can help to make 2013 the year of the Gathering.You can take inspiration from some of the events others have planned, or perhaps you have your own unique idea. Either way, to get started, create an account at www.thegatheringireland.com and upload the details of your event. If you need any help, the local steering group is available to provide assistance, and can be contacted through the links here.

Whatever type of event you are organising, there are a few key things you can do to help your gathering succeed.

1.  Work with your community

You don’t have to work alone. Why not get everyone involved at the planning stage and work together? Pooling all your resources and experience will make your gathering more successful and give the whole community a sense of ownership.

2.  Identify who you want to target

Seek out your connections around the world such as family, friends, school and work colleagues and start communicating with them now. You don’t need to have your event confirmed to start the conversation.

3.  Seek out sponsorship

Local funding through individual or commercial sponsorship can make a big difference to your event. Talk to businesses in your area today.

4.  Work with your local tourism providers

Let local tourism providers like hotels, B&Bs, activity organisers and visitor attractions know about your event in advance. They may be able to support it in some way, either by offering packages or promoting it on their websites.

5.  Keep the local press informed

Stay in touch with your local press. Get to know your local journalists and editors, their deadlines and their particular news interests. Make their jobs easier by providing them with good quality press releases, pictures and captions. Announce events in the community diary.

6. Use www.thegatheringireland.com

There’s lots of resources available on www.thegatheringireland.com, including posters, invites and ‘How to’ guides to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Social media is a powerful and completely free marketing resource. Choose one or two social media tools and use them well.