GEAPS VIRTUAL EVENT PLANNING GUIDE   

Creating local GEAPS experiences is critical to GEAPS’ organizational success. For many years, the only option for GEAPS chapter meetings was to meet in-person. While in-person events are still the leading way chapter members meet, virtual meetings are on the rise and peoples’ comfort with them is also increasing.  Virtual meetings are a great way to connect with members from other chapters.  

If your chapter is interested in doing a virtual chapter meeting, GEAPS staff is ready to assist in any of all of these steps outlined below to include designing your meeting, managing registration, facilitating and hosting via zoom, managing communications, and much more.  

 1. DESIGN YOUR EVENT  

What is the purpose? 

How many attendees do you expect? 

What is the best format and length of the event? 

Fill in the blank: This event will be successful if ____ 
 

2. DELEGATE 

Who will coordinate with the speakers?  

Who will host the event?  GEAPS Zoom, Chapter members meeting platform 

Who will Deliver Housekeeping details? 

Who will introduce your speaker? 

Who will facilitate the Q&A if the speaker wants help? 

Who will thank your speaker? 

Who will send out notices, invitations and any event-related communications? (GEAPS Staff can help!) 

3. SELECT YOUR EVENT PLATFORM AND FORMAT YOUR SETTINGS  

There are many multiple platform options.  If GEAPS staff is serving as your host, the Zoom platform will likely be utilized. Here are some things to consider:   

What platform best suits your expected attendance number?   

Do your attendees need to be able to interact with your speaker?   

Do your attendees need to be able to see and interact with other attendees?   

Will you be using a screen share, polling option or chat function?   

Are you interested in using breakout rooms? These can be used for dividing a large group into smaller groups for discussions or networking.  

Would you like to record your event to share afterwards?   

4. CONFIRM YOUR DATE AND SPEAKERS   

Make sure your event date and time doesn’t conflict with other events by checking the GEAPS website or asking other members about happenings or shows they’re attending.  

Topics to cover with the speakers before the meeting:  

Confirm that the speaker is comfortable with virtual. 

Will there be multiple presenters? If so, what speaker sequence is needed?   

Is the speaker okay with the webinar being recorded?  

Does the speaker have a bio to read for the introduction? 

How does the speaker want to handle questions? 

Questions can be handled during the presentation either in the chat. 

Question can be reserved for the end. 

The host can read the questions to the presenter, or the presenter can watch for question.

 

5. SET UP YOUR REGISTRATION FORM   

GEAPS staff can manage your registration. 

Many platforms have their own basic registration system.  
 

6. DO A TEST RUN OF YOUR EVENT   

Practice makes perfect. These will help your event to go smoothly:  

A few days before your event, schedule for at least 30 minutes with your presenters and stakeholders to review the technology, discuss roles and choreography. This also is a great time to complete your content to make sure that your event is as stress-free as possible.  

What you should test for: 

Test for sound and picture. 

Test that everyone knows how to use the platform as host or panelist. 

Test the Power Point . 

Test any videos. 

Test to make sure everyone knows how to transition between speakers.  

Agree to meet 15 minutes before the meeting to make sure everything is working.