What will be discussed in this post?
Lots of people have these creative ideas to organize certain events on this forums but lack knowledge on how to actually run an event! That’s where this thread comes in. I will give a quick overview of the basics of communication and business together with some technical aspects of this forum that should help!
From a random thought in your head to the first draft
Arguably the most important step in coming up with any type of event. At the weirdest moments, you suddenly feel like you thought of the best event or thread ever. But then what to do with it?
- Write the idea down, preferably on paper. While doing so it’s good to ask yourself: Why and for who are you organizing this event, and what do you hope to achieve?
- Check to make sure no one else did something similar already.
- Take your mind off it and preferably sleep on it, this is an important step. Coming up with a good idea takes time and needs to settle down in your head.
- Go over your original plan again and have an objective look on what the strong points are and where improvement is needed. Specifics to think about are its originality, your target audience and how realistic it is.
- Consult your friends, you will see getting another opinion makes it a lot stronger and will open your eyes to more potential flaws of the event or thread. There is also the following thread where you can consult others for advice:
New Forum Thread/Event ideas - Now give your final draft a last read and also look at your first original draft to enjoy the feeling of improvement and to make sure you didn’t lose any of the key elements of your idea.
From a draft to a thread
Now there is this draft of potentially an amazing event, but how to go from this draft to a thread? Some pointers:
- Be clear in your post, give it an understandable and logical structure. Using the # followed by a space to make text bigger and a heading is also useful since people will be able to follow your structure with one blink of an eye.
- Make sure your post is thought through, people are more likely to join an event of which it’s clear how it will work.
- Ask someone to proofread the post to make sure it’s understandable, complete and there are no typos
- No need to start using more formal language or anything like that, chances are people won’t understand it if you use too difficult vocabulary. Sounds logical, I know, but I’ve seen many people make this mistake!
- Don’t be scared to repeat certain things. Research shows that the more you repeat something the easier people understand and as bonus are also more positive towards the things you are writing down. This can be easily achieved by starting by what you are going to organize in short and give a short summary at the end.
- Feel free to use color (push here for a website where you can color your text), GIFs, separation lines (3x a * in an empty line) and even bold or italic text, sounds weird since you would think it would distract people from what you are saying but firstly it’s more pleasing to look at so I bet more people want to join your event if your thread looks spot on but also it helps people remember your message better.
Some forum and advertising specifics
Well, now you have a first post ready but then there is the advertising and making sure it keeps running smoothly! Some useful information:
- We have an event calendar which is the responsibility of @anon68003072 so if you have an event planned let her know so she can put it on the calendar for you!
- Use relevant tags, chances are someone will come across it on Google or searching on the forums itself!
- Bumping might be too logical to mention here, but if your event doesn’t get the attention you want when you first post it, just bump it. You are allowed to do this every 24 hours so use that opportunity! However if you are the only one bumping it, it might be wise to reconsider your event
- Not really advice, but this is a relatively small community with not that many active members. If you are friends with active members those personal connections can be essential to make your event successful!
Some tough situations
Someone comes in and out of nowhere starts to take over your event or think they can follow their own rules
I think a situation everyone has been in at least once. First step is to talk to the person calmly and with respect, in a lot of cases people don’t realize they are taking lead without asking. If there is any sign it could get out of hand be the wisest and reach out to any of the moderators.
And what if someone copies/steals my idea?
Again, calmly pm them asking if they realized you had already done that. If there is any chance that goes out of hand don’t hesitate to reach out to mods!
I can’t find the time, energy or motivation anymore to run the event
A tricky one. There are a few possible solutions.
- Ask a friend or someone who participated in the event to (co)run it.
- Change the event, especially if you lose motivation it might be nice to organize a little twist so it’s refreshing, not only for yourself but also the people who join!
- Ask for it to be closed and tag @/ForumStaff while doing so. Sometimes tough decisions are necessary.
It’s just the same person winning or same people joining the whole time
Hmm, okay. I would say, time for either some advertising or a twist in your event. That’ll keep it fresh and new people will come in!
Others seem to be confused/don’t understand what they have to do in the event
Explain it to them again calmly! If they still don’t seem to understand it go back to your idea, chances are it’s confusing so change things so it makes more sense to others!
People criticize/insult my event
Haters gonna hate! Not everyone will like your event you just have to deal with it by ignoring it. However if it breaks any of the forum guidelines flagging their post is the way to go! Have a look here if you doubt if you should flag!
Credit to @Duckling for giving the suggestion of writing this and helping me with writing this. Thank you @ShanniiWrites for proofreading. Both of you are appreciated 
I hope this post was useful and helpful, thanks for reading!
