How to Plan a Blog Event - Claire @ Cover to Cover || LITHW16

Hey Bookworms! 

Blog events are awesome! I might be biased, as right now, I am running one myself, but still, creative and fun blog events are the best! And as bloggers, hosting a memorable blog event is a nice dream, but it also takes a lot of planning! So today, we have Claire from Cover to Cover, who has hosted Project Serendipity - a wonderful project which included bloggers exchanging notes and compliments to one another.

Hey, bookworms! I’m Claire, and I discuss books over at Cover to Cover. Although my online ‘career’ is a short one, I can happily say that planning my first blog event, Project Serendipity, is one of my most memorable book blogging experiences thus far. Through student organizations, I previously planned school functions and extracurricular activities, so translating my experiences to create something on a different platform was a fun, albeit busy, adventure. Now, I’m honored and excited to share five steps to make planning your first blog event a breeze on Learnt it the Hard Way (thanks for having me Mishma and Jillian)!

1. Collect your thoughts

The absolute, most important part of this entire process is finding an idea! Without a thorough brainstorm, an interesting concept remains just an interesting concept. There is no ‘right way’ to brainstorm, however I recommend jotting things down in a notebook or notating ideas on your phone or other easily accessible device. Ideas arrive in bursts, and it’s crucial to record them before they disappear. While trying to summon event concepts, remembering the acronym ‘OWN’ can be helpful.

• Originality: Try to create something that has never been done before. Readers and fellow bloggers will not want to participate in an event that mirrors another’s.

• Work: Consider the implications of your event concept. How much time must be dedicated towards this project? Do you realistically have the time in your daily schedule to make this work? If not, how can you make the creation of this project more efficient and effective?

• Necessities: Think about what components of your event you absolutely need for function. These are the elements that would compose the foundation of your event. For instance, while planning the first round of Project Serendipity, an event focused on encouraging positivity among book bloggers, I acknowledged that sorting, organizing, and distributing compliments was a necessity, whereas a Twitter chat, while enjoyable and a definite want, was not paramount to the event’s completion.

2. Break out the stationary

Both the bulk of creating an event and the most influential step, organization can dictate the success of an event. I advise planning as early as possible to maximize the time available for promoting your event and putting it into action. For example, I began planning round two of Project Serendipity about a month and a half before my first promotional tweet went live so I could carefully map everything out. I found print calendars extremely helpful throughout this process. Some other things to consider during organization include:

• The scale of your event. How large do you predict the turnout will be? Will you set a limit on the number of participants?

• Time and dates. Does your event collide with a holiday or major happening? Can you devote time on this day to make your event happen?

• Your platform. Will your event be primarily hosted through Twitter, your blog, or another platform? For Project Serendipity, I held sign-ups through Cover to Cover and later added Twitter chats in the second round.
• Collaborators. Does the scale of this event urge you to bring help, or can you go solo? If you bring on collaborators, how will you divide the work?

3. Promote, promote, promote

As a blogger who receives most of her traffic through social media, I cannot stress the importance of promoting your event through areas outside your primary platform as much as possible. I can freely admit that the majority of Project Serendipity participants in found my event via tweets instead of directly via my blog. Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, Snapchat, and even Pinterest can be great platforms to share your event.

4. Make it happen

The most fun and iconic part of it all is experiencing an event you have created. Be mindful of the time (especially if your event involves a Twitter chat), but be sure to enjoy yourself! This is truly a unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience. It’s time to make those dreams a reality.

5. Reflect, improve, plan for the future

After the completion of your event, reflect on your experience consider follow-up possibilities. Is this event something you could bring back in the future? Consider creating a feedback survey and asking participants whether they enjoyed the event.

I hope this has inspired you to create your own blogging event! My greatest piece of advice: take the leap. Launching something can be extraordinarily intimidating initially, but the payback- the experience you’ve created- is worth it.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me! My email is ccovertocover@gmail.com. I can also be contacted via Twitter [@ccovertocover], Instagram [@covertocover], or the contact form on my blog.