best_practices_2013

BEST PRACTICES 2013
Step 3: Staying organized
As mentioned in Step Two, the timeline is the most important document you
can create in helping to stay organized. Each task should be accounted for.
The timeline will change as you discover new tasks to be added. To stay
organized save all documents in one electronic folder that you can easily go
back to. This will prevent time spent looking for that e-mail you wanted to
send to the vendors or the printing request that you sent out for the posters.
The first year planning an open house is always the hardest. However, if
you keep everything you sent out and created in one place, it will become
easier in future events.
Step 4: Hold regular planning meetings
Plan to have regularly scheduled meetings with the entire library staff to
discuss the library open house. At the FCC we have weekly meetings that
are scheduled on the same days and times. We will have impromptu
meetings as critical items need to be addressed in-between regular
meetings, but the library staff knows to plan to attend meetings and this
ensures there are no conflicts. The meetings are used to make decisions
and to make sure everyone is aware of the status of each item on the
timeline. All library staff should be included to make certain that everyone
feels part of the planning process. In addition to library staff, for some
meetings we include upper management and other library stakeholders.
This is done when we are making important decisions and conducting our
final walk through of the event. Once again, by including and inviting
management outside of the library, you are ensuring that they feel a part of
the event and that the event’s success is their success too. They may also
have ideas or suggestions that you may not have thought of.
Step 5: Keep it simple
Through trial and error we have found that the most effective open houses
are short and simple. Everybody’s time is valuable: yours, the library staff,
the vendors, and the employees. By limiting the duration of the open house
you are maximizing everybody’s time. Pick one day for the event and limit it
to either morning or afternoon. You may miss out on people who arrive late
to work, have to leave early, are out, or are telecommuting, but it’s still the
best way to maximize the time and to keep the event moving. An open
house with nobody there is no fun for anyone. We hold our open house for 2
½ hours. This allows the vendors time to make the most of their day, and
the library staff to get back to their regular jobs. It also makes the open
house special. If we went an entire day or over multiple days, it would be
confusing for our agency staff and lessen the impact of the event. We have
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