You’re putting in hard work to offer the best experience and content to your audience. Team up with an extra superhero: The Reviewer.
Whether you directly invite speakers or organize a Call for Speakers, reviewers help you shape the best program. They can work with speakers to improve session content, to better fit your audience’s interest. They can also help you sort through the session proposals.
To make the most of your collaboration, here are a few tips to keep in mind:
How to find reviewers
Each content area in your program deserves to be carefully crafted. The reviewers you are looking for need to be experts in their field.
Here are some usual suspects:
√ someone from your organizing team, passionate about one of the topics
√ industry leaders you can find through your team’s connections
√ former conference speakers
√ former event participants who stood out as domain experts
How to work with reviewers
When it comes to the collaboration style, the reviewer is a mix between a team member and a speaker. Give them inside access, treat them with extra care:
√ explain your content expectations with clarity and specificity
ex. who is your audience; what do you value most regarding speakers and session content; do you have logistical constraints for selecting speakers etc.
√ value their time: create a revision timeline and make the process as easy as possible
ex. the comment thread on eventriX lets reviewers easily provide feedback and see updates on each session
√ have a good communication protocol and make yourself available 24/7 if they have any questions
How to motivate reviewers
As reviews are usually a pro-bono activity, here are a few ideas to keep your collaborators motivated:
√ give them public credit on your website, on social media, at the conference
√ keep a positive and helpful attitude: send out reminders and make sure you announce busy periods in advance
√ give them conference related perks: free tickets, access to speakers dinner and private events
Reviewers are an invaluable addition to your team. Involve them early on and treat them with a little extra gentleness. They’ll be happy to contribute and your audience will certainly have a lot to gain!
We’d love for this post to start a broader conversation about attracting the best collaborators when organizing events. Please let us know how you team up by tweeting to us @eventrixco.
Also published on Medium.