How to plan an Event

So you want to plan an event at Ista Weyr! Fabulous - and thank you in advance! We love it when folks want to step up and promote play in and around Ista. :) To get you started, here are some steps you'll want to take as you plan out your event!

1. Is your event an event or a TP?

A RP Event is different from a TP (tinyplot) in the following ways: generally, an event lasts for one RP session (which might have more than one part) and is 'done' at the end of the session. People might get lasting spin-off RP from the event's happenings, but the event's coordinator isn't responsible for further coordination after the event.

By comparison, TPs often span multiple days and multiple RP sessions and may have lasting, planned impacts on characters and even whole areas. Some common examples of events include firelizard hatchings, gathers, parties, hunting expeditions, meteor showers, and greenflights.

2. Outline your event!

This needn't be complex - but it helps if you have an idea as to what will happen at your event! You might want to just sketch out who will participate, where it will take place, how it starts, any key things that happen along the way, and how you'll wrap it up. Keep in mind that people come to events to RP - make sure your event is interactive and offers people lots of opportunity to play! This might just be a few sentences, and it's what you'll share with us when you schedule the event. Greenflights and firelizard hatchings don't need an outline unless you're doing something unusual with them. If you'd like to brainstorm ideas for events, contact us! We're happy to toss around ideas with you.

3. Schedule the event!

Plan a time that's good for you - then +mail the Weyrleaders with your outline and the time and day you want to do the event. We'll get it onto the calendar for you - or, if we know of conflicts you might want to be aware of or any other hitches that might happen along the way, we'll discuss them with you.

4. Advertise!

Write up a +bbpost for ISW and post it about a week ahead of your event. You might also want to advertise in your &isw_status, on the general board (if your event is open to the whole game), or in other appropriate mediums. For greenflights, make use of the +flights system; for firelizard hatchings you might post to the 'firelizards' +bb.

5. Remind!

A day or two before the event is a good time for a brief refresher +bbpost to help everyone know your event is coming up!

6. Have fun!

Run your event! You'll want to arrive a little early. You can invite people to the event location via the isw or isa channels, and some events can be broadcast using +announce if people game-wide are invited (such as for a gather or festival). You may want to have a backup person who 'has the keys' (i.e. copies of any emits to be run or of the event outline or plan, just in case).

Make sure you have an exit strategy in mind so you can leave at a reasonable time. Most people can last about two hours at a roleplay event (some more, some less) so you may want to wrap up at about that time. One of the most common and most reliable exit strategies is a fade-out pose - for a party, this might be an emit that says 'The music continues and the dancing lasts long into the night,' or something like that. Then thank folks via page for coming before you head out. These usually signal to the attendees that coordinator involvement is about to end, but allows them to keep RPing if they like!

7. Post results, thanks and log!

If your event is a flight or a hatching or something else with an outcome of general interest you may want to bbpost to summarize that outcome for the curious. This is also a great time to thank the people who came to play at your event and anyone who helped you run it. It's also a great time to point people to the log, for which we have a handy LJ community where you can post them!