Thank you for hosting a Speakers Bureau talk! What follows is a general guide to getting an audience for your talk. You may have hosted before and been highly successful at attracting an audience, in which case much of this may feel familiar to you. Or you may be hosting for the first time and feel unsure about how to get the word out about your event. This resource is a guide to get you started and give you important materials for your Speakers Bureau event, but feel free to experiment. Every community is different and you know your community best!

Because we are a limited staff and hold over 250 events annually, promotion is primarily the host organization’s responsibility. We provide lots of materials to support you in this endeavor — and we appreciate your partnership!

If you have questions, please feel free to contact Humanities Washington’s Program Manager & Communications Coordinator, Asia Lara, at asia@humanities.org or 206-682-1770 ext. 101.

Materials 

• Suggested Promotional Timeline
  • This guide gives you a week-by-week breakdown of how to successfully promote your online event.
  • It also includes resources for creating online event registration pages, sending audience evaluation forms, and more!
• Images for Promotion
  • Includes photos of all speakers, as well as photos for social media promotion.
  • If you need higher-resolution photos, please contact the program manager.
• Press Release Template
  • Use this template to easily contact your local newspapers and media outlets.
• Legislator Invite
  • Invite your representatives! Representatives want to know that these opportunities are occurring in their community. Even if the representative does not respond or attend, this is a great way to remind them you are utilizing a valuable, public resource.
    • Find your legislative and congressional districts.
    • Find your representatives’ email addresses to invite them.
    • Find your representatives’ mailing addresses to invite them.
• Humanities Washington Logo
  • We require that any promotional materials for a Speakers Bureau event include our logo.
• Intro Script
  • Suggested script for introducing your Speakers Bureau event.
  • Includes land acknowledgments resources for Washington state. Note: Please proceed with care and identify definitive boundaries by contacting the nations in question directly.
  • You can find the biography of your speaker here.

Frequently Asked Questions

• How does Humanities Washington promote Speakers Bureau events?

  Because we have a limited staff and over 250 events annually, promotion primarily falls to the host organization. However, there are a few ways that Humanities Washington supports these events: all Speakers Bureau events are listed on our website calendar; we send out monthly emails that list upcoming events (if there are too many events to fit in an email, we may send out a selection of upcoming events); and we create or co-host a Facebook event for each Speakers Bureau event.

  Upon request, we will generate promotional posters for your event to further aid your outreach efforts. Email the program manager if you are interested in receiving one.

• What’s the best way to use social media to increase attendance at my event?

  We consistently receive feedback that more audience members are learning about events through social media platforms.

  We highly encourage creating a Facebook event and listing Humanities Washington as a co-host (the event will be included in both of our organization’s pages). The host of an event can add co-hosts by clicking “edit” in the top, right corner of the event page, then scrolling to the bottom to search for co-hosts.

• How do I create and use online event registration pages?

  Creating registration pages help us to publicize your event on our website, and provide an easy and secure way to send out Individual Audience Evaluation Forms following the event.

  Hosts do this a number of ways – through their own website or other third-party registration software – but you may also create a registration link directly through Zoom Pro. Here is a link on how to do so: Setting Up Registration for a Meeting

  Once your registration page is created, please submit it to the link provided in the email sent to you upon approval of your event.

  Following the event, use your event’s registration list to email all attendees a link to the Individual Audience Evaluation Form (also attached to your approval email). If you created a registration page through Zoom, please follow these steps: Generating Meeting Reports for Registration

  Thank you!

• I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by these promotional responsibilities. What should I do?

  Call Asia at Humanities Washington! We are here to support you and make these events a success. You can reach her at 206-682-1770 ext. 101 or asia@humanities.org.