PREPARATIONS FOR FORMAT NATIONWIDE EVENTS

Information for Local Organizers

By Paul L. Woomer

I have not yet been in direct contact with you as a local organizer, and I prepare this letter to both thank you for accepting the task and provide some guidelines to facilitate your undertaking.  As you may know, FORMAT was required to change its operations in order to attract donor funding, and of the options discussed at the FORMAT III event, we elected to hold many smaller “decentralized” events in order to reach more, and more diverse, stakeholders interested in various aspects of organic resource management.  By agreeing to host one of these events, you have in effect helped us to save FORMAT.  We must remember that no project lasts forever, and all initiatives eventually achieve their goals or surpass their usefulness and become discontinued due to lack of donor support.  This is the risk that FORMAT faced, and much of its future depends on how well the local events are conducted, and how effectively their impacts are communicated.  I think you realize that the local organizers were selected among FORMAT’s most dedicated participants and by helping FORMAT you also assist your various programs and clients, but nonetheless you deserve recognition and thanks for your efforts. And these efforts are only just beginning.  Here is a summary of the key steps in holding the event: 

1. Select a local organizing committee (three members) and decide upon a venue and theme for the event (early-June).  Several local organizers have selected a date for their events, others have not.  A tentative schedule of FORMAT events appears in Table 1.  If this data is not acceptable, then you should contact the FORMAT Secretariat immediately to arrange another date.

2. Communicate this information, along with details for the transfer of funds to the FORUM Secretariat (mid-July 2003, Step 1 completed).

3. Receive the first increment of funds from FORMAT and confirm the availability of the meeting facility (mid-August 2003).

4. Prepare an announcement of the event for local circulation and contact key local organizations and individuals with interest in organic resource management alerting them to the planned event and asking for their involvement (late-August 2003).

5. Prepare a tentative list of participants, presentations and exhibits, and communicate this information as a draft programme to the FORMAT Secretariat (mid September 2003, Step 2 completed).

6. The FORMAT Secretariat will arrange for participation of “core” participants to provide key talks and exhibits, and will insert them into the draft programme (see Table 2).  This draft programme is then returned to the local organizers.  Shortcut: Alternatively, the local organizers can “write in” the involvement of core participants into the draft programme (late-September).

7. Local organizers assemble a list of participants and final programme.  A letter of invitation is sent to all speakers and exhibitors.  An announcement inviting all members of the public to attend the event is prepared and circulated (early-October, Step 3 completed).

8. One week (seven days) before the scheduled event, an email is sent to the FORMAT Secretariat confirming the date and place.  Be prepared to recommend a suitable hotel accommodation but you are not responsible for supporting either the Secretariat or their traveling “core” participants (Step 4 completed, see table 1).

9. The FORMAT Secretariat arrives the day before the planned event.  They provide an overhead projector and a laptop computer and LCD projector.  They bring the funds for the participants’ travel and lunches.  They also bring information about organic resource management for distribution to the participants. The local organizers are responsible for preparing, copying and distributing the programme to the participants, and preparing a complete list of participants.

10. The FORMAT event is held.  The local organizers are responsible for distributing per diem and travel funds to participants.  The FORMAT Secretariat is responsible for collecting information and photographing the event with assistance of the local organizers (Step 5, the event, completed, see Table 1). 

11. The FORMAT Secretariat is responsible for preparing a report that combines all of the local nation-wide events.  If you or your organization wish to prepare a separate, individual report, feel free to do so but kindly acknowledge FORMAT and The Rockefeller Foundation.  If your separate report requires photographs or written materials from the Secretariat, these are available upon request (Step 6, reporting, completed) 

I speak from personal experience when I assure you that organizing a FORMAT event is not an easy task and it requires financial resources and effective planning.  The grant supporting FORMAT IV was recently approved and the funds are expected within a few days.  Some of these funds will be sent to you soon, but I was surprised to learn that some local organizers have not yet responded to a request for their banking details.  Remember that communication between the local organizers and the FORMAT Secretariat is critical to holding a successful event.

Some of you have much experience as local organizers of past events, others have not.  For those with less experience I offer the following advice.  Use the FORMAT Secretariat to help you accomplish your goals.  Make demands on them so that they backstop your efforts.  If you need assistance to design announcements for the event, or the suggested format for a programme, or contact details of possible participants, or any other help please feel free to contact them!  On a related matter, I recently had the opportunity to review the FORMAT book that resulted from the FORMAT III event and I am quite certain that it will serve as an excellent source of information on organic resource management and it will be ready for distribution during our planned nation-wide events in 2003!

I attended a FORMAT planning meeting yesterday and I was surprised to learn that some local organizers do not reply to routine communications in a timely manner.  For example, some organizers had not yet established times for their events while others had not communicated their bank details.  I also learned the Secretariat was slow in answering some queries.  To be honest, this makes me nervous because many difficult and time-consuming tasks lie ahead of us as you can see from the timeframe and guidelines proposed in this letter.  Communication and sharing tasks between local organizers and the FORMAT Secretariat are the keys to holding a successful event.  If you for any reason have mixed feelings about serving as a local organizer, please let us know.   At the same time, several local organizers seem to be ahead of schedule and have already sent us lists of local presenters and the like, thanks a lot and keep up the good work. The secretariat will be sending you a list of applicants from your region to the previous FORMAT events. This list will possibly assist you to identify individuals and organizations that you may wish invite to the event.