Steps to Success: After the Event

STEP 1

Determine who attended the event, how they are connected to the community, and how they heard about the event.

After the event, the Digital Preservation Specialist will share a copy of the Event Registration and Permission Form data sheet with the Community Coordinator. 

The Community Coordinator will review, summarize, and share any relevant information, highlighting the questions about community connections, how Contributors heard about the event, and any customized fields your Project Team added to the form. It’s helpful to share this information with the whole Project Team as soon as possible after the event.

STEP 2

Review and share media coverage of the event.

The Community Coordinator or the designated Outreach Specialist will collect any stories, blogs, tweets, posts, or articles about the event. These can be shared with partner organizations, volunteers, and event sponsors. Your Project Team may also decide to include these materials in a project file or a supplement to the archival collection.

STEP 3

Thank Contributors.

Within a week after the event, the Community Coordinator will send an email to thank everyone who attended and shared Items. This can be an opportunity to acknowledge Project Team organizations, community partners, and event sponsors. You can also provide links to any relevant press or social media coverage. Remind Contributors where and when the collection will be available.

STEP 4

Notify Contributors when the collection is available.

As soon as the collection is available online, the Community Coordinator will send an email to Contributors, thanking them once again, and letting them know where the collection can be found. In addition to a link to the digital repository, include any specific instructions that can help Contributors find their Items, explore other images and stories, and share the collection with friends and family. Point out the user access features of your digital platform (e.g., how to download images) and invite Contributors to use them for their own purposes.

Depending on the needs of your community and your Project Team, the Community Coordinator may decide to include a quick, 3-5 question follow-up survey using free programs like Google Forms or Survey Monkey to ask Contributors to assess the cultural value of the collection.