Planning an event can be a nerve-racking experience. There are many bases to cover, many details to sweat. That is why we at ITSMedia believe that the clients we work with should not have to be technology experts to plan an event at Goshen College. So instead of providing you with myriads of checkbox-filled forms asking you "what do you need?", we would rather back up a little and get to the heart of the question...
What do you want to do?
At Goshen College we believe we have an unparralled variety of meeting spaces, performance venues, and classrooms, full of audiovisual systems that can be configured to support diverse needs. It is our job to figure out how to put the right combination of equipment and staff together to make sure that whatever you want to do, is done with excellence.
Process:
When ITSMedia recieves a request for services, whether it comes from the OCE or directly from a client, our first step is to clarify the request if we have any questions. For example a common request is "equipment to display a powerpoint". Followup questions from us might include asking whether there is sound on the powerpoint, or whether the presenter is providing their own computer. We will also often provide a variety of setup options for the you to choose from, particularly in spaces that can be set up multiple ways.
Once we know these details we enter the request in a database which is used to track upcoming events, assign workorders, process billing and geneate reports. Workorders are generally assigned to student or staff technicians at least 7 to 10 days prior to the event. As the client, you will recieve an email copy of each workorder that pertains to your event or conference. You can use your copy to verify that we are going to be in the right place, at the right time, with the right stuff.
There are three types of event categories at Goshen College;
Formal Events - Events that need to be planned according to the Master Calendar process by submitting an Event registration form to the OCE
Ad-hoc meetings - Small events that aren't required to register with the OCE
Student Events - events or conferences driven by student planners
Each one of these categories uses a slightly different planning process;
The first step in the event planning process is to fill out an Event Registration form for the Office of Conferences and Events (OCE). The OCE is the planning hub at GC and we work closely as a team to make sure that each event is resourced in the right way.
If your event is such that an Event registration form isn't required, then note our timeline requirements below.
The key to success is starting early. Because we have such a robust event environment at GC it is not uncommon for events planned at the last minute to sometimes have to compromise choice of space or availability of equipment and people. We do our best to give everybody great service, but resources are finite and "the early bird does get the worm"!
Timeline:
ITSMedia relies on a pool of part-time student technicans to do much of the tasks. Because of academic or extracurricular committments students schedules fill up quickly. And since most events happen on weekends and evenings, it is important that we give both student technicians and our professional staff enough advance notice to adequately arrange their schedules.
We ask that technical requirements for an event be requested 2 work weeks (10 working days) in advance of the date of the event. This gives us enough time to verify that we have the right resources to support your event and allow for any change orders that may come up prior to sending out workorders. Any requests provided to us less than 5 work days before an event will be subject to a late request surcharge.
Change orders are significant changes to the nature of a request (say, a 1 mic presentation now includes a small band) that require additional staff or resources to be assigned to an event. Change orders submitted with less than less than 5 work days before an event will also be subject to a surcharge.
