For Central Offices
BEFORE
Organize a team and establish a budget. Necessary expenses include event management software, technical support, and marketing costs. The team may include organizers, volunteers, moderators etc.
Plan the payment system during the fair.
Define the justification and objectives for holding the fair. For example: promote active learning, foster entrepreneurial spirit, promote a specific business sector, showcase acquired skills, or establish connections between trainees and real businesses.
Establish the appropriate date and time for the fair, considering the academic calendar and the participants’ availability.
Provide enough time for visitors to prepare and get ready for the fair. Select the most suitable online platform for the fair. Most Central Offices use the PEN Worldwide events platform, but there are alternatives. However, we recommend using this platform to standardize online fairs and trading events within PEN. (link to platform here)
Promote the event within the educational community and invite businesses through social media, email, and other communication channels. Emphasize the date, schedule, and fair website.
Contact the invited Practice Enterprises to ensure their participation. This process should be repeated at least twice before the day of the fair. Explain the fair’s objectives and how trainees can benefit from participating.
Request their collaboration in evaluating the projects and providing feedback to other trainees.
Organize preliminary online challenges for the fair (e.g. promotional video on Instagram or TikTok, etc.).
These challenges are usually rewarded with virtual PE money, and the Central Office will need to credit the participants’ accounts.
Prepare trainees through additional training on how to navigate effectively in an online environment.
Teach best practices for creating dynamic presentations, using online communication tools, and responding to participant questions.
Create a back-up plan in case the technology fails, bad connection, the speaker drops out, etc.
Test your chosen video platform, test the audio/video setup with the speakers, test the chat/ Q&A feature on the platform.
Review the registered participants process – it is important to see how many participants will be participating.
Plan for participant’s engagement during the event to avoid participant’s logout if they lose interest. You can use Q&A sessions, gamification, and live polls to create a memorable experience.
Schedule contests and set prizes.
Contact real businesses and invite them to participate in the online fair as “sponsors”, “speakers”, “evaluators” or “visitors.” (OPTIONAL)
DURING
Supervise the overall functioning. During the fair, it is necessary to ensure that all trainees can present their projects and answer visitors’ questions.
The Central Office staff must remain at the information booth to assist participants (trainers and trainees). Visitors can make inquiries, ask questions, report incidents, or simply greet the Central Office staff.
Start 15 minutes earlier to check the device and network. (OPTIONAL)
Organize parallel activities at the fair: Q&A sessions, discussion tables, or live presentations to generate more interaction. It is also valuable to invite an expert on a specific topic and conduct a mini-course. (OPTIONAL)
AFTER
Issuing a participation certificate for the participating Practice Enterprises and trainees
Sending an evaluation questionnaire about the fair to all participating PEs and trainees.
Disseminating the results of the event on all operational social networks.
Sending each participating Practice Enterprise the attendance report and the evaluation report (including all customer comments) via email.
Evaluating the results of the fair and providing feedback to the trainees regarding their performance. Recognizing the projects or activities that have worked well and providing constructive feedback for both enterprises and trainees to improve.
Collecting feedback from trainees, Practice Enterprises, and other stakeholders to improve future editions.
Meet with the team to see what went well or did not and plan the next online fair. (OPTIONAL)
Preparing a report with the final data of the fair, specifying the number of participating Practice Enterprises, country or region of origin, etc.
Send out the prizes to the winners.
