For Central Offices
BEFORE
Determine the people involved in the organisation of the Social Media event & define clear goals and objectives for the event.
Find a good time for the event & set the dates. Choose dates that are suitable for the target audience of the event and ideally connect it with an external event to increase visibility.
Based on the goals, objectives & the themes of the event, prepare materials which have a clear and visually uniform presentation (visual elements & colors which represent the event itself and if possible, make the visual connection to your organisation as well).
Identify judges and reach out to them well in advance and ensure they have time for your event. Try to have judges who are experts in their field and who come from different geographical areas and different backgrounds.
TIP: Judges can also be used to market the event in advance. Testimonials including the judge’s name and company are helpful. Ensure GDPR and publication consent before posting.
Mention the benefits they have from being a judge (CSR, company visibility, volunteering, etc.). Send them a judge’s guide where you describe the Practice Enterprise concept, the goal of the event and the judging criteria.
Prepare a scoring sheet for each of the judges and make it as simple and user-friendly as possible (digital). If it is a competition, think of the judging criteria: Which elements will be judged? What is the scoring range? Base the criteria on the learning goal of the event (e.g. creativity, leadership, social media skills). / The judging criteria could for example be: number of shares, likes, the creativity of the content, use of tags & hashtags etc. or focus on the learning goal of the event, e.g. specific skills.
Send a nice reminder to the judges including a thank you note in advance of the event. Remind them of the date and time and resend links to the judging materials.
Request their collaboration in evaluating the projects and providing feedback to other trainees.
Send a reminder/ thank you email to the PEs that have registered for the Social Media event. This notifies them that they are successfully registered and are expected to take part in the competition.
Documents to Prepare
Event Style Guide (if applicable – including the logo(s), event colours, graphics, terminology, designs, etc.)
Judge’s Manual (describes the PE concept, the aims and objectives of the competition, the expectations of the judge, the time needed and the benefits of being involved)
Scoring Sheet (a judging rubric with different columns based on the judging criteria – each judge should have their individualised, easy to use – online document)
Participant’s Manual (describes the objectives and judging criteria).
Social Media Etiquette (describes the social etiquette that participants should keep in mind – the focus is on respect, tolerance and communicating properly in a business professional setting)
Event website (if applicable)
Registration webpage (optional)
Email templates (for emails to be sent prior / after the event)
Publication Consent Agreements (if you want to use the judges for marketing purposes before / during / after the event, you need to ensure that the use of names, photos, etc. is agreed upon)
DURING
Make sure that all information is continuously available to participants (requirements, judging criteria and when the results will be published) .
Make sure you have a good overview of the registrants using a registration list or registration process.
Regularly check all your social media channels and reshare/ repost or comment on the posts or stories from Practice Enterprises. This helps Practice Enterprises and trainees to feel recognized, valued and highlighted.
Make sure to monitor if the content fulfills the social media etiquette – meaning that it is respectful, tolerant and does not display any disturbing images or videos. (nudity, violent situations or images, xenophobic or disrespectful content).
If you see problematic content, notify the PE and the trainer immediately to take action – this way the content does not reflect badly on the Practice Enterprise network or concept.
AFTER
Make sure to insert all the post links into the scoring rubric and the judging sheet so judges have direct access to the content. This saves time and makes them more likely to get involved next time.
Make sure you only include the links to posts made during the event period (so entries can be judged equally and fairly).
Try to involve a number of judges to have different approaches and perspectives and fairly judge the best contributions.
Choose the Practice Enterprises with the top scores and identify the top three winners. If there is a tie, either let PEs share the same place or get additional judges’ feedback to determine a winner.
Make sure you choose motivational prizes (either virtual PE money, other gifts) and make sure you recognize efforts with a participation certificate. Remember that for Practice Enterprises this is an important element.
Give a shout-out to all participating Practice Enterprises on social media and recognize their efforts.
Congratulate the winning Practice Enterprises on social media and make sure to tag them and actively engage them on Social Media. This will allow you to keep them interested in the future.
Send a thank you email or give a shout-out to the judges on LinkedIn and recognize their time and effort.
Documents to Prepare
Google sheets/ online table with scoring rubric including all the post links
Participants Certificate (optional)
Certificates for the winning Practice Enterprises
Thank you email to judges or thank you post on LinkedIn.