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Event Best Practices

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R Skelton edited this page Oct 16, 2020 · 5 revisions

Agenda-Setting

To ensure the success of your event, Digital.gov recommends the following durations and cadence for events: Online or virtual events (one hour or less):

  • Introduction / Housekeeping: 2-3 minutes
    • Content: 40-45 minutes
    • Q&A (Pulling questions from the chat): 10-15 minutes
    • Event conclusion: 1-2 minutes
  • In-Person or hybrid events (less than 2.5 hours)
    • Opening Remarks / Welcome: 3-5 minutes
    • Keynotes: 20 minutes
    • Panel Discussions: 30 minutes
    • Breakout Sessions: 30-40 minutes
    • Q&A (live or in the chat): 10-15 minutes
    • Closing Remarks: 5 minutes

In addition, presentations should try to:

  • Avoid complicated visuals that require extensive reading by audience members.
  • Make sure your presentation is representative of what was promoted to the attendees in the presentation description.
  • Develop your presentation based on accessibility standards, so it is available to all attendees. Additional resources are available below.
  • Use inclusive language.

Scheduling and Duration

Digital.gov is committed to providing logistical support to produce high quality events that are highly attended by both our government and public attendees.

Below are high level guidelines for how we structure our event calendar:

  • Events are held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays
    • AWS employees typically are out of the office on Fridays or Mondays and our team has had lower turnout on those days compared to events held mid-week.
  • Event start times are typically 1 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2 p.m., 2:30 p.m., or 3:00 p.m. (East coast time zone) and are typically 45 minutes to 1 hour in duration.
    • To accommodate our West coast and Mountain time zone attendees, we recommend that all webinars begin after 11 a.m. ET.
    • This webinar session time caps ensure that audience members stay engaged and focused on the presentations without growing over-tired or screen fatigued.
    • Larger workshops and training events, as well as Summits and awards ceremonies, are typically kept under 3 hours and are not recommended for a group to do more than two times a year.
  • Digital.gov typically limits the number of events that we do per week.
    • This ensures that our team can fully support the end to end event process.
    • While exceptions may be made, our team will often hold less events the following week to ensure all post event activities are completed in a reasonable time.
  • Digital.gov is committed to a 100% event execution rate. In the event that inclement Weather or presenter/facilitator last minute absence occurs, procedures are below:

How to Make Your Presentation Accessible

Digital.gov strives to make an accessible space for all meeting attendees. Therefore your presentation will not be posted to Digital.gov unless it adheres to accessibility standards.

Below are some resources on how to provide an accessible presentation:

How to Make Your Presentation Inclusive

Digital.gov strives to create an inclusive space for all meeting attendees and presenters. Inclusive language is language that is free from words, phrases or tones that reflect prejudiced, stereotyped or discriminatory views of particular people or groups. Below are some best practices on how to be inclusive while presenting:

  • Renaming yourself to the following format during an event: First / Last Name - (she/her or he/him).
  • Avoid Gender and Sex. Instead of opening your presentation with “Hey guys”, try “Welcome everyone.”
  • Avoid idioms, jargons or acronyms

Other Presentation Considerations

In addition to being accessible and inclusive, presentations should:

  • Avoid complicated visuals that require extensive reading by audience members.
  • Make sure your presentation is representative of what was promoted to the attendees in the presentation description.
  • Use plain language to make the presentation succinct and easy to understand across multiple audiences.
  • Avoid use of copyrighted material or provide author credits.
  • Link to government websites. Links to non-government sites must follow the GSA Linking Policy and require additional review.

🎉Questions? Email digitalgov@gsa.gov

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