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Contents
8 weeks before the event
Announce the booth
Add the event on our Website. This way it will be visible on our events page after we checked it.
Recruit helpers
Write an email announcing that you are going to organise a booth, and invite interested people to join you. Send this email to:
the country team of the country where the event takes place; for large, international events like FOSDEM, write to <team AT fsfe DOT org> instead
the public discussion list(s) possibly interested in the event
the FSFE public relations team at <pr AT lists DOT fsfe DOT org>, include a list of countries and postal codes to send the text to; we will check the text and forward the email to the FSFE community in the region you define.
An example of the text you could use is (note the string “{{person.name}}” will automatically be replaced by the name of the email recipient):
Dear {{person.name}},
I am [name] of [group], and we are planning to run a booth at [event] from [start day] to [end day].
We are looking for people to join us at the booth and help spread the
word about Free Software and FSFE. If you are interested in
participating in FSFE's presence at [event], please write an email to
[name and email address].
However, even if you just visit [event], please visit the FSFE booth
and say hello to us!
You can find more info about [event] at [event URL].
We are looking forward to meet you there!
[name]Make sure that for each reply to these invitations, the new team member receives a friendly "welcome to the team" and a status update of the preparations and is kept up to date with all subsequent developments regarding the booth. The easiest way to achieve this is to create a TechDocs/quickml mailing list that includes all helpers, and run all the coordination for the booth through that list. However, if you use this list also for external communication, be aware that sending an email to the list and CC'ing somebody external will add the external address to the list.
Many visitors of an event prefer to be addressed in their own language. In the case of an international event, it is good to have some volunteers in the booth team who can speak the languages of the expected audience, and at least some English speakers as a fall-back. It is useful for you as the booth coordinator to get an overview over the languages spoken by the helpers.
4 weeks before the event
Small booths: order promotion material
The main purpose of such a booth is to inform people about Free Software in general, and about FSFE's current activities in particular. The FSFE office in Berlin has a stock of various posters, flyers, postcards, and stickers, which you are encouraged to distribute! Please fill in the online order form for promotion material to make sure you have all these goods available in time.
Please use an address where there's always somebody available to accept the delivery. If your home address doesn't qualify for that, maybe better let it deliver to the company you work in?
It is important that you specify the event you want to use the material for, especially the number of expected participants, the languages they speak, and their background regarding Free Software. This makes it easier for the team in FSFE's office to compile a suitable set of material.
Production of all of this material is cheap, and distributing it is an important pillar of FSFE's mission. Please don't be shy. Make use of this possibility. There is no cost involved for you!
Larger booths: order your booth package
You may soon want to go far beyond merely distributing stickers and flyers. If you are ready to take a little bit of responsibility, you can extend your booth with FSFE banners, rollups, merchandise, and the possibility to make cash donations to FSFE.
If you want to do that (and you are encouraged to do so as soon as you have some experience with FSFE's booths), please do not use the promotion material order form as described above, but instead use the booth preparation form. FSFE's office staff will coordinate the necessary steps with you. At the end of the process, you will receive a booth package containing:
- One or more banners and/or one or more rollups to decorate the booth
- Promotion material suitable for the event, including brochure stands
- Merchandise to sell at the booth, including price tags and a wallet for the money
- A donation box so you can collect donations in the name of FSFE
- A toolbox with useful things like scissors, cord, sticky tape, pens, and markers
- The booth form (don't be afraid, we reduce the paperwork for you to the bare minimum necessary)
What we can't include in the booth package is the change you will need when you sell merchandise. You'll mainly need 10-Euro bills, but also some 1-Euro and 2-Euro coins and 5-Euro bills will help.
Prepare Hardware (Optional)
Prepare a mini PC and a monitor for presenting slideshows, or for example our FSFE15 year Video with the correct subtitles or the Public Money Public Code video at the booth. Prepare a tablet PC so people can https://my.fsfe.org/support the FSFE right at the booth and subscribe the newsletter (look for your language).
Stay in contact with the rest of the team
One month before the event is a good timing to send a status update to all booth helpers.
2 weeks before the event
Invite other people from the FSFE community
A booth is also an occasion to meet other people from the FSFE community who live near the event location. So you may consider organising a local group meeting nearby the event location.
Is there a local FSFE group (see the list)? Coordinate with them and ask for assistance;
There is no local FSFE group? Write to <contact AT fsfe DOT org> and forward a message to the FSFE community in the area (specifying the postcodes that you wish to reach, just as you did before when you announced the event).
1 week before the event
Prepare the material
Send a reminder to the people helping at the booth that you are meeting at the Booth. This communication should include more detailed information, namely:
- A list of registered volunteers. If you want, you can write a few nice words describing different volunteers, as well as the languages they can speak.
- A list of notable guests, if any.
If possible, organize a volunteers meeting before booth activities. The aim of that is to build a solid team, and to make sure that everyone knows enough to answers to questions of people. The booth FAQ will help with this.
- Considering the number of registered volunteers, you might want to organize shifts. Please be flexible and consider last minute changes to allow people to go to talks if they wish.
Before the start of the event
Set up the booth
Make sure that your booth is completely set up at the time the event officially starts. In case you have the opportunity to set up the booth at the day before the event (FOSDEM is a good example for this), use that chance and completely finish the booth setup at the day before. Still working on the booth setup while visitors are already passing by looks unprofessional and destroys opportunities for valuable contacts, interesting conversations, and merchandise sales.
There is a separate Wiki page about good booth design.
Verify the merchandise count
Even though our office staff takes utmost care when packing the merchandise, it is always possible to make mistakes. So if possible, count the merchandise before you start selling and verify it with the numbers written on the order sheet.
Fill the wallet with change
... and remember how much of your own money you did put in there!
During the event
There is a separate Wiki page about how to act when representing FSFE at a booth.
At the end of the event
Get rid of promotion material
Please do not send promotion material back to FSFE's office. Try to find a good use for the material you could not distribution during the event. For example, there might be visitors at the event with contacts to a school, an university, or a hackerspace, who could take the remaining promotion material and distribute it there.
Within 1 week after the event
Write about the booth
The best way to do so is in a short blog post with a picture (two to three paragraphs with a picture is already fine). This way others who were not there also can see what you did. If you do not have a blog or you prefer other media, please send a report to your local mailing list or the general discussion list to let other people know about your booth activity. In any case, please send a report and nice pictures to <contact AT fsfe DOT org> so we can reuse your pictures and feature your activity.
Settle the merchandise and the donations
- Take back the money you put into the FSFE wallet in the beginning to have change.
- Empty the donation box.
Count the money and transfer it to FSFE's bank account:
IBAN: DE47430609672059790801<<BR>> BIC: GENODEM1GLS<<BR>> Payment reference: "Proceeds <name of the event>"
Merchandise sales are relevant for our taxes, so please make sure this is done within one week after the end of the event.
As soon as possible, send the remains of the merchandise and the other contents of the booth package (empty donation box, wallet, banners, rollups, toolbox...) with tracked mail back to:
Free Software Foundation Europe e.V. Schönhauser Allee 6/7 10119 Berlin Germany
Pay the postage from the money you have received from the sales, and keep the receipt.
Send the original of all receipts for the costs you paid from the sales revenue including the receipt for the return package of the remains to:
Free Software Foundation Europe e.V. Schönhauser Allee 6/7 10119 Berlin Germany
If you have only the receipt for sending the package back to the office, a scan or a photo to your contact person in the office is sufficient.
If you have any questions regarding the settlement of the booth, please do not hesitate to ask your contact person in the office.
Let others profit from your experience
Update this How-to and the other Wiki pages about Booths with your notes. 