Guidelines on planning an engaging and effective side event:

  • Clearly identify your goals, the issues you want to raise and the audience you want to target in a particular side event
  • Aim for 3-5 speakers – more than that and you will just have a long series of speeches that participants are unlikely to pay attention to. Select panellists who are able to speak clearly and concisely on the topics
  • Consider diversity in the panellists and ensure that a range of voices are heard
  • Think about how to make the format engaging: ideally speakers should talk for not more than 5 minutes, ensure that the audience can ask questions and hear the answers, maybe screen a short video, etc

Remote access
If you would like to have someone join remotely (e.g. by Skype), mention it in the event description when you request a room, and contact the conference secretariat in advance.

Live streaming
Consider whether you want to live stream the event (you will have to organise this yourself, for example using Periscope on Twitter, or Facebook Live).

Photos
Remember that if you will be taking photos or live streaming the event, you need to warn the audience so that they can take steps to ensure their security. It may be good to have a part of the room where people can sit if they don’t want to be photographed or filmed.

Promote your event
Prepare a flyer about the side event to distribute to your network, send to contacts, share on social media, etc.

Communications afterwards
The reach of the event does not have to end at the Congress. You can publish an article on the discussion, share the video, tweet about it, etc.

Registration
Panelist speakers will need to register for the SWC 2023 in advance. A discount code is provided for side event speakers for a 10% discount. This code will be shared with you within the acceptance email and may be used for all side event panellists.

Additional costs
The room for the side event is provided to you, as are standard audio/visual facilities. However, if you require printing, other supplies or a specific set-up, this will be an additional cost which you, as the organizer of the side event will be required to organize and pay for independently. You may contact the SWC 2023 secretariat for assistance.

>> Side Event application form