A Special Education Enhancement Event - Essay Example

ORGANIZATION OF AN EVENT Skills Incorporated for Planning the Event Information about the matter can be searched online and from local healthauthorities and universities for incorporation into the event sequence. Resource persons need to be short listed from those available in the town. Text as well as non text based audio visual aids and media will be deployed during the event. Written communication in the form of pamphlets will be circulated. Thinking skills will be encouraged by active participation in interactive discussions. The topic short listed for the event has vast internet resources from the universities as well as local and world health organizations. Requirements of the Organizer I have been asked by an Institute to conduct a special education enhancement event for its students who are predominantly students of Biotechnology. I have been told by the Principal that the focus of the event was on increasing their knowledge about viral diseases with special emphasis on Bird Flu, which has assumed threatening proportions worldwide in recent years. The Principal has informed me that the students have adequate background as they are in their final year of graduation and the total strength was around a hundred. The Principal has also informed me that an additional fifty people will be invited and these could be the family members of the faculty and students as well as the general staff of the Institution including teenagers and elder citizens. The event has to be publicized within the campus to encourage participation by interested persons. The latter group needs to be told about just the general and non technical aspects. The event has to be finished in a single day within the morning hours from 10 A.M. to 1 P.M. followed by a buffet luncheon. Identification of the Organization and the Objectives As the organization is an educational one, the major requirement of the event organizers is to provide additional technical knowledge from experts about viral diseases in general with emphasis on the public health aspects of Bird Flu. As non technical people have also been invited, general aspects of the topic need to be presented in a manner which should be comprehensible to the students as well as the non technical personnel. Technical experts in the subject need to be identified as resource persons and invited or hired for the purpose. They need to present their knowledge in form of lectures using multimedia and other audio-visual aids which should be comprehensible to both the technical (students) and the non technical (general invitees) sections of the target audience. The event does not necessarily have to be in the form of lectures alone as exhibits and displays can be set up for casual browsing by the general section of the target audience. Practical demonstrations should be incorporated into the event which can have a more telling and lasting effect on the uninitiated and semi literate invitees. A short movie on the subject can be shown and interactive kiosks put at vantage points. Budget Aspects As the event is to be organised within a running educational institution, the availability of a lecture hall as well as a general hall for setting up the exhibits is not going to be a problem as such facilities are pre-existing. The preparation of exhibits and material for practical demonstration needs to be identified in consultation with the subject matter specialists who can be from a local university or government medical institution. Adequate amount needs to be short listed for the cost price of such material. An honorarium also needs to be paid to the resource persons. Invitations need to be printed for the invitees from around the campus who are interested in the event. The event can also be publicised by displaying posters inside the campus and broadcasting on the local radio FM channel if available. Members from the existing faculty in the institution need to be short listed and assigned specific duties to handle the accounts, exhibits, facilities for standby power and preparation of luncheon. Adequate funds need to be arranged and allocated to meet the costs. The funds for the purpose can be generated from the institutional pool itself or can be sourced by setting up a nominal registration fee from the participants. Potential Target Audience The major target audience is the students who need to be updated about the technical aspects. This needs a special technical lecture exclusively for them. The other audience which includes people from around the campus need to be kept busy during the lecture in practical demonstrations and participation chats with adequately trained and strategically placed experts in pre defined stalls showing colourful placards with easy to comprehend material in form of pictures and animations. Such people need to be told about general hygienic measures and the ways they can avoid viral diseases in their day to day life. They need to be encouraged to actively participate by holding simple quizzes and debates about the subject of interest. Characteristics of the market affecting the success of the event The bird flu scare has been looming large on the world scenario ever since deaths occurred in Hong Kong and other South Asian countries with sporadic detection of the virus in some European countries including Britain. The general public was scared and responded by removing chicken from their menus. The world health authorities and local health departments however dispelled such fears and people are keen to know about the disease and how to avoid it. This is of particular interest to biotechnology students and the general public as well. The huge interest generated by media hype in this matter is a precursor and sets the background for success of this event. Assessment of Risk Factors The risk factors in holding this event are minimal as the students are already committed to attend, as it forms an additional component of enhancement in their education. The only risk is the proper and timely location of resource persons and their availability on the pre fixed date as such persons are usually committed to their own preoccupations. Adequate backup of resource persons therefore needs to be there or they should be informed in advance to commit for the event. The funds needed to run the event need adequate planning and allocation and the resources need to be identified and tapped in advance. Measurement of Success The success of the event can be measured by taking feedback from the participants in pre designed questionnaire and also by holding a formal discussion after the completion of the lecture, practical demonstrations and distribution of literature. Read More