Further Forward: An Overview
Further Forward is a client focused event that addresses subjects of interest through talks from the best in the business.
Most of Foxtek’s clients are in the scale up phase, meaning they are likely to be experiencing similar challenges. The event was created to understand technical, organisational & people challenges faced, in order to provide a platform that addresses them, thus being of high value to clients.
The last event was in February 2024 and has since been on pause to reevaluate the direction.
The idea is to hold three of these events per year, each focusing solely on a specific part of the market. Honing in on specific markets each time will help with outreach, relevance and understanding.
DATES & TIMINGS
AREA OF MARKET
EVENT VENUE: COST, ACCESSIBILITY, CONVENIENCE
BOOKING THE SPEAKERS
CLIENT INVITES
ASPECTS TO CONSIDER WHEN ORGANISING THE EVENT
MARKETING EXTRA TOUCHES
EVENT BUDGET
FLIGHTS & HOTEL FOR FOXTEK STAFF
SOCIAL MEDIA
GENERAL ORDER OF PLANNING
Confirm the date of the event 1.
Establish the budget 2.
Book the venue 3.
Confirm the market segment to focus on 4.
Start reaching out to speakers in order to confirm them for the date 5.
Create the guestlist based on the above chosen market 6.
Reactivate RSVPify and create the invite 7.
Send the invites out to the guests 8.
Confirm what the speakers talks will be on amongst all of them 9.
Establish the marketing schedule (LI posts, follow up emails, phone calls) 10.
Gather flight & hotel options to present to Tom for Foxtek staff 11.
Book chosen options 12
Liaise with the venue to pre-order food, discuss order of events, tech required 13.
Gather the talks/presentations from the speakers and create one long presentation 14. Ensure name labels are printed the day before with the final attendee list 15.
Ensure Foxtek staff have all the information required a couple of days before departure e.g. taxi pick-up times, boarding passes, hotel information etc. 16.
DATES & TIMINGS
First, you need to establish the chosen date alongside the stakeholders.
Aspects to consider:
Are there any pre-arranged holidays within Foxtek?
Are there any bank holidays / public holidays around that time
Who is attending?
Flight, hotel & venue availability
Is the trip going to be just for the event, or will it be prolonged for client visits as well?
BUDGET
The budget should be discussed with Tom early on
Previous Further Forward events have come in around EUR 4,000
This includes all aspects e.g. venue, food, hotel accommodation, flights, bar tab
Speakers are voluntary so this doesn’t need to be taken into account with the budget
VENUE
The previous events have been held at Capital C and have worked really well
It’s a very different set up to Beers & Bytes in that there needs to be two separate areas for the different sections of the event
Previously, the following has been used:
6-6:45pm - Networking (Capital Kitchen)
6:45-8:15pm - Speakers (The Skyscape)
8:15-9:30pm - Networking (Capital Kitchen)
Hence, once the date has been confirmed, it needs to be confirmed with Capital C that they have these spaces available between these times and on our chosen date
To book: Lisanne Foks (lisanne@capitalc.amsterdam), make sure to Cc in events@capitalc.amsterdam
When booking Capital C, advise you want an open bar (beer, wine and soda only) and to pre-order food
CAPITAL
CONFIRMING THE SPEAKERS
This is top priority after booking the venue
The speakers need to be relevant to the chosen market that is being focused on Speakers are not paid for this
They will have around 15 minutes for their presentation, with 10 minutes following for questions
Ensure they are aware of the topic well in advance, and give them a deadline for sending across their presentation, so ops can collate all speakers presentations together
INVITATION
We use RSVPify to create & send out invitations
We activate & deactivate the account for events as we don’t need the account throughout the rest of the year
Login: operations@foxtekrs.com // password: Foxtek2024
Via the portal, you’re able to see all previous events we’ve done and can create a new invite based on these
When it’s ready to send out, upload the CSV file of the guestlist created and send the invitation
GUESTLIST
You can find the 2024 guestlist here
The list should be compiled based on relevance to the market the event is focused on - this needs to be discussed with Tom
You can use the list to mark those that have RSVP’d as to either attending or not attending, so we can keep a track
This list can then be used on the evening of the event as a register
TP also suggests the below:
> Ops need to add any fresh Hot Managers, since the last event, to the invite list
> New clients and new target managers are added - this will be done via sending an email out to consultants asking them to add to a shared doc that can then be transferred to the email system. Ops will follow up until they get a response from each consultant
> A list of all companies that have received funding since the last Further Forward event is also produced Relevant managers from those companies will be identified by TP and added to the mailing list.
CREATING PRESENTATION
The presentations of the speakers need to be gathered in advance in order to collate them
One long presentation needs to be created to ensure it’s seamless on the night
Should be in the correct running order and mean the speakers can go one after another without having to change anything on the screen
Allow enough time to create a good presentation and allow time for review
SPEAKER LIASON
Ops must keep in touch with the speakers throughout the entire planning process to ensure they are happy and up to date
Remember that they are volunteering to do the talk, so they must be well looked after in the lead up to the event, during & after
Make sure they’re aware of the running order of the event, timings, audience numbers etc.
Would recommend regular check-ins / phone calls from when they agree to do the talk, to the event day itself
MARKETING SCHEDULE
There needs to be persistent (without being overkill) marketing to ensure attendance
RSVPify allows you to set up scheduled emails - there should be one per week in the leadup to the event after initial invite email e.g. ‘limited spaces remaining’, ‘don’t forget to RSVP’, ‘one week to go’ etc.
Create an event on the Further Forward & Foxtek LI pages such as this one
LinkedIn posts should go out on the Further Forward LI page
SourceWhale should also be used to send email reminders
PRE-EVENT MARKETING POSTS
Recommended schedule
RSVPify emails:
Initial invite 6 weeks before the event
‘One month to go’ email, 4 weeks before
‘Places snapping up fast’ email, 3 weeks before
‘Don’t forget to RSVP’ email, 1.5 weeks before
‘See you soon’ email, 4 days before
This is a recommended schedule, but may need altering based on invite responses etc., which needs monitoring.
Phone calls:
Those from Foxtek that are attending should be calling through to clients to increase excitement and gain traction This method works really well so should be applied early on Getting a response to confirm whether they can or cannot attend is important & a phone call helps this
LinkedIn posts:
Posts should be going out in Further Forward & Foxtek LI pages
Foxtek staff could also
Gains traction & excitement, finds new attendees etc.
Examples on the next page
FLIGHTS
Once the dates of stay are confirmed, start to gather flight options
Best to travel either on the first BRS > AMS flight, or the mid-morning one if available
This also depends on whether the trip is a one-night or more visit
Send the options & costs to TB
Once booked, check everyone in in advance and print their boarding passes
We have a Foxtek login for EasyJet registered under invoice@foxtekrs.com - ensure to use the account so all travel details are saved in an accessible place
Considerations:
Is anyone to have an extra cabin bag?
Transport to Bristol airport will also need to be arranged EasyJet is the preferred airline, but check others if needs be e.g. Ryan Air, KLM
HOTELS
Once the dates of stay are confirmed, start to gather hotel options
Gather three options with costings and send to TB
Consider options that are within close proximity to the chosen venue, but also consider general location - should be close to amenities and not in the middle of nowhere!
Always select the bed & breakfast rate
Always book the flexible, free cancellation option
Hotels within close proximity of the event venue include:
> CitizenM Amstel Amsterdam
> Zoku Amsterdam
> Hyatt Regency Amsterdam
Do check others though for the best prices at the time
OTHER FOXTEK FAVOURITES
Inntel (Group - they have numerous locations)
Ruby Emma
Urban Lodge Hotel
Social Hub
The Hoxton
EXTRAS
LANYARDS
We still have a number of these in the office, so do be sure to count these before ordering too many
We choose lanyards over name tags for Further Forward as it looks more professional, again showing the difference with it being a client event
The lanyard cards were ordered previously from Minuteman Pressthey likely have them saved from before, so we can request the same design
Lanyard cards can be ordered via info@minutemanbristol.com
Size: 75mm x 110mm
FOXTEK BANNER
We have a roll-up banner sign that was being stored at Capital C from the last event
You’ll need to contact them to see whether they still hold it
If not, a new one will need to be obtained
NOTEBOOKS
For the previous events, we have had Foxtek branded notebooks to give to all the guests
There are still a number of these in the office, so be sure to count these before ordering more
If you do need to order more:
Notebooks - 701896 - Colour Pop Recycled Journal & Pen, Email Sharron Parish (sparish@4imprint com) to reorder the ones we previously ordered 4imprint login: invoice@foxtekrs.com / Foxtek2021!
PRESENTATION CLICKER
There needs to be a presentation clicker for the speakers to use
POST EVENT COMMS
An email should be sent to all attendees thanking them for coming and hoping to see them again next time
LI posts should be created and shared on FF profile & Foxtek profile
Analytics sent to senior leadership team that shows who turned up, who didn’t, feedback etc. so that consultants can do a follow up
