SMMAMS Event Management Toolkit 2023

Society of MMA Medical Students

EVENT MANAGEMENT TOOLKIT

SMMAMS

Society of MMA Medical Students

Society of Malaysian Medical Association Medical Students (SMMAMS) is a medical student organization under the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA). SMMAMS was established in 1999 and was previously known as the MMSA (Malaysian Medical Student Association) before it was adopted by the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) in 2002. Since the adoption, SMMAMS remains under MMA till today.

SMMAMS envisions to unite all Malaysian medical students in national or global health issues by equipping medical students with the skills, knowledge and values to improve the health of the population. With this vision, SMMAMS is on a mission to build the capacity of Malaysian medical students to advocate and create significant impacts on the community regarding national and global health issues. SMMAMS is also the National Member Organization (NMO) of the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA) that aims to unite medical students globally.

MMA

Formed in 1959 and currently having more than 10,000 members, the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) is an association with the largest number of doctors in the country.

MMA aims to promote and maintain an interest in the medical profession in all branches and segments. It also serves as a platform for the medical professionals to voice up problems within the field as well as educate and direct the public's opinion on public health problems that are causing a huge impact on the local community.

IFMSA

The International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization representing associations of medical students worldwide. IFMSA was founded in 1951 and currently includes 140 National Member Organizations (NMOs) from 129 countries across six continents, representing a network of 1.4 million medical students.

IFMSA envisions a world in which medical students unite for global health and are equipped with the knowledge, skills and values to take on health leadership roles locally and globally for a sustainable and healthy future. IFMSA is recognized as an non-governmental organization within the United Nations’ system and the World Health Organization and works in collaboration with the World Medical Association.

Dear reader,

Event Management Toolkit Event Management Toolkit

It is with utmost pleasure that we share this toolkit for event management to you. This toolkit is developed with the objective of guiding SMMAMS members in organizing an event by providing an introduction to methods used in setting event objectives, a step by step guide in event planning and to share resources available in SMMAMS that will be very useful for your future events. We hope this toolkit will provide with you useful techniques and deeper insights in event management. And we hope to continue empower our members to conduct successful events with sustainable impacts in our local community !

Warmest regards,

Ke Yuan Capacity Building Director

SMMAMS Malaysia 2022/2023

Siew

EventEssentials

3.1 Event Objective

Defining the goals and objectives of your event is essential and instrumental to the success of the event. Every event has its own aim and overall purpose

To ensure your event is achievable, you should outline your objectives based on SMART Objectives (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Bound)

*refer following page

After determining the event objective, you and your team should formulate a method using the FINER method (Feasible, Interesting, Novel, Ethical, Relevant) to accomplish the objectives in order to attain your goals In this context, FINER helps us to establish good and sustainable ideas to reach our objectives.

*refer following page

S.M.A.R.T. Objectives

Indicators or success criteria are important as they provide a basis for monitoring and evaluation. They are intended to indicate the extent to which objectives and results have been achieved. SMART is an acronym representing 5 points that your indicators should follow :

S Specific

In order for a goal to be effective, it needs to be specific A specific goal answers questions like:

What needs to be accomplished?

Who’s responsible for it?

What steps need to be taken to achieve it?

M Measurable

Specificity is a solid start, but quantifying your goals (ex. numerical data) makes it easier to track progress and know when you’ve reached your goals. For example:

100 participants joined our webinar quiz, and 85 of those participants answered with more than 80% accuracy

Attainable

A

You want to create objectives that are within reach “Reached 500 participants in one day” might not be achievable Set objectives that motivate you to succeed, but don’t set objectives that are impossible to achieve

Is your objective something your team can reasonably accomplish?

R Relevant

Why are you setting the goal that you’re setting?

Does the objective able relate back to your organization's goals ?

Time-bound

Here’s where you need to think about the big picture T

To properly measure success, you and your team need to be on the same page about when a goal has been reached.

What’s your time horizon?

When will the team start creating and implementing the tasks they’ve identified?

F.I.N.E.R Methods

In early phase of event, the FINER method is important in order to formulate realistic method in achieving your set event objectives. It helps us in aligning our approach and effort towards our goals and visions.

FFeasible

Is your method grounded to reality?

Is it realistic?

Interesting

Will the participants be interested?

Novel

Is this method something unique?

Is it something that has been never done before?

Ethical

Will the participants/other authorities approve of the method?

Relevant

Will your method generate new knowledge and make a change in participants?

3.2 Event Planning

Event planning is one of the most important aspects of a successful event. Effective planning should include systematic method of conduction and clear objectives to be achieved. (Annex 1)

This process should span across the event preparation stage with necessary interval of reviewing and amending to tailor it towards your event objective.

Additionally, you should always conduct an initial SWOT analysis during your event planning, a simple tool to assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks associated with the event This is to better identify the different factors that instrument your event thus help in facilitating the assessment of your event more thoroughly.

SWOT

3.5 Venue Selection

Virtual event platforms have become a necessary tool for us to cross borders without limits. A background research should be done regardless which platform that you chose to host your event to avoid incidence of confusion or surpassing platform capacity. When you are choosing the virtual event venue, here are some of the criteria that you should consider :

USER FRIENDLY

It’s important that the platform is easy for the user to navigate and utilize it comfortably. The platform should have a clear interface and commonly compatible settings.

INTERACTIVE ELEMENTS

You should prioritize platforms that have interactive elements such as a raise hand feature for the audience to join the stage, chat box feature to comment in real-time, Q&A feature, polls, fun activities etc.

SCALABILITY

The platform should have the capacity to support the scale of your audience If you are using a free version of the platform, it is important to check the amount of attendees that the platform can support for your event.

3.6 Publicity

To effectively reach your target audience, an event publicity plan will be needed to outline how to promote your event. You should include your target audience, platform used, timeline and the person in charge of each post.

To approach the Public Relations and Communication Department of SMMAMS for social media posts/stories to promote your event :

Requesting Design

Require at least 2 weeks prior to the deadline

Fill in “SMMAMS Graphics Design Request” google form at least 2 weeks earlier → Attach any relevant link or document in the google form → Include PIC contact number → Graphics designers will design according to the sequence of the received requests

If you have any specific requirement for the design → include the instructions in the “Social Media Time Slot” Spreadsheet

Inform the PRC team

Requesting Post

Require at least 2 weeks prior to the date of posting

Go to “SCO/Other Posters to be posted” Google Drive Folder → Create a folder with your event name → Upload your poster/story Book your time slot accordingly at the “Social Media Time Slot” Spreadsheet

Inform the PRC team

3.7 Post Event

DEBRIEFING / POST MORTEM

Debriefing is a structured learning process designed to continuously evolve plans while they’re being executed. It is critical in accelerating projects, innovating advocacy approaches, and achieving difficult objectives. It also brings a team together, strengthens team spirit, and fosters team learning.

Some points to discuss in the debrief:

Discuss what you think was successful or worked well in area that you were responsible for Discuss what you think was not successful or worked well in area that you were responsible for Discuss improvement plan for the areas that didn’t work well List your feedback for the overall event

EVALUATION

A post event assessment is crucial to measure whether you have achieved the event goals and objectives Feedback should be sought from both participants and committee members to make a thorough assessment of the event's overall impact.

The evaluation questions should determine the success of your event’s goals and objectives. These could include: Does the event meet expectations ? Does the event meet the indicators of success ?

Impact assessment Suggestions for improvement