General guidelines for planning a meeting
6
to 12 months before meeting
. Select date and reserve meeting
rooms for Friday and Saturday night. For spring meetings, avoid spring break for UW-L students and Easter weekend. For fall
meetings, avoid ASTRO week.
. Remember that people will be attending from all over the state. Find 1 or more hotels that are
close to the meeting site. A hotel conference room is ideal but can be costly. Use your hospital if possible or maybe a community
center. Use your own judgment here. By contacting hotels early, many will give discounts to non-profit organizations.
. If the spring meeting is to be held at the Chula Vista, Wisconsin Dells, please see the “Chula Vista Tips” section below.
.
Begin selection of topics and speakers. Provide at least 5-6 hours of continuing education. Our honorariums are $200.00 maximum.
KNOW WHAT YOUR SPEAKER EXPECTS! Please ask them what they need to cover their expenses.
. Assign someone to attend to audiovisual needs for the day. Some conference sites have their own.
.
Announce the meeting date at the RTOW meeting preceding yours. The sooner members know, they can make plans to be there.
6 months prior to meeting
. Send letters to vendors. Make personal calls or email if possible. This tends to
receive better contribution results. You may need to supply/provide a list of speakers/topics to the vendors. Charge what
you need to in order to cover your expenses. $200 and up is reasonable.
. Gather outlines and CV's from speakers-these
are needed to apply for ASRT continuing education approval. Also, apply for MDCB continuing education approval.
Go to ASRT website to get necessary information and requirements for CEU’s.
1. Go to www.asrt.org
2.
Click on Continuing Education on left-hand side
3. Select
CE Sponsors, then Request for Approval Packets
4. Choose Request for Approval Packets for an in-depth explanation and timelines.
You will want to read the “Live-Lecture” RFA and documentation info.
.The MDCB requires the same
info as the ASRT for credit approval.
4
months prior to meeting
. Obtain mailing list from RTOW secretary.
.
In addition to current members, obtain addresses for each radiation therapy department in Wisconsin and those that are nearby in neighboring
states. (IL, IA , MN) In the past, we have had quite a few attendees from these states.
. Obtain menu options. Choose
continental breakfast items, morning break items and the luncheon meal. While doing this, remember that meetings MUST PAY
FOR THEMSELVES! Our record is a bit shaky on this issue. In addition, don't forget about our members with special food
restrictions.
. Prepare flyer including topics, speakers, fees, agendas, maps, hotel information, and the contact person's
name and phone number. In calculating fees, remember that member fees are a minimum of $30.00. Non-member fees are a minimum
$50.00. This is the price of our current RTOW membership plus $20.00 for non-members and will increase proportionally when
membership fees increase.This will encourage more individuals to become RTOW members. Remember, charge more if you need to,
to break even. Student members should pay between $10 and $20.
.Submit budget to RTOW president. Approval is needed prior
to mailings.
.Apply to ASRT for CEU's. Again, this can all be done online at www.asrt.org. Click on CE Sponsors, RFA packets, and then “Fill out RFA”. *BE SURE to
name RTOW as an Affiliate Society of ASRT. This will allow you to apply without paying the $40 course fee
for each speaker! It is important to note that the ASRT requires a minimum of 30 business days for
processing so do not delay in submitting forms.
.To apply for
MDCB CEU’s, go to www.mdcb.org. On the left side, click on CE Center. Select Request for Evaluation, and then fill
in necessary info.
.Choose someone to manage the meeting funds.
3 months prior to meeting
.
Have programs printed. Ask your employer if they can supply paper to do the programs, you may be able to use your print shop.
.Deadline
for registration is recommended for 3 weeks prior to the meeting.
. Obtain packets and nametags to be used at the meeting.
.
Make evaluation and certificate forms.
. Post meeting on-line (if available). Contact hospital HR departments to see if
they would like to host a vendor table. Vendor tables usually run between $200-$250.
2 months prior to meeting
. Contact speakers and obtain information regarding handouts. These can be printed and handed out in packets. Invite
them to stay for luncheon. Remember to include them in the head count. If a speaker is also obtaining CEU's from the meeting,
they must register as an attendee. RTOW will pay luncheon fee for all other speakers.
. Find out what type of audio-visual
needs each speaker has.
6 weeks
prior to meeting
.Electronic brochure sent to the webmasters
.Postcard
reminders mailed out to membership and departments.
.Mail/email programs to vendors.
. Contact vendors for their donations.
.
Door Prizes: These must be donated from vendors or businesses. You can solicit area businesses, most require a letter and
would have to be done 4-6 months prior. Credit the business when handing out prize. Never use RTOW monies to buy door prizes.
Door prizes are nice but not necessary.
3
weeks prior to meeting
. Print final programs for inside handout
packets.
2 weeks prior to meeting
. Label packets and name tags.
. Stuff packets with vendor information,
program etc. Remember to make extras for late registrants.
. Assign jobs for the meeting - registration, distribution
or certificates, etc.
. Organize introduction of speakers.
1 week prior to meeting
. Arrange speaker
audio-visual needs. Have each speakers needs on a separate card. This is easier for meeting room staff
. Check if speakers
will be staying for lunch.
. Make sure that registration tables are available.
. Arrange for vendor tables to be
set up near continental breakfast and morning break areas (if possible).
. Give final count to food service.
Day of meeting
. Assist attendees with registration.
. Have extra nametags, pens, packets etc. for those registering
the day of the meeting. . Have water pitcher and glasses available for speakers.
. Have honorariums available to
give to speakers.
1 day to 1 week
post meeting
.Send out thank you letters to speakers, vendors and businesses.
.ASRT no longer accepts sign in sheets or
evaluations as proof of attendance at the meeting. Each member is responsible for sending in their own
information to the continuing education department. The evaluations do need to be kept by RTOW for at least
3 years in case of an audit, but are otherwise used for RTOW’s use in planning future meetings.
Send copy of registration
information to president/secretary for record keeping purposes.
..Sample R TOW Budget
Debits
Honorariums
200X6 = 1200.00
RTOW deposit500.00
Friday night food300.00
and drinks
Saturday food
100 registrants and
6
speakers 1O6X30 3180.00
5280.00
Credits
Registration
fees
members90X30 = 2700.00
non-members 10X50 = 500.00
students10X15 = 150.00
Cash donations2000.00
Deposit
500.00
5850.00
If gift donations are received,
these must be used as door prizes as we are a non-profit organization and cannot benefit from donations.
Of course, much of
this will change when we start contacting vendors to have RTOW be a part of their annual budget!
CHULA VISTA TIPS:
1. The meeting may be booked through the senior sales representative for the conference center. Be
sure to remind them of RTOW’s tax-exempt status. He/She will be able to pull the file from previous
years’ meetings for you to go off of. This will show you how many rooms to block, which conference
rooms were reserved, program timelines, and catering needs.
2.
When booking the conference room, mention that you would
like it to be large enough to arrange vendor tables at the back of the room or in an easily accessible space.
3. There will be approx. $500 deposit required by the hotel to book the meeting. Ask
the sales rep to apply the deposit towards the final bill on the day of the meeting; this is not usually a problem.
4. Unless you are having a speaker on Friday night, you don’t need to reserve
meeting space for that evening. However, check with the RTOW president to find out where, when and how
many people to make a dinner reservation for their executive board dinner Friday night.
5. For
catering needs, consider utilizing one of their “packages”. The Corporate Package includes
breakfast, lunch and a break for one standard price. Then you can choose your menu from a variety of available
options. The package price will usually save you money.
6. Since we have
many members who are young mothers, consider asking the sales staff for an available room/conference room near the meeting
room to utilize for their breastfeeding/pumping needs. In past meetings, they have given us this space
free of charge. Then be sure to highlight this option and ask about needs on meeting registration forms
so the membership knows of this option and you can be prepared.
7.
The Chula
Vista will allow you to bring in your own AV equipment. However, you
must be able to set up, service, and troubleshoot on your own if you do so. If you use their equipment,
they have an AV specialist to help you with your needs and setup equipment for you.
