It's time to plan your screening!
We know that organizing a screening might seem hard. But thanks to Tugg, our screenings guide, and our amazing behind-the-scenes team of hardworking volunteers, it's actually way easier than you might think.
Should you need any help, whatsoever, our Forgotten Plague Screenings Team is here to help on the smallest or biggest of issues. If you simply want to chat about whatever's on your mind, that's fine too! Our team is available at forgottenplague@gmail.com or 478-397-4470.
In the meantime, to start getting your wheels turning, here's a list of initial tips to help you stage an event to remember:
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1. Guest Stars
Have local doctors, advocates, scientists, patients, etc serve as guest speakers after the event for Q&A sessions
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2. Location, Location, Location
Pick a “cool” venue. If your screening is at a place people see as “special” that will definitely help drive attendance up and make it seem like an exciting event to go to. (Maybe an historic independent theater in the town square, for instance…But you’ll know where the special places in your town are)
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3. Raise Money for a National Group
Make it a fundraiser for a charity (Phoenix Rising, ME Association, crowdfunding campaign for OMF/Stanford or Columbia)…This helps with “branding” so your event has more sexiness because it’s connected to a high-brow group. Besides increasing your “brand” appeal, it’ll help defray costs. If you raised $2,000, for example, then you could subtract the cost of the screening license and then donate the rest to the charity you pick
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4. Build Your Team
As far as driving attendance, find 5 friends as your core “planning committee” and then have each of them invite 10 people or being accountable for finding 10 more attendees. Or conversely, have 10 friends in your core committee and have each of them be accountable for recruiting 5-7 people. Divide and conquer so you don’t have to feel like you personally need to find 60-70 people.
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5. Brought to you by...
Corporate sponsors. A local company or storeowner that you have a relationship with could set up a table at your event. Call it a “gold sponsorship” and charge 100 bucks. Offer smaller “bronze” and “silver” sponsorships as well. They could advertise their products/services, give out free samples, coupons, etc. A couple low-cost sponsorships is another easy way to cover your costs. And bonus points if your sponsor is a pharma company, massage therapist, acupuncturist, or some other health company whose services directly cater to chronic illness patients.
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6. Attract Media Coverage
Use our Media Kit and our trailer on our website to get local media coverage in advance of your event.
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7. Advertise
Use the promotional flyer template that our volunteer screenings team sends out. Post Forgotten Plague posters/flyers in and around your venue a few weeks before your event.
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8. Build bridges in your community.
When creating your core planning committee, think about who you can partner with. A local support group/doctor’s office/hospital is obviously one way to start. Groups like this would have a strong vested interest in seeing your event be successful. Another good example might be a church or another NGO concerned with social justice and equality issues.
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Chime in.
Have a brilliant idea that's not on this list? Just reply back to this message with your idea and we'll blast it out to everyone via Facebook or our next e-mail with a little shout-out to you for your creativity. This isn't just a movie. This is a movement. And movements are most powerful when they belong to the people who created them. That's you.
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