Responsibilities

What Must Our Organization Do?

Before sending your application to the WHC, host organizations must first contact the speaker directly to establish a program date and time. Then fill out the Speakers Bureau Request Form and send it to the WHC, along with a check made out to the WHC for $100 per program, at least six weeks before the scheduled program date.

Host organizations provide space for the event, an audience of at least twenty people, publicity that recognizes WHC support, and any volunteer effort needed to conduct a successful program. Host organizations must complete and return a short evaluation from at the program's conclusion and report the value of volunteer time and services contributed.

It is the responsibility of the host organization and the speaker to make certain they have discussed what materials will be needed for a successful program, i.e. an overhead or slide projector, microphone or podium.

The issue of videotaping also needs to be considered in advance. Please consult the individual speaker if you wish to videotape the program and abide by his or her wishes for taping and subsequent use.

We ask that K-12 teachers and administrators remain present with their school-age groups through the entire presentation to help maintain proper behavior.

Publicize Your WHC Speakers Bureau Event

When you put time and effort into planning an event, you—and the WHC—want to see it draw a sizeable, interested audience. (As you know, the WHC hopes to see a minimum of twenty people at your Speakers Bureau program.)

Here are some things that successful hosts have done to draw community members to their programs:

• Form a partnership with another local organization, such as a museum, library, school, or service organization. Team up to send invitations to all of your members.
• Print the poster from the poster template and ask local businesses to post it in their windows or on bulletin boards.
• Post your events around in creative places. Libraries can post flyers on display boards, at the circulation desk, on study tables, and in the stacks where books on relevant topics are shelved.
• If your organization has a Web site, announce the event on your homepage and create a link to the poster so that others can print it out and post it.
• Use the press release template to create a press release for local media.
• Be creative! One host printed placemats and distributed them to area restaurants. Contact neighboring teachers and ask if they would offer extra credit to their students for attending. Have your library or local bookstore hand out bookmarks advertising the event.
• Ask your sponsors to send out an e-mail announcement to their personal e-mail lists with a link to the WHC's Web site (www.wisconsinhumanities.org).

Resources for Hosts

Speaker's Information
Biographical information and photos of all WHC speakers can be found online or in the print edition of our catalog. Use them to create your press releases, posters, etc.
Speakers Bureau Catalog

Event introduction template
Fill in your own information and read the script! (Thanks to Kathy Setzki at the Eileen Area Historical Society.)
Introduction template

Poster template
Fill in your speaker's name, topic, date, time, and location of talk and print to create your own poster.
Poster template

Press release template
Our sample press release has spaces for local details and description of the speaker's presentation.
Press release template