How to hold a ‘decision-makers meet learners’ event
Introduction We hope that this guide will encourage organisations that offer learning for families and communities to showcase the impact of this kind of learning to decisionmakers in local areas.
What is a ‘decision-makers meet learners’ event and why hold one? We know that non-formal learning that takes place in families and communities has a wide range of benefits for individuals, families and communities. These include raising confidence and skills, improving family relationships, encouraging community involvement, improving health outcomes and enhancing digital inclusion (see research findings on impact from the Community Learning Innovation Fund http://shop.niace.org.uk/clif-report.html). This wealth of impacts is not always obvious to those not directly involved or affected, which means that decision-makers may miss out on a cost-effective solution to local issues. The purpose of a ‘decision-makers meet learners’ event is to show local decision-makers the impact of adult learning by giving them the opportunity to talk to learners and hear their stories. It also gives your organisation an opportunity to make strategic and policy connections. Adult Learners’ Week, and the Festival of Learning surrounding it (www.alw.org.uk), offer a particularly good opportunity to hold such an event. Your event will be linked with a range of other activities, events and publications, promoting the benefits of adult learning. Organising a ‘decision-makers meet learners’ event for your local area The model for a ‘decision-makers meet learners’ event developed by NIACE involves short speeches (including one by a learner with a particularly powerful story to tell), followed by a ‘carousel’ session. Learners sit at tables in an informal ‘cabaret’ style setting, together with their tutor or support worker. Decision-makers spend a fixed amount of time at each table, talking to the learners, then move on to the next table. The aim is that all the decision-makers get to talk to all the learners by the end of the session. They are then asked to feed back what they have learned, and how they might use what they have learned to make a difference.
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First steps Think about who you want to involve in organising the event. If there are lots of ‘decision-makers meet learners’ events in an area inviting the same people, the impact is going to be much lower. Talk to other community and family learning organisations in your local area – the local authority adult and community learning service, colleges, museums, libraries, art galleries, schools, children’s centres, voluntary and community organisations. Organising an event between several organisations will increase impact, give you a wider range of venues, learners and strategic contacts to involve. It may also help to develop new partnerships through working to a common goal. Think about what that common goal will be. What do you want to achieve strategically from the event, both in the short term and the long term? Think about how you will know that you’ve achieved what you wanted to.
Who to invite Invite learners with a powerful story to tell about the difference that community and family learning has made to their lives and to those around them. Make sure that you choose those who have enough confidence and language skills that, with support, they can put across their story. Produce a ‘pen picture’ of each of the learners’ stories, so that delegates have something to take away with them to remind them about the stories they’ve heard. If you have the budget, give learners a ‘thank you’ treat, such as free tickets to a local activity. They are, after all, giving up their time for free. Think about the decision-makers you would like to influence and what you want to achieve. They might be local authority cabinet members, local elected members, local MPs. They might also be directors of local authority directorates, heads of services such as Youth Offending, chairs or members of local partnership and strategic bodies, such as Local Enterprise Partnerships and Health and Wellbeing boards. As well as public sector decision-makers, don’t forget to include key influencers in local communities. The more partners are involved, the more decision-makers you will have access to. Many community and family learning organisations will already have links from which they can identify the key decision-makers. Most local authorities have a Chief Executive’s Office which will be connected to and have knowledge about the key decision-makers. However, it is always best to start with your current network of contacts and ask them to identify and get in touch with the people they know. People are always more ready to respond to invitations from those they already know, rather than to ‘cold’ invitations.
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Do a bit of research on the decision-makers you want to invite. Find out what committees they are on, what their interests are. Send personalised letters of invitation to them, with the person’s name and your signature hand-written, rather than a ‘Dear colleague’ letter. Make sure you know the decision-makers’ areas of interest. Remember you’re trying to demonstrate to them how learning meets their agendas. You might include a note in the invitation letter that demonstrates that you know their interest, and points out the match with learning. Think about whether you want coverage in the local press/radio. If you do, it’s best to send a press release about a fortnight before the event. Include details of the event and what it’s aiming to achieve. Mention any high profile decision-makers (MPs, councillors etc.) who are attending. Include a paragraph about a particularly powerful learner story (with the learner’s permission.) You may want to allow the press to attend some or all of the event, but be aware that press presence will make decision-makers more wary about what they say. If the press are interested, they may want to interview you and/or one of your learners. Think about how you might deal with that.
When to hold it Hold your event at a time when there is some kind of ‘hook’ for decision-makers. Adult Learners’ Week and the Festival of Learning (www.alw.org.uk) offer a particularly good time to hold it, as there will be lots of information and activities about adult learning. Think about what time of day you want to hold the event. What will work best for the decision-makers and learners? Do you want to include a meal? Bear in mind that learners may need to take time off work or make arrangements for children to be picked up from school.
Where to hold it Choose as ‘up-market’ a venue as you have access to. This makes both learners and policy-makers feel special. It helps to have a range of partners as they may be able to access interesting and unusual venues. Make sure there’s enough room for people to move around the tables. Bear in mind that some of your delegates might have special requirements, such as wheelchair access or hearing loop, so make sure that the venue can cater for those if needed. Think about whether and how you want learners’ children to be involved. You may need to provide childcare facilities, or pay a contribution to learners’ childcare costs.
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Running the event Your running order on the day might look something like this: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7)
W elcome from host Introduction from Chair Speech from local politician/celebrity Speech from learner Carousel session Feedback Close
Make sure that invited decision-makers are looked after, and have a chance to network with each other and the learners. Allocate everyone to tables, so that you have at least one decision-maker on each table, together with learners and their tutor/support worker. Make sure that the learners are well briefed about what to expect, and that the tutors/support workers understand that their role is to support the learners to tell their stories, rather than to put across their own points. Keep speeches to a minimum, but make sure they’re pertinent. You may want to ask a local politician to speak, or perhaps a local celebrity. Whoever is speaking, make sure they are well briefed. However, the potentially most powerful speech will be a learner’s. Choose someone with an emotionally engaging learning journey to relate, that demonstrates a wide range of outcomes, and who can express themselves effectively. Work with them on their presentation and help them practice delivering it. Make it a learning experience and, as with all learning, it’s important that it goes well for them, and that it boosts rather than undermining their confidence. The learners’ speeches will whet delegates’ appetite to hear more, so the event should move straight into the carousel ‘meeting learners’ phase. It’s important that clear instructions are given about:
who is moving around and who is staying on their tables;
how long they have on each table (make sure they have long enough for a meaningful conversation – 15 minutes is usually about right); what direction they are to move in; how you will signal that it’s time to move to the next table.
Also, let the policy makers know that they will be asked to feed back about what they’ve learned and what they’re going to take back to their organisations.
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It’s often difficult to get people moving on to the next table, because they get so caught up in their conversations, and the noise levels can make it difficult to get their attention. Let them know when there’s two minutes left (it’s useful to have someone with a loud voice!), and a whistle or bell can be useful as the signal to move on. Obviously, keep it light hearted and good humoured. This is a good time to take photographs, when decision-makers and learners are deep in conversation. Don’t forget to get delegates to sign a permission form that they’re happy to have their photograph taken, and letting them know what the photos will be used for. Once everybody is back at the tables they started on, ask the decision-makers to feed back. Make a note of who says what, in case you want to follow anything up later. Encourage them to communicate with colleagues and others about what they’ve learned, for example through any social media tools they use. Thank everybody for coming, especially the learners. If you have the budget, finish the event with teas and coffees available, so that people can carry on with conversations and drift away gradually.
After the event Don’t forget to write to all those who took part to thank them. Take the opportunity to remind decision-makers of what they said in the feedback session, eg. “We were very pleased that you thought.../intended to.../felt... Do let us know if we can give you any further information or support to take that forward.” If you get a positive response, you might want to follow it up later. Include an article about the event in any newsletters, websites, blogs, twitter feeds that you produce. If you’re including quotes from anyone, make sure you check back with them first. Hold a review meeting with partners to reflect on whether you’ve achieved your strategic aims and how you take them forward.
Good luck!
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Checklist Before the event Have you got a good range of partners in place? Have you agreed your strategic aims and how you will tell if you’ve achieved them? Have you decided when the event is to be held and what it’s to tie in with? (Adult Learners’ Week?) Have you decided on the best time of day and allocated a budget for refreshments? Have you chosen a venue and checked it for suitability? Have you identified the learners you want to involve and discussed it with them? Have you identified the decision-makers you want to invite and who is going to invite them? Have you identified what childcare arrangements learners need? Have you identified a politician or celebrity you’d like to make a speech? (It’s a good idea to have a second and third choice too) Have you identified a learner who is willing to work with you and deliver a speech about their experience? Have you put together a ‘pen portrait’ of the learners for decision-makers to take with them? (Don’t forget to check the text with the learners). Can you afford a ‘thank you’ treat for learners? Do you want coverage in local press/radio? If yes, send a press release about a week before the event. Have you decided how you’re going to allocate everyone to tables? Have you briefed your learners and tutors? Have you decided who is going to chair the event and who is going to manage the ‘carousel’ session? Have you got someone who can take photos? Have you got permission slips ready? During the event Have you made note of decision-makers’ feedback and any particularly interesting quotes? After the event Have you written to everyone who took part to thank them? Have you included an article in newsletters, websites etc? Have you contacted appropriate decision-makers to follow up on what they said? Have you reviewed your strategic aims and whether you’ve achieved them?
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