Feasibility Stage (FS)

The Feasibility Stage (FS) comes after the IES stage is signed off by all necessary stakeholders. Now, the event idea is being explored more thoroughly. The FS is akin to a pre-planning or early-planning stage. At this stage, various things are needed before a formal sign-off and progression to the Event Project Stage (EPS) (i.e. before the Institute agrees to take on the staff effort, financial risk and opportunities afforded by running the event).

This is a list of information from the FS stage which is needed for evaluation by stakeholders. Successful evaluation will move us into the EPS stage:

• Goals & Objectives

  • I.e. What we hope to achieve (goals) and a set of measurable steps towards achieving our goals (objectives).

• The audience

  • Which groups of people you are planning the event for helps set the goals and objectives in context.

  • E.g. career stage, geographic location, gender, ethnicity, job roles, organisation types (e.g. funders, publishers, researchers, administrators) should be given some detail.

  • Prioritising the audience might also help with refining goals and keeping planning on target. If the priority changes then this should be reflected in the goals/objectives.

    • Although if this does happen, the Lead Stakeholder should probably be consulted to make sure it’s ok to carry on if you are in the EPS stage.

• A date

  • That fits in to the calendar of other events that are likely to affect the audience that are targeted.

  • That is at a time when accommodation is available. Things to consider here may include:

    • Being outside of University term time,
    • No conflicting local events (e.g. football matches) – these tend to raise accommodation prices -,
    • Preferably not clashing with primary/high school holidays.

• A venue

  • A specification of venue requirements should be put together.

    • An example venue specification

  • Venue visits should be done

    • Having a local (to the event) agent helping can help a lot where the event is remote to your location.

  • A possible venue should be chosen.

  • Dates should be available.

• A budget (see budget example)

  • Showing estimated income lines.
  • Showing estimated outgoing costs lines.
  • Best case, middle case and worst case cost projections should be prepared.

• Outputs and Outcomes (what’s the difference)

  • These should be linked to the event goals.
  • Some of these will be the same as the objectives of the workshop.
  • These should include whether you are going to write a report or make videos and other resources from the event available.

Assessment

The set of information will need to be assessed by the stakeholders and lead to one of the following outcomes from the Lead Stakeholder with regards to proceeding with the event:

• Proceed - the EL can now arrange the event.
• More work needed - there might be more specific items needed to get final approval to proceed (e.g. re-visit the budget).
• Reject - it might be decided that it is not worth running the event (this should be rare as most things should be caught at the less expensive IES stage discussions).