Below is a list to help local sponsors organize a Catholic America Tour (CAT) presentation in their area.
1. Form a committee to sponsor a speaker. Hold a meeting to determine how you will raise the money to pay for air transportation, lodging, speaker’s meals, and the hall (or large room). Get firm financial commitments. Also, talk about how and to whom you will promote the event.
2. Call Russell LaPlume at (603) 239-6485 and reserve date for your event.
3. Send money to cover the anticipated cost of the airline ticket (Russell can help you with this) to St. Benedict Center, PO Box 627, Richmond, NH 03470 (if desired and for your convenience we can charge the amount to your credit/debit card). Overpayments will be promptly refunded after the event and, of course, you will be billed for any underpayment. Please be inclined to overpay. Be sure to discuss suitable “windows of opportunity” for arrival/departure times, and airports.
4. Once the date is confirmed and the money received, basic information promoting your event will be posted to our Web sites such as city/state of talk and contact’s name, telephone number(s), and e-mail address. Of course, information that is more detailed (time and location of event, directions, etc.) will be posted as you supply us with that information. Organizers should be aware that publicizing an e-mail address might cause spam, as well as insulting email from opponents of this work (cf. John 15:18).
5. Reserve a location for the event. Inform Russell so our Web sites can be updated.
6. Make arrangements for speaker’s lodging. Inform Russell.
7. Arrange for speaker’s meals and transportation to and from airport.
8. Design, print, and distribute a flyer for your event. See the attached sample. You can edit and print this locally.
9. Hold a second committee meeting to assign people to various positions of responsibilities such as:
a. Hall/room set up including making available two tables - one for the speaker’s items and one for the sponsoring group’s items, chairs, podium, testing microphone and amplification system, drinking water for speaker, sign-up sheets, Saint Augustine Institute Study Circle information, and First, Second, and Third Order information.
b. Transportation of speaker — to and from airport — and to and from hotel and event locations.
c. Optional: Printing and sale of ads for CAT Program. See enclosed sample and link to digital artwork. (Not yet available. Request this if you are interested.)
d. Depending on the setting, it may be appropriate to have a designated person greet and welcome arriving guests.
e. Flyer distribution to promote attendance.
f. Press release. This might generate newspaper coverage increasing local interest. See attached sample.
g. Some sponsoring groups advertise their event in the local newspapers. Some even use radio or local public TV. For example, the speaker could talk on local radio promoting his speech that evening.
10. First, we will promote your event on our Web sites but you need to inform us of the time and place of your event and directions to get there, names, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers of contact people, and how to purchase CAT Program advertising. (Of course, the last item may not apply in your situation.) Second, in some cases, and at our expense, we will send a letter and flyer (supplied by you) to people on our mailing list who live within a reasonable distance from your event. Third, given enough time we will promote your event in our publications and communications.
11. Some CAT committees might want to combine a banquet with the talk or even expand it to an all day event or two-day mini-conference with a traditional Latin Mass, etc. However, it is prudent to start modestly especially if this is your first time.
12. Our CAT Coordinator will let you know when and where a box will arrive via UPS/FedEx containing important speaker materials including tapes and CDs. Please let the coordinator know when this box arrives. VERY IMPORTANT: This box and its contents must be at your event.
13. In some cases, air transportation costs can be reduced dramatically by coordinating event dates with other sponsoring groups in nearby cities or states.
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