Planning an Event

Planning an Event

The content on this page is designed to help you with planning activities for your student organization. Please contact the Dean of Students Office with any questions.

Plan a meeting

1. Reserve a room through the Special Events and Scheduling Office
2. Publicize the meeting
3. Send an e-mail to your organization listserv
4. Cater the event

Plan an Event 

Invite a Speaker

1. Extend an invitation to the individual(s) you would like to speak via e-mail, mail, or fax.
2. If the person is a head of state, head of government, cabinet minister, or high American official or leader, or can be considered “famous” (also referred to as high profile), contact the Dean of Students Office and the University Marshal’s Office. To learn more about the University Marshal’s Office visit http://www.marshal.harvard.edu/guidelines.html.
   1. Why contact the University Marshal?
      • Check to see if another group or school has plans to invite the same person. And once your organization extends an invitation, to make sure no other group sends a competing invite.
      • In certain cases, the President of Harvard or the Dean of Harvard Law School may want to personally invite an individual. The Marshal's Office can help make that determination and walk you through the process.
3. If the speaker or any of the invited guests needs accommodations for a disability, please contact Cathleen Collins in the Dean of Students Office.
4. Reserve a room through the Special Events and Scheduling Office.
5. Contact Media Services to reserve all AV equipment including: microphone, projector, etc.
6. Controversial Speakers 
   • Contact the Dean of Students Office if you are unsure whether a speaker is controversial.
   • Notify the Harvard Police of your event to request a detail officer: http://www.hupd.harvard.edu/forms/
   • Review the Protest and Dissent Guidelines  
7. Publicize the event
8. Cater the event

Planning a Conference

(In general, it is best to plan conferences at least two months in advance)

1. If you would like to plan a conference at please schedule a meeting with either Darris Saylors or Meg DeMarco in the Dean of Students Office.
2. Conferences can be expensive. Be sure to have funding in place before you begin making any arrangements. Contact Darris Saylors in the Dean of Students Office for assistance. If you are reaching out to any law firms please consult Meg DeMarco and review the guidelines from the Alumni and Development Office. Also refer to information on the Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy Student Conference Fund
3. The Dean of Students Office will assist in reserving large blocks of space for your event by working closely with the Events Office.
4. Invite Speakers (create panels based on responses)
   1. Organizations typically invite speakers known to them through personal contacts or individuals renown for work in a particular field. These invitations are sent via mail, email, phone, and/or fax. Review the guidelines above regarding the invitation of a "high profile" speaker. 
   2. If you are covering travel expenses (airfare, lodging, cab fare) for your guests please review the information contained in the Travel page.
5. Publicize the event  
   • Submit the conference details to the HLS Events Calendar.
   • Create flyers for the conference.
     • Design can be done by an org member or by Jeff Dunn here at HLS. 
     • Flyers can be printed by the HLS Copy Center located in the tunnels under Pound Hall or by an outside vendor such as FedEx Office or OfficeMax. Harvard has worked with these vendors to secure discounted pricing.
     • Post the flyers on the bulletin boards spread across campus. The majority are located in the tunnels. Please note posters are not allowed on our walls, doors and bulletin boards designated for HLS Departments (OCS/OPIA) and will be removed and discarded by Facilities.  
   • Update your org website to include information on your conference.

Fundraise

If you would like to raise additional funding for conferences, symposiums, workshops, or larger scale events during the year, please contact Darris Saylors to discuss how to do so. If you are planning to solicit funds from law firms, please contact Meg DeMarco and review the guidelines from the Alumni and Development Office. Refer also to information on the Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy Student Conference Fund.

Create and Access a Listserv

1. Listservs can be accessed here: http://internal.law.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/coloneldomo.cgi
2. The user name and password would be the same as those for your e-mail account. So if your e-mail address is cbrown@law.harvard.edu and your password is redbaron2 then your username is cbrown and your password is redbaron2. Similarly, if you are updating the listserv for your student organization, the user name and password would be the same as for signing in for e-mail (username: studentorg password: orgrocks5)

Create and Update Websites

Get an HLSOrgs.com account

1. Request an HLSOrgs.com account through Jeff Dunn for your organization or a page for your event/conference.  
2. If you need training, Jeff Dunn will be able to walk you through an easy set of Wordpress based guidelines.

E-mail Accounts

Get an e-mail address

1. Sign up for an e-mail account here: http://www.law.harvard.edu/apps/its/web/ftp-studorg.php
2. Sign in to your e-mail account using webmail: mymail.law.harvard.edu/

Change the password to your e-mail account

1. ITS can reset the password for your e-mail account.

Renew your e-mail address

(Many student organization e-mail accounts are set to expire annually on October 31.)

1. Contact the Dean of Students office at dos@law.harvard.edu to renew your account. 

Reserve a Room

1. The Special Events and Scheduling Office handles room reservations. If you are planning a conference or multi-function event, please contact The Dean of Students Office to make arrangements. For all other activities, reserve a room using the instructions below.
2. Fill out the new room reservation form here
3. If you have any questions about the form, or about arrangements for your event, contact events@law.harvard.edu or visit the events office in Pound 208.
4. Please note that completing the form does not constitute a reserved room. You will receive a confirmation from the events office once the room is scheduled. 

Publicize an Event

1. Public and Community Calendar – Announcements on the calendar feed into News@law and the Events screen in the Hark Concourse. The form for putting an event on the calendar is here. You can also go here for the room reservation form. Or send an e-mail to publicity@law.harvard.edu.
2. Posters – There are bulletin boards throughout the tunnels for postering
3. Stuff Hark Boxes
4. Chalk Blackboards in Classrooms

Sign up for News@Law 

http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/list/daily/index.php

Use-of-Name Policy

• Publications: a student organization should visibly display its affiliation with a school on the front page of any publication it is producing by stating that it is “a student-run publication at Harvard Law School. On its copyright page (or relevant section), the publication must also state: “The Harvard Law School name and/or shield are trademarks of the President and Fellows of Harvard College and are used by permission of Harvard University."
• Websites: as is the case with publications, a student organization should visibly display its affiliation with the school by stating that it is “a student-run organization at Harvard Law School” or “an officially recognized student-run organization of Harvard Law School.”  This identity tagline needs to be placed in a prominent location on the main page of the website (typically in conjunction with the student organization’s name) and in a font size comparable to other fonts being used on the website. In addition, the website’s main page should also state: “The Harvard Law School name and/or shield are trademarks of the President and Fellows of Harvard College and are used by permission of Harvard University.”

Catering for an Event

Contact the Restaurant Associates (RA) Catering Office at 617-495-5538 or catering@law.harvard.edu. The RA Office is located on the 2nd Floor of Pound Hall. Purchases made from RA can be paid using your organizations 33-Digit Billing Code.

You will need to indicate on the Room Request Form whether food will be provided by RA or an outside vendor. If you plan to use an outside vendor contact the Dean of Students Office to discuss payment options. Many purchases can be made over the phone or online using a DOSO credit card. 

Please note that all events held in Harkness Commons must use Restaurant Associates for catering per the Harkness Commons Food Policy.

You must follow the HLS Alcohol Policy if you plan on to serving alcohol at your event.