Hosting Of Events By An ICA

Hosting events or trade fairs is one way of raising the fund of an internet café association (ICA). You might recall that much earlier when I was just starting to blog, I had one that tackled the issue of “must ICAs collect fees from members?“. In the said blog, I advised ICAs, as much as possible, not to collect fees from members and instead find other ways to raise funds. Trade show exhibits coupled with on-stage presentations of goods and services to be participated on by vendors and contractors in the i-café industry is one sure way of raising fund for an ICA.

If the members of the Board of Trustees of a local i-café association do not have the experience or expertise in planning and hosting events other than ordinary meetings and general membership assemblies, it would do well hiring an event organizer for the purpose. If the ICA decide to hire an organizer, it does not mean that all matters about the event will be left to the contractor.  Inviting the prospective event sponsors and/or trade exhibitors should still be the responsibility of the host ICA so that it would be in control of the fiscal matters. The preparation of the program or activities that will take place in the center stage should also be done by the ICA officers.

The event organizer will only take care of the event’s venue. It must make sure that the place will be available on the date(s) of the event and so with all the materials and supplies needed by the trade exhibitors and event sponsors. The trusses or framing materials, display tables, table covers and table top displays plus director’s chairs are what an event organizers must ready for the use by the exhibitors. It could either provide them from their stocks or have it contracted by another party.

It must be noted that hiring an organizer would reduce the amount that would go into the ICA fund. The event organizer is what many would call a “necessary evil” that would ensure the success of the undertaking. The payment that an organizer gets is usually “money well spent” because a successful event is a must to have if an ICA wants to host more in the future.