Planning an event
If you’re planning to organise an event within the university, the information on this page will help you get started.
Rooms and catering
You can contact the Event Service if you have any questions about venues, technical facilities and other support for your event. They can help you, for example, if you want to organise something outside your own building, or would like to know more about all the venues and options the university has to offer. The Event Service will look for available venues and book them for you. And if you tell them about your catering requirements, they’ll put you in touch with Party Catering, who will then fulfil your wishes.
Help with organising an event
It is recommended that faculties wanting to hire an experienced event coordinator to assist them with organising an event should contact an external agency that has often partnered with the university in the past:
Useful tools
- All the info about using the Leiden University house style for printed materials
- Template for making name badges in the university house style
Suppliers who can support your event
Catering
- University Services Department (UFB) Catering. For all the catering during your event in any of the university buildings.
- Dames Dietz. For high-quality catering at external locations (if they do not offer it there).
Printed materials
University Services Department (UFB) Graphic Centre will be pleased to help with all your requirements for printed materials: from business cards and letter paper to flyers, posters, roll-up banners, dissertations and much more. You can also contact the UFB Graphic Centre for services such as the layout of communications and DTP, and products including displays, advertising signs, banners and other promotional materials.
Graphic design
- The external agency Creja developed the Leiden University house style. You can contact them for a wide range of products, such as flyers, banners or other promotional materials. They have all the university logos on file, and know how to adapt them.
- Tom van der Heijden is a freelancer who creates animations and illustrations. He has already produced many of these for the university.
Gifts
- If you’re looking for a gift with the university logo, for example to thank a speaker, then the University Shop is the ideal place.
- The Hortus Botanicus also has an excellent gift shop with many original gift options. You can order items on your SAP number.
- You can also use your SAP number at the Olala chocolaterie in Leiden to order chocolates.
Audiovisual support
Organising a special event may mean that you need more technical facilities and support than is usually available at the university location. The university works with a preferred supplier: Deyval. You can contact them and ask for advice and a price quotation.
Help with organising an event
Staff members at Administration & Central Services and the service units can ask the event coordinator for help with organising events. Whether it’s a symposium, a conference or an internal meeting, the event coordinator will share ideas on the best format, content and realisation. The coordinator will be pleased to advise you on the concept, programme, session formats, location and communication, or will even take care of organising the entire event.
The event coordinator has extensive experience in organising academic meetings and events, both on-site and online. They can assist you in many ways: from providing advice and thinking along with you to handling the overall organization and execution and everything in between. The coordinator is familiar with all university locations and their possibilities and also has an overview of the hotel offerings in both Leiden and The Hague.
About the event coordinator
Process
First meeting
We begin with a first meeting to discuss your ideas for the event, such as your goal, target group, date and time, budget, accommodation, entertainment, transport and printed material. This enables us to propose a solution that ensures you get the best out of your event. We also discuss which role you wish the event coordinator to take.
Quote and basic plan
After the first meeting we send you a quote. This provides a breakdown of which services the event coordinator can organise at which fee. You decide which services you wish to make use of. We also send you a basic plan.
Booking confirmation
Once you have decided which services you wish us to provide, we send you a booking confirmation with a description of these services, the fee per service, an event plan and our terms of payment. The booking confirmation relates only to the services offered by the event coordinator and not the cost of venue hire, catering and so on.
Preparation
The next step is to provide a detailed event plan. We discuss this in detail with you or the contact person for the event. Other people may be involved here, for instance, people who are responsible for certain parts of the event.
Organisation and delivery of the event
The event plan forms the basis of the organisation and delivery of the event. We regularly consult you or the contact person(s) about the organisation of the event. If necessary, we also brief third parties such as caterers, technicians and printers.
The event itself
We provide the floor management at the build-up and during the event itself (checking the build-up, checking that everything runs smoothly, solving problems big and small, providing support in the event of a calamity).
Evaluation
We evaluate the event afterwards with you and use your feedback to improve our services. If you would like us to, we can also send out an evaluation to the participants.
Services
Before
- Intake interview
- Advice on program design, choice of moderator, networks and online platform
- Find location(s) (inside and/or outside the university)
- Advice on stimulating form for interaction
- Request quotes for location, catering and technology, etc
During
- Writing your event plan
- Managing the event budget
- Finding the right venue(s) (within or outside the University)
- Preparing and sending invitations
- Inviting guest speakers
- Providing input on engagement in workshops
- For public events: generating publicity, for instance in the University’s digital newsletter
- Providing delegate registration, possibly with payment options (before and during the event)
- Providing audiovisual facilities (light and sound, projector, video)
- Catering (lunch, drinks, dinner)
- Providing floor management on the day of the event
- Providing printed material (in the University house style)
- Arranging transport and accommodation (hotel accommodation, taxis)
- Hiring hostesses
- Providing the right decor
- Arranging for a photographer
- Providing entertainment (e.g. a walking tour of the city, museum visit, actor or music)
- Contacting the press
After
- Evaluation
- Handling invoices
- An interview or article in the University’s digital newsletter