How to organize a CGEU conference

Summer before conference

Discuss with your leadership the possibility of making a bid for the following year's conference.
Make bid at closing plenary of conference to host conference the following summer.

Six months before conference

Start working on a date and a theme.
Continue tradition of jointly hosting CGEU and CCGEU conferences together by reaching out to U.S. and Canadian locals at the earliest stages of planning.
Check with COCAL so as to not overlap.
Start gathering together a group of core organizers into a conference planning committee.
- The ideal committee will include a core of organizers from the hosting local(s) and people from other locals who have hosted in the past.
- The ideal committee will also include representatives from the U.S. and Canada.
Gather conference packets and database files from previous C/CGEU conferences.
- Many materials are available on the archived webpages of previous conferences.

Five months before conference

Four months before conference

Finalize budget.
Create a registration form.
Create a sheet of visitor's information.
Create an invitation letter.
Create posters to advertise the conference.
Post these materials on the CGEU wiki.
Begin asking people to serve as working group leaders, speakers, and workshop leaders.

Three months before conference

Mail out printed invitations to all locals.
Possibly mail (or e-mail) invitations to individuals that attended the conference in recent years.
Send out email invitation to CGEU listserv.
Finish lining up people for the program.
Create database to keep track of registrations.
Set goal of how many of your own members you want to attend the conference.

Two months before conference

Begin contacting all locals via phone to see how many people they are sending and if they need any additional material.
Send out an update email to the CGEU listserv.
Begin reserving rooms for meetings and meals.
Begin making detailed plans for meals.
Begin asking your members if they can host delegates.
Assign a housing coordinator to match delegates with homestays.
Begin organizing your members to attend the conference.
Begin asking local unions for proposals for a labor action (i.e. march, rally).

One month before conference

Call every local to find out if they have everything they need and how many people they are sending.
Send out an update email to the CGEU listserv.
Invite delegates to submit proposed resolutions to the CGEU listserv so that they can be included in the registration packet.
Finish up reserving rooms for meetings and meals.
Finish up making plans for meals.
Design program and registration packet.
Keep asking your members to host delegates.
Keep organizing your members to attend the conference.
Choose the labor action for the conference.

One week before conference

Send out last email update to CGEU listserv.
Print program and put together registration packets.
Print name tags from database.
Match delegates with homestays before they arrive (i.e. give them each other's mobile phone numbers, etc.)

'Have the conference!'