Preserved from the BIL organizers’ handbook — the working notes of the people who ran BIL events from 2008 to 2018. Lightly copyedited; the advice and the voice are theirs. The original lives in the BILconference/BIL repository.
Anyone is free to open and operate a BIL. The event is Creative Commons licensed, so you don’t even have to tell anyone — but a team of willing volunteers and the notes below will help steer your event to success.
Venue selection
Pick a location that is not only easy to reach but has character — BIL prided itself on unique venues. People are going to be curious about what BIL is, and sometimes your venue determines whether a person takes the initiative to actually attend.
That does not mean an extravagant venue — you will struggle to pay for it if you find one. Instead, look for under-utilized venues: places that do not have normal event rentals, or that have off-peak times where you may be able to strike a deal. Past BILs ran in an old Masonic Temple, a converted movie house, and the Queen Mary.
Remember that anything not provided by your venue will have to be brought in. Estimate the number of people you expect, multiply by the average donation you think each will give, and assume they’ll give less than you hope — that’s your rudimentary venue budget.
Money
How much should you charge? Honestly: nothing, unless you absolutely must charge to cover costs you cannot find through sponsorship or grants. BIL was started with the mindset that quality talks and education shouldn’t come at a cost. BIL attempts to be a donation-run event, with suggested donations at the door or online, calculated from the cost of your event. The goal is not profit — it is covering your costs.
Ways to fund an event:
- Sponsorship (direct or fund matching)
- Attendee donations
- An auction at the close of the talks
- Crowdfunding campaigns
Pass it forward. If you end up with a surplus, keep it for your next event — there is nothing worse than starting from scratch financially each year — or write a check to another BIL event coming up soon. Support your fellow BILs.
Speakers
Community stages — whiteboard slots — are the bread and butter of BIL. Everyone should have the opportunity to be involved in and impact the event. If someone has something interesting to say, they get their 15 minutes, assuming they signed up for an available slot.
Formal invitations are encouraged too: a few well-knowns in the lineup attract attendance. But don’t fill your stages with invited speakers.
Speaker compensation: BIL’s policy was not to pay speakers. If you choose to pay for an important speaker, that is your discretion — but consider why you want one person so badly you’re willing to pay, when hundreds of amazing and talented people within driving distance will talk to your group for free. Sometimes the best ideas come from the people who go unheard most of the time.
Sponsorship
The flagship BIL was funded about half by sponsorship, half by attendee donations. How much burden you put on each source is up to you — with one firm rule: no direct solicitation or sales at a BIL event. BIL is for people to learn, meet like minds, and experience each other, not to be bombarded with pitches. BIL is not an expo.
When in doubt, the organizers’ own examples:
- Company A gives money and wants a stage slot to pitch their product. No way!
- Company B gives money; their representative talks about astrophysics and how their product might fit in. Borderline, but acceptable.
- Company C gives money and wants to talk about something awesome, unrelated to their product. BODACIOUS!
- Company D gives money and wants a booth. Cool if they’re giving products away, not selling — be very careful.
- Company E gives money and wants nothing but their logo on the wall. BODACIOUS!
- Company F gives no money but provides needed supplies, and gets their logo on the wall. BODACIOUS!
- Company G gives nothing, provides nothing, and tries to peddle goods. No way! (Individuals networking is always fine.)
Ready?
Start with Host a BIL, get your talks online with the stream setup playbook, and when it’s real, add your event to this archive.