Online Safety: hints and advice for organisers
These tips are intended to help you safely create and manage your event. If you are organising as part of YIWW, and need additional support, do email us and we’ll help if we can.
- The onus is on organisers to create a safe space for attendees. We suggest sending a quick safety guide to attendees prior to your event.
- Consider using a media platform where your audience has to register/apply for tickets to attend your event. Issue passwords/passcodes where necessary (Eventbrite and Ticket Tailor or similar could help). This method offers some degree of control over who attends your event, thus helping to keep yourself and your attendees safe.
- Ensure you know how to modify the privacy settings of the platform you use so that you are comfortable with it and you keep both yourself and attendees safe.
- Always use a secure, encrypted internet connection
- Let attendees know what your intentions are for conducting/broadcasting the event – Are you recording it? Keeping it for archiving purposes? Sharing the event through another media platform during/after the event has occurred in ‘real-time’?
- If you are live streaming or recording videos, make sure you film in a neutral area where no personal information or inappropriate details can be seen or heard.
- Avoid handing out personal contact details such as a personal address, date of birth, location, etc. Use an organisational log-in or create a contact address specifically for the event.
- If you are asking attendees to send pictures, videos, written pieces etc, make them aware where their submission will appear online and let them know their work may be visible to the public. Do not share any of their personal details.
- Consider whether you are allowing attendees to switch on their microphones / cameras – only do this if it is necessary for your event. A Webinar may be more appropriate for some events, as this is an event where audiences are not expected to interact, but are watching and listening, and maybe typing questions via a comment box.
- Check out the ‘Attendees’ safety hints file.
Produced by York International Women’s Week coordinating group
YIWW 