Road to Hyderabad Lesson 17: A Few Logistical Tips
This post is part of an ongoing series from Ashoka Tech about the journey from international social entrepreneurship event planning to completion. You can check out past Road to Hyderabad posts here.
Hello again! I hope you’ve had as wonderful holiday season as we did here.
Coming off of 2 weeks out of the office, I returned to work last Monday with a decidedly more “zen” attitude towards the big event we are hosting in India early next month. My fabu colleague K. did the same. K and her family went to Disney World, I went to Jersey and Wisconsin. You know, its almost the same thing.
So where are we? its a month out from the Tech4Society event, what morsels of wisdom might I have to share today?
I thought today I’d leave you with a few random logistical facts and tips when it comes to arranging international travel. No, these doesn’t have anything to do with the content at Tech4Society, more on that later, but these are the sorts of things that can make or break your event if you aren’t able to account for htem.
So without further ado, a short list:
1. Visas into India are harder to get than ever. So be prepared. If you have a tourist visa, you will need to make sure your visits to the country come at least 2 months apart from one another. If you are applying for a business visa, you need some serious proof of residence in your home country. A cell-phone bill or even a pay stub won’t cut it-think electricity bill in y our name.
2.Travel from Indonesia to India is exceptionally difficult to arrange. Travel from Nigeria is just difficult period. I understand there’s a great deal of fraud coming out of the country but its frustrating and a little heart-breaking how few flights you can book online out of Nigeria.
3. If you are planning a giant conference, having 1 document to serve as your Holy Book and definitive guide is invaluable. I’ll share more on this before the event.
4.Shwag: (aka USB drives, conference folders, etc) while not necessary, goes a long way towards the vibe and atmosphere of an event. We are incredibly lucky that all of our conference “stuff” for guests (except our paper-saving USB) will be made by Ashoka Fellow organizations. That means that our event is providing income for our Fellow’s consituents. Double bonus in my book.
5. Anticipating your guests needs and coming up with back-up plans and agreed upon responses to common questions saves time in the end. It will also leave you feeling less crazed as the increasing weight of a thousand of tiny details bears down with force upon you.
So, we are on track and more excited than ever for this event. We are looking forward to the Tech4Society event in Hyderabad, and can’t wait to bring you live coverage of the event here on Ashoka Tech.
Contributor Profile: Danielle
Danielle is the event coordinator for the Ashoka-Lemelson Tech4Society international event series as well as a writer for both the Ashoka Tech and Ashoka News and Knowledge blogs.
Twitter: @Dani920
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