Planning an Event

Want to host an event at the School of Law? Please follow these instructions. The School of Law has no designated events planning staff, so planning, executing, and hosting an event are the responsibilities of the students, faculty members, and/or staff members who want to hold the event. In addition, all School of Law events (outside of day-to-day, operational, or internal group meetings) must be approved by Law School administration before anything else can occur. See below for what you need to know.

Event Types

• General Events are a part of the day-to-day life of the School of Law.  They are designed for an internal audience (School of Law students, faculty, and/or staff) and often require only a room reservation, available classroom technology, an announcement in Law School Announcements, and minimal or no budget.  Examples of these events include student organization meetings and brown-bag lunch lectures.
• Major Events require more time and planning and are intended for larger audiences and are higher profile than General Events. A Major Event might be intended for only an internal audience (School of Law students, faculty, and/or staff), or it might be for external audiences such as School of Law alumni, external legal professionals, and/or the general public—or both internal and external audiences. These events generally offer advance registration and include notable or high-profile speakers and presenters. Major Events may require elements such as media and technology support, marketing/promotional support, catering, housekeeping, and so on.  Examples of Major Events may include conferences and symposia.

Event Requests, Approvals, and Beyond: The Process 

Step 1: Complete the School of Law Event Request Form

To maintain a robust event calendar and ensure that events do not compete with one another, any faculty member, staff member, or student who wants to hold a General or Major Event is required to complete this Event Request Form as the first step. 

Ensure that you’ve completed every field and that everything is accurate and complete. Then submit the form.

Your Event Request Form will go to the law school administration, and requests will be processed within 2 business days. You will receive an email with an approval or denial. After receiving this confirmation, you can move to the next step.

Step 2: Wait for your event to be approved via email within 2 business days.

Step 3: Complete Room Reservation Request.

If you need space in the Corboy Law Center for this event, you must complete the Law School Space Request Form. 

Place your request no fewer than 7 days prior to the date you hope to receive an assignment. When placing your request, have alternate date or time possibilities in the event that a room is not available at the date/time of your choosing. If you are assigned a room and your plans change, respond to the email confirmation you received to release the reservation.

Until the first three weeks of each semester have passed, the University places a freeze on reservations of academic space, making it very difficult to secure space quickly.

Step 4: Enter your approved event into the Law School Calendar. 

After you have received email confirmation that your event has been approved by the law school administration, you must add your event to the Law School Calendar (if you have not already done so) by completing ALL fields in the University calendar Submit an Event Form. Pay special attention to the following: 

• Event Details: Provide descriptive and useful information, including background about the speakers, what topics will be covered, and who should attend this event (i.e., law students). If people don’t know what your event is about, they are less likely to attend. Don’t assume they know who the speakers are. Provide brief details about their backgrounds and what the audience will learn or gain by attending the event. 
• Calendar Association: Be sure to select “Law School Calendar” from the list of University calendars at a minimum. If your event is relevant for other University calendars, you can select additional calendars. 

When you’ve completed the form, select the red “Preview Event” to review your information carefully. Make any necessary edits until your form information is 100% accurate and complete. Then click the red “Upload to Site” button. 

Submissions to the Law School Calendar are approved within 2 business days.  

Step 5: Plan your event.  

As the event holder, you are responsible for requesting and managing all the event logistics and details—including room set-up requirements such as audio-visual or technology needs, facilities requests, catering, and registration.  

If your event falls under the “General Event” category detailed above, and you want to promote it to students, faculty, and/or staff: 

• Complete the Law School Announcements (LSA) submission form. LSA is compiled by Student Services and is emailed to the law school community Monday-Friday during the academic year. General Events do not receive any additional marketing support from School of Law communications staff 

If your event falls under the “Major Event” category detailed above, and you want to promote it to students, faculty, and/or staff: 

• Complete the Law School Announcements (LSA) submission form. LSA is compiled by Student Services and is emailed to the law school community Monday-Friday during the academic year.  

If you would like marketing support beyond this, you will need to take proactive steps to request additional marketing/promotional support. Note that you should not seek marketing and communications assistance until you can provide all key details of the event, including but not limited to, official name of event, key speakers, event description, event location and full address, and how to register—and necessary photography (i.e., speaker headshots). If you’d like additional promotional support beyond Law School Announcements, you can request marketing emails and social media support from communications staff (Lindsey Johnson). This support may include the following: 

• Marketing email(s) (“eblasts”) to School of Law students, faculty, and staff: You may request up to three emails to promote your event.  
• Social media promotion: The School of Law may be able to promote your event on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and/or Instagram, depending on the event’s audience. If you’d like to promote your event on social media, contact Lindsey Johnson and provide the key details and photography listed above. She will determine the proper channels, number of posts, and timing.  

PLEASE NOTE: The School of Law will provide NO marketing or promotional support for events that are not listed on the Law School Calendar. Having the event listed on the Law School Calendar is required before receiving any marketing support for that event. Also note that flyers, PDFs, or other attachments will not be included in event marketing efforts. Event promotions will be designed by communications staff to meet School of Law brand standards. 

Photography: Event organizers are responsible for organizing their own event photography. For Loyola social media purposes, using a personal mobile phone to capture clear, in-focus photos is acceptable. If you need a professional photographer for your event and you have the budget to hire one, Loyola recommends hiring one of the University preferred freelance photographers. See tips and freelance photographer contact information under “Hiring Freelancers.”

Audience note: If your event is geared toward a School of Law alumni audience, contact Law Alumni Relations for guidance on how to best reach them. 

CLE

If you would like to offer Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit for this event, indicate it on the form. If your Event is approved, you’ll be provided instructions on the steps to apply for CLE. 

Zoom meeting/webinar set-up assistance

• For a Zoom meeting, you can set up registration through your Loyola Zoom account. Visit luc.zoom.us to create the meeting, set up registration, and meeting preferences. 
• For a Zoom webinar (intended only for major events with large audiences) a faculty or staff member will need to request a zoom webinar license from ITS.  

Computing and Media Services

The School of Law has a limited number of computer and media resources, so you must plan as far in advance as possible.  Contact Law Media Services  at least 3 weeks in advance for large-scale events and at least 72 hours prior for small events. Please copy your faculty advisor on all email communications with LMS.

Please be aware that the computer and media stations in the law school classrooms each have documentation that includes step-by-step directions for how to work the equipment. This is often all you will need for smaller events.

Visit Law Media Services and Law School Computing Services for more information.