Introduction

Dependent care fairs are an excellent cost effective way for agencies to provide their employees with information about child care, parenting, elder care, aging issues, and community resources. A Child/Elder Care Fair can put employees with dependent care needs directly in touch with appropriate services.

This guide is intended to make fair planning as easy and painless as possible. It provides step-by-step directions and includes sample letters and lists of child and elder care organizations to invite. Consult the lists of child and elder care organizations found in Appendix A and Appendix B.

Keep the following tips in mind when planning a fair:

Obtain agency permission before proceeding with any plans.

• Determine if and when employees can take work time to attend.
• Determine if the union should be consulted or involved.
• Organize and plan the fair at least eight weeks prior to the actual date.
• Stay organized.

Use letters like the samples found in Appendix C.

Consider how long the event will last (several hours or all day).

Should questions arise, contact us for assistance.

Good luck and enjoy the fair!!

• Goals of the Fair
  
• Fair Date and Time
  
• Secure Building Space/Notify Building Services
  
• Security
  
• Vendors to be Invited
  
• Contact Vendors
  
• Formal Invitations
  
• Organize
  
• Vendor Floor Plan

---

Goals of the Fair

Before planning a fair, consider the goals, theme, and audience. Who is the audience? What information do they need? What topic(s) is being addressed? Be precise in defining the fair goals. For example, a child care fair can cover an array of issues from parenting, after-school care, and children's health to the needs of teenagers and college-age young adults. The fair probably will not cover every facet of such a broad topic. As the fair organizer, define the topic whether it be narrow or broad in focus and plan accordingly.

• Fair goals, theme, and audience are identified.
• Fair theme is not too broad.
• Audience's needs are considered in the planning.

Select a Fair Date and Time

When selecting a fair date and time, consider the following: (1) Try to select a day in the middle of the week. The best days to achieve maximum employee attendance and vendor participation are Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday since Mondays and Fridays are popular days to schedule flex days off and vacation time. (2) Avoid weeks surrounding the holiday seasons such as Christmas and Thanksgiving. (3) Select a date that is amenable to the agency's calendar of events. (4) Check with the office responsible for building services to determine open dates and availability of space. Do not select a day or week when another major agency event is scheduled.

CHECKLIST

• A day in the middle of the week is selected.
• Event is not scheduled around a major holiday.
• No other agency events are scheduled that day.
• The schedule request is approved by building services.

Secure Building Space/Notify Building Services

Contact building services to ascertain the amount and location of floor space available for table set up. Ask to use an area of the building where employee traffic is heavy such as the lobby or near the cafeteria. It is important to work closely with building services in coordinating the event. Usually, a building services office must prepare for safety and security matters for special events in the building. Keep them well informed and write down the name of the person responsible for the arrangements. Potential conflicts and problems can be avoided if you allow building services to do their job.

Building services also should be notified of other fair details including parking for vendors, unloading of vendor materials on the day of the fair, delivery of vendor tables, and request for vendor chairs if needed (see Appendix C for sample letters and forms).

CHECKLIST

• The building space is approved by building services.
• Space is accessible to employees with special needs.
• A letter is sent to building services about the event.
• Building services are informed of any changes in the schedule.

Make Security Arrangements

Notify security services in your building well in advance of the event. You may be unaware of security rules that might exist for special building events. It is best to meet with security personnel to determine their needs. Follow up the meeting with a formal letter (see Appendix C). Include specific details of the event (time, date, building space to be used, etc.) as well as security arrangements discuss at the meeting. For instance, special security arrangements may be necessary to facilitate vendor movement in and out of the building. If fair details change, notify the security office.

CHECKLIST

• Building security is notified of all fair plans.
• Meetings are held with building security to discuss their concerns.
• Movement of vendors in and out of the building is addressed.
• Building security is continually informed of planning changes.

Vendors to be Invited

You are now ready to assemble a list of potential vendor participants. The number of organizations to invite depends upon the vendor space available in your building and the size and focus of the fair. Since some organizations will decline, invite more agencies than you expect will attend.

Consult the List of National Children's Organizations (see Appendix A) or the List of National Aging Organizations (see Appendix B). These lists provide the names and addresses of national organizations in the fields of child and elder care. Most are located in Washington, DC; however, many national organizations have local chapters.

For those organizations with local chapters, invite representatives to attend your fair. If no local chapters exist, ask the organizations of interest to send copies of informative brochures, pamphlets, or books. You may be able to obtain bulk copies at a nominal cost or no cost.

Also, your vendor list should include local organizations that provide child and elder care services in your community. For instance, hospitals and universities often provide excellent information about children and the elderly. These organizations usually are willing to send representatives to a fair along with written materials.

• Administration on Aging (AOA)
• The Children's Foundation
• Social Security Administration (SSA)
• National Council for Adoption

CHECKLIST

• A list of organizations to invite to the fair is prepared.
• Fair themes are considered.
• The list of organizations includes national and local groups.
• The list includes extra organizations since some agencies will decline the invitation.
• Available space for table set up is considered in constructing the list.

Contact Vendors

Your next step is contacting organizations. A single phone call can help pinpoint the appropriate organizational staff person responsible for community outreach and introduce your event to the organization. Most organizations will request a formal written invitation explaining the purpose of the fair and general logistical information such as time, date, and location. An organization will sometimes provisionally accept or decline the invitation by phone. However, many agencies will need time to check their schedules and staff work loads. Keep in mind that people and organizations are constantly in flux. Nothing is ever definitive until the day of the fair. Remember, if an agency declines, invite them to send materials instead.

CHECKLIST

• All organizations are invited by phone.
• A formal written invitation is mailed to all parties.
• Organizations that cannot attend are invited to materials.

Formal Invitations

Send a letter of invitation and a form of confirmation to interested vendors. Following up a phone call with a written invitation and response form encourages organizations to address your request in a timely manner. Depending upon time constraints and personal preference, email, mail or fax the information. See Appendix C for a sample invitation letter and response form.

Letters should include the following: (1) the event name, date, time, and place; (2) the program objective and audience; (3) what is expected of the vendor, e.g., distributing literature and answering participant questions; and (4) a return date for completion of the confirmation form.

The confirmation form should ask for the organization's name, address, phone number, website, the contact person's name and phone number; and a brief description of the organization's mission. Recognize that many agencies are short staffed and providing a fair representative for a one day event can be difficult. Include an invitation to send materials if an organization representative cannot personally attend. Remember, most organizations want to participate in some way. Make it easy for them to do so. Also consider giving vendors the option to share table space. Some organizations may not have enough materials for an entire display.

In writing letters and creating forms, address any individual circumstances or concerns associated with the event.

CHECKLIST

• A detailed letter and confirmation form are mailed to each organization.
• Organizations are invited to send materials if they cannot personally attend.
• The letter specifies a return date for the confirmation form.

Organize

Organization is essential for successful fair planning. If working with 10 or more vendors, it will be difficult to remember pertinent information about each one. Acceptances will be staggered. Organizations will call with questions or for assistance. Be prepared. As acceptances are received, keep careful track of the vendors and their individual needs and concerns. A sample tracking form is included in Appendix C which helps to record important information on the invited organizations. Include the contact person's name; organizational email address, fax and phone number; a vendor's desire to share a table or only send materials; the date, time, method, and delivery of materials; and any special requests.

CHECKLIST

• A tracking form is used to record important information about the vendors.

Vendor Floor Plan

Construct a floor plan for placement of vendor tables. Once you know where the tables will be set up, decide where each vendor will be placed. Remember to consider vendors who have requested shared table space. Place tables with only literature (no agency representatives) in the least  desirable space. To generate maximum communication among vendors and participants, vendor representatives should be placed at tables where they are clearly visible to attendees.

It is not necessary to make the floor plan available to the vendors or fair attendees. Unless there is a large number of vendors, fair participants can easily find information by simply visiting each table. The fair staff can direct vendors to their assigned tables when they arrive.

CHECKLIST

• A floor plan is constructed in blueprint form identifying the actual location/table for each participating organization.
• The floor plan should includes organizations that are sharing table space and sets aside tables for agencies who are sending materials.