Community Week Event Host Toolkit
Bow Valley Community Week will take place November 18 - 24, 2024.Whether you’ve been here for a week or a lifetime, 2024 Community Week offers an opportunity for Bow Valley locals to:
● Celebrate the Bow Valley in all its diversity,
● Foster relationships between newly arrived, short-term, and long-time residents, and
● Help community members connect to services and resources.
We’ve created this Partner Toolkit to help you get involved. We’re excited to partner with you to make this a great week of activities, outreach, and connection for all Bow Valley locals.
Getting Started
Attendees at the Primary Care Network’s ‘Smores & Mores event, Community Week 2022.
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During Bow Valley Community Week 2024, we invite community groups, organizations, and businesses to host events that:
● Help community members connect with free services and resources
● Build social connections and sense of belonging for all residents
● Welcome newcomers
● Celebrate diversity
Community Week events should be:● Welcoming and inclusive
● Planned with accessibility in mind
● Free or low-costResource: Community Week Event Ideas
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Think about who has typically not attended your past events. What might be keeping people from attending your events or learning about your services and resources? Where might there be opportunities to broaden your reach?
When planning your event, it’s important to think about inclusion from the beginning and in every stage of planning, from:
● Generating ideas to connect people to your organization, service, or resource.
● Identifying and addressing potential barriers for event participants and volunteers.
● Allocating time, money, and other resources. Your budget and timeline should consider accommodation needs.
● Communicating about your event.
● Evaluating your event and capturing ideas this year on how you can make your next event even more inclusive.Resource: Inclusivity Checklist for Event Planners (WAGE Canada)
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Your Planning Committee
Reaching a wide audience begins by including people with a wide range of experiences and perspectives in your planning committee.
Consider barriers people might face to join the committee such as conflicting responsibilities, technology access, or transportation.
If you can, offer compensation, childcare, transportation, language interpretation, or other supports to reduce involvement barriers.
Volunteers
When recruiting volunteers and event helpers, consider the same factors as you did for your planning committee. What can you do to make it easy and rewarding for people to help with your event?
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Collaboration
Collaboration is a great way to spark creative ideas and help you consider inclusion from a different perspective! When planning your event, consider if there is another agency or organization that could co-host an event.
Consider partnering with an organization or community group that may have different resources or capacity to host an event. This can help to support broader participation both by organizations and potential participants who you may otherwise not reach.
The Bow Valley Immigration Partnership includes diverse organizations from Lake Louise to Kananaskis. Our strength is collaboration, so please reach out to other organizations or groups if you would like to partner or co-host an event.
Consultation
To be sure your event meets the needs of all community members, seek guidance from groups and organizations with appropriate expertise and connections to:
Indigenous community
Immigrants and newcomers
Language, faith, racial, ethnic, and cultural minority communities and community members
2SLGBTQIA+ community members
Community members with disabilities
Children, youth, families, and seniors
Resource: Newcomer Serving Agencies, Cultural Associations & More
Resource: Bow Valley Pride Network
Resource: Bow Valley Non-Profits
Resource: Contact Us for more collaboration & consultation support
(or to add a resource to this section)
Venue & Logistics
Panelists at the Bow Valley Immigration Partnership’s Workplace Inclusion Charter Celebration event, Community Week 2022.
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The ideal venue for a Community Week event:
● Has accessible parking, access, and facilities
● Can be easily accessed by public transportation.
● Has experience accommodating diverse audiences.
● Has all-gender restrooms available. Sometimes gendered signage can be changed to make restrooms suitable for all attendees.
● Can meet the accommodation requests you anticipate.
You might also consider whether there is an opportunity to provide a space for quiet, prayer, meditation, or reflection.
Resource: Inclusive Event Planning (WAGE Canada)
Resource: Voice of Albertans with Disabilities (VAD)
Resource: What Are Quiet Rooms? (Video, Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo)
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English is the second, third, or fourth language spoken by many Bow Valley locals. Depending on the nature of your event, you may wish to provide interpretation (of spoken language) or translation (of written language) at your event.
As of June 2023, Settlement Services in the Bow Valley recommends considering the following languages for translation and interpretation:
French
Ukrainian
Tagalog
Japanese
Spanish
Amharic
Tigrinya
Hindi
Resource: Find a Certified Translator or Interpreter in Alberta
Resource: Best Practices for Communicating Via an Interpreter
Resource: Using Language Interpretation in Your (Zoom) Meeting or Webinar
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An accommodation is a change you make to your event to ensure that people are not limited in their participation because of mental or physical disability, religion, gender or any other protected ground. Some examples of accommodations people might request include:
Interpretation
Captioning
Reserved front row seat
Large print
Advance copy of slides to be projected
Wheelchair access
Wheelchair access to working tables throughout room
Scent-free room
Lactation room
All gender bathroom
Dietary restriction
List adapted from: Cornell University Department of Human Resources
● Consider what accommodations you will be able to offer.
● Consider the timeline you’ll need to confirm accommodations.
● Adapt your budget as needed.
● Be prepared to share information with attendees about accommodations you can and cannot offer.
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All Community Week events must have a health and safety plan in place. Assess the risks and take action to mitigate or respond to those risks for hosts, volunteers, and attendees.
As with all aspects of your event plan, consider inclusion and the barriers people may face, for example:
● Receiving and understanding communication about health and safety policies or changes in your event plan,
● Accessing or exiting facilities in the event of an emergency
Follow your organization’s guidelines, or contact us for support.
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Holding a zero-waste event is a smart way to demonstrate your commitment to sustainability, help educate people on how to go waste-free, and support local municipalities’ waste reduction initiatives. Community Week is a great opportunity to consider how you can make all your events 100% fun with zero waste.
Resource: Banff Zero Waste Trail
Advertising Your Event
Attendees at the Town of Banff’s Community Table Lunch event, Community Week 2022.
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Consider whether your communications and marketing materials are welcoming and respectful of everyone who might enjoy your event.
● Include information on what to expect at your events such as price (Community Week events should be free or low cost), whether childcare is available, whether the event is family-friendly, and other relevant details.
● If your event will include visual or auditory stimulation such as bright lights, flashing lights, loud noises, loud music, or sound systems in use, mention that in your event description. This will allow attendees with disabilities to prepare their own accommodations (ex. bring noise cancelling headphones) or inquire with you for more information.
● Tell attendees how they can request accommodations. You could ask “How can we make this event more accessible to you?” in your registration form, or clearly explain how to request accommodations and provide the name and contact information of a team member who can assist.
You can also specify which accommodations you are able to offer in your advertisement.
● If there are people in your marketing images, choose photos that reflect the diversity of the Bow Valley. If using your own photos, make sure the people in them have given you permission to use the images to market your events.
● Be very clear that your event is inclusive. For example, if you are hosting an event designed for women, specifically state that individuals who self-identify as women or non-binary individuals who feel comfortable in women’s spaces are welcome to attend.
● We encourage you to include the Community Week logo in your communication materials. (See Logos, Graphics, & Branding)
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● Use gender inclusive language in all event materials and communications. Avoid assumptions about gender or sexual orientation.
● Write in plain language. Plain language is a way of presenting information that helps your audience understand it the first time they read or hear it. Using plain language helps you to communicate well, and helps people find the information they want quickly, easily, and simply.
Here are a few easy tips for communicating in plain language:
Use headers and sub-headers to organize information.
Put key information first, then details.
Choose everyday words.
Use strong verbs and an active voice.
Write in short sentences.
If you must use technical terms, abbreviations, acronyms, or jargon, or idioms explain the term on first use.
● Consider translating written materials into additional languages. (See Translation & Interpretation). If you are translating advertising materials, consider whether you can also offer interpretation at your event.
● Provide important information as text that can be copied to allow for text translation. Use images to reinforce or clarify information – preferably not to share key details.
If you include important information in an image, repeat the text somewhere that can be copied for translation or read by a screen reader. (Ex. If information about your event is in an image file on Facebook, consider repeating the details in the post description.)
Resource: 27 Tips for Plain Language Documents
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BVIP will help market your Community Week event, but you may also wish to:
● Reach out to equity deserving communities and groups, if appropriate. Be mindful to not burden volunteers and contacts with outreach requests.
● Use multiple channels to broaden outreach. Ex. email, social media, websites, posters, messaging apps etc.
Resources: See Collaborating & Consulting in the Getting Started section above.
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We’d love to help share your event posts!
● Event hashtags:
#BVCommunityWeek
#BowValleyLocals
#BowValleyWelcome
● Tag BVIP: Please tag Bow Valley Immigration Partnership (BVIP) in your social media posts so that we can Like and Share your events and stories.
Instagram: @BowValleyLocals
Facebook: @BVIPartnership
LinkedIn: @BVIPartnership
Suggested Social Media Posts:
Posting about 2024 Community Week? Here’s some suggestions for your social media posts:
● Whether you’ve been in the Bow Valley for a week or a lifetime, we’re glad you’re here! Join us for #BVCommunityWeek during November 2024: Find free events, try new activities, & meet your community: bvipartnership.com/community-week
● No matter where you’re from, we’re all #BowValleyLocals. Join us for 2024 Community Week . Find free events & more: bvipartnership.com/community-week
● New to the Bow Valley? Welcome! We’re glad you’re here. Join us for 2024 Bow Valley Community Week. Try free activities, find resources & services, meet your community & more: bvipartnership.com/community-week
● Join us for 2024 Bow Valley Community Week .Try free activities, find resources & services, meet your community & more: bvipartnership.com/community-week #BVCommunityWeek #BowValleyLocals #BowValleyWelcome
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These points can help guide your communications and outreach for activities during Community Week in discussions, interviews or other media:
● Bow Valley Community Week is a celebration of our vibrant, welcoming Bow Valley. Whether you have been here for a week, a season, or a lifetime, we want you to feel supported and connected to people, resources and services that can help you thrive. That’s what Community Week is about – helping you to make connections in the community and working to make everyone feel welcome.
● This year, we’re hosting a Bow Valley Community Week event because it’s a great opportunity for us to reach out to all Bow Valley residents and introduce [ADD: activity / service / resource]. We’d love to see you at community events this week whether you’ve just arrived in the Bow Valley or you’re a long-term resident. The Bow Valley has so much to offer, and Community Week is a great chance to explore what’s available. Try out new activities for free and meet other Bow Valley locals.
● Bow Valley Community Week is an opportunity for people across the Bow Valley to welcome newcomers, strengthen community connections, and celebrate how diversity contributes to our vibrant communities. When we support welcoming, inclusive communities, we create an environment where everyone can thrive.
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● Logos, social media graphics, and other visual assets are available in this Google Drive folder (you don’t need to sign in to access the materials). We invite you to download and use these assets to support the promotion of Community Week and your event.
● Colours: The three triangles of the Community Week logo represent newcomers and long-time residents coming together to strengthen our mountain community, with the three colours of the Bow Valley Immigration Partnership’s logo (blue, orange, and yellow) representing our diversity.
Community Week Colours:
Blue #50AFCA
Orange #F8901F
Yellow #FFBF00
Purple #550070
Red #8F0000
Please note that BVIP reserves the right to revoke use permission if the visual assets or marketing materials are used in any way that does not align with the BVIP mission, vision, values, and mandate.
Resource: Community Week Visual Assets
At the Event
Attendees at the Biosphere of the Bow Valley’s Beers & Networking Night, Community Week 2022.
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It’s important that everyone helping with your event understand the values, expectations, and plans for your event, including any accommodations, health, or safety considerations they need to pay special attention to.
Talk to your team about:
● How you would like them to greet and address attendees (see Welcoming Language).
● Expectations for respectful behavior by staff, volunteers, and attendees.
● Your plan for handling potential incidents of discrimination or harassment.
● If relevant, the reason for any rules or procedures your team may not be used to.
● Who your team can contact for support during the event.
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Consider offering a written or oral land acknowledgement to welcome and open your event.
Land acknowledgements can be a tool for transformational change. The acknowledgement can help provide space to consider the way in which we work, interact in spaces and with each other, and our role in reconciliation. As you reflect on your land acknowledgement, consider the following questions:
● Ancestry & Identity: Who are your ancestors? Where are you from? What are the intersections of your identity that you wish to share?
● Location & Acknowledgement: Whose lands did you grow up on? Whose lands do you now live on, and how did you come to be here? How can we decolonize the way we acknowledge these lands?
● Connection & Relationships: How are you connected to colonization? How does colonization and discrimination continue to affect relationships you may hold? How are you creating space for many narratives and shared histories to exist?
Resource: An Introduction to Land Acknowledgements (webinar)
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Event organizers can help to celebrate and affirm the full diversity of community members by:
● Addressing people the way they want to be addressed: Promote the use of personal pronouns to avoid people being misgendered, ask staff and participants to use pronouns when introducing themselves.
● Avoiding assumptions about gender or sexual orientation and words like ‘sir’, ‘ma'am’, ‘guys’, ‘girls’, and ‘ladies’.
● Providing name tags for events with a template that shows name and pronouns.
Resource: Diversity Welcome (Training for Change)
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Community Week 2024 objectives are to:
● Create opportunities for new locals to build social connections in the Bow Valley.
● Improve availability and accessibility of settlement and community resources.
● Ensure foreign-born locals feel seen, heard, celebrated, and valued.
● Increase community awareness of the diversity of the Bow Valley.
● Strengthen Bow Valley residents' sense of connection to the community.
To help measure whether we achieve these aims, we will send you a questionnaire you can share with your event attendees. If you have your own evaluation plan, we will ask you to include a few key questions.
You may wish to include questions about how to make your next event more welcoming, inclusive, and accessible.