Forum Discussion
Geoffrey Gough
Feb 23, 2017Brass Contributor
O365 Fair
Looking for O365 Fair ideas. We are wanting to host a company fair to generate excitement and create ultimate "super users". What has worked in your organization? Thanks.
- Geoffrey GoughBrass Contributor
Thank you everyone for the great responses!
- Deleted
We ran our first fairs last year and they were so successful that we now run them every qtr. We called them IT Fairs because we had other areas we needed to cover beside O365, although O365 was the main focus. We also had sessions on our SmartBoards, New hardware, training available, etc.
Here are some keys to success for us:
- Utilize speakers from outside your organization. This brought a certain credibility to the material presented.
- We were able to bring in our rep from Lenovo to show off the latest hardware that our users could order. Users were able to ask her questions and interact with the devices.
- We also brought in someone from Microsoft to teach about what is O365
- We brought in a Microsoft Certified MVP as an ask the expert
- Make the atmosphere fun! We had balloons, free popcorn, door prizes, etc. Popcorn smells help bring people in!
- Give people plenty of notice! Minimum of 4wks. Use multiple channels of communication. We use the Intranet, email, posters in common areas, and table toppers in lunch areas.
- Make sure to track users that come to the fair and follow up. We had a table at the entrance that everyone registered at, they were then given a ticket for a prize drawing, a pen, a copy of the schedule, & a plastic clip with the IT Fair website on it. We then sent surveys to everyone that attended to gauge their interest and adjust. everyone that filled out a survey was entered into another drawing for a prize.
I've attached some files that may help you. Please feel free to contact me if I can help make your event a success!
I had the honor of being the Office Server and Services MVP invited to present at Deleted's IT Fairs. I made videos of two of my presentations:
Video: Top 5 Ways SharePoint Empowers Teams
Video: Office 365 - What to Use When
All my slides are on SlideShare at https://www.slideshare.net/michaelblumenthal as well.
- Andrew GilleranSteel ContributorLOL, popcorn smells! Classic stuff. Can't beat an appeal to our base instincts...!
- Utilize speakers from outside your organization. This brought a certain credibility to the material presented.
- Andrew GilleranSteel ContributorSome great ideas here and no harm in having a 'big bang' type of event to generate interest. However do take some time to plan the adoption journey afterwards and on an ongoing basis.
You need to almost be continually supporting users as they learn to use Office 365. So using the likes of Yammer as a support network, lunch and learn sessions, workshops/showcase cafe's, video guides and much more all help to prolong the adoption journey and help people especially super users. One risk with such a fair to raise excitement is that it raises expectations and people are looking for something that solves all their business problems. And it might disappoint! - Kirsty McGrathCopper Contributor
Peter McDowall will be conducting this presentation (modified) at the next Office 365 Business User Group in Sydney on the 8th of March at 6pm (in the city). Feel free to come and ask questions from him and the community. It's free to attend: http://meetu.ps/e/CtwB8/jm668/f
- Geoffrey GoughBrass Contributor
Thank you, will there be a webinar link? I am in the United States.
- Kirsty McGrathCopper Contributor
Not for this session however, it is a repeat of his previous presentation at Ignite found here: https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Ignite/Australia-2017/PROD143
- Cian AllnerSilver Contributor
Sorry for keep inundating your post but I thought this was worth sharing. I have only seen the slides but there is a video as well, which I think it might be of interest:
Setting Your Project Up for Adoption Success – a Top of the Cliff Approach
I picked out some slides that I thought might be relevant:
- Cian AllnerSilver Contributor
Just to add, you may find some of these resources helpful, it includes some of the documents I mentioned already.
https://docs.com/user508051/9796/office-365-adoption
Good luck with your fair!
- Cian AllnerSilver Contributor
That's something we are doing at the moment, it's still getting off the ground but management has to buy into the value of super users and give them the recognition that this role adds to adoption. The idea is to create a network of super users that can support each other and really engage with other staff in their location. The super users are being supported with training, a learning zone, which has an area especially for them, where they can ask questions with subject matter experts.
Here are some resources that may help. Firstly you have to check out FastTrack if you haven't already. The resources section has lots of material including flyers, posters etc. Make sure to check out the Office 365 Adoption Guide, Build a champions program and Success Factors for Office 365 End User Engagement whitepaper, linked from here, under a Create Plan. Hope that's of use.