Step by Step

Before we get into the details, let's have a look at the bigger picture of organising a CodeUp branch.

You should start organising your first session at least 2 months before the event will take place. It gives you a safe amount of time to make sure everything runs smoothly. After you've run your first event, all the rest will be much easier, and can be done 3 - 4 weeks in advance. Of course, the actual amount of work could be fitted into a few hours of total work, so if you spread that over the month, you can totally do it in your free time.

Organising an event with a team is awesome but not mandatory. Don't forget to set a few rules on how you'll work together to avoid misunderstanding.

Let's see how organising a CodeUp event looks on the timeline:

2 - 3 months before your first event

 * Secure a venue
 * Apply to the CodeUp organisation to register your event
 * Announce the branch on Twitter or Facebook
 * Start promotion of your CodeUp branch
 * Look for mentors
 * Meetup with mentors to discuss how a CodeUp session will run

3 - 4 weeks before

 * Decide on the content of your next session
 * Create your session on the Meetup account and announce to your members
 * Start promoting the next session
 * Try to meet any potential new mentors in person to brief them on how the sessions work

On the day

 * Prepare the venue an hour in advance
 * Check any technical equipment you need to use
 * Welcome attendees to the event
 * Ask people what they need help with and allocate them to an appropriate mentor
 * Keep checking on attendees to make sure they're receiving support
 * Take pictures and promote the event on social media
 * Make a log of the number of attendees

After the event

 * Follow up with messages on social media on how the event went
 * Be proud of yourself <3
 * Start again for the next month!