Event Recap
What is an event recap?
An event recap is a story published after an event takes place. Because the story is tied to a specific event, timeliness is important. Ideally, this type of story should be published within a week or two of the event. Unlike an event announcement, the purpose of this story is not to draw an audience for an event, but to share important information about an event after it has happened.
Why do an event recap?
- To publicize the impact of an event, such as a conference or awards ceremony, that is not open to the public or takes place far away.
- To document the activities of students in a capstone, senior design or other class.
- As a follow-up story to announce what happened at an event, such as a list of winners of a competition or the signing of an important agreement.
- When you can add value to a story by including pictures, quotes or video from the event.
What are the elements of an event recap?
- The 5 W’s: Who, What, When, Where and Why.
- An explanation of the impact of the event and how it reflects the university’s guiding priorities, unifying theme and/or signature research areas.
- A photo. See uark.edu, Tips for Taking Great Photos and Tips on Selecting Great Images.
- You can also include quotes from the speakers, short videos, and links to publically available recordings or presentations from the event.
Where should you feature your event recap?
If the event is relevant to the university community, news.uark.edu is a good place for these types of stories, and you can link to the article from social media.
A blog is a great place to feature stories about events. A blog post on an event can have a newsy tone, or it can have a less formal tone. A blog post is can also feature photos and other media from the event.
If you think the people who came to the event would be interested in seeing lots of photos, including photos that might not be relevant to a general audience, consider making an online photo album on Facebook or a photo sharing platform. Making the event photos available to the attendees is a good way to keep this group engaged after the event.
On your website, the best way to include a story like this is to let it show up naturally in a news or social media feed. Resist the urge to post photos from the event prominently on your website landing page, because these types of photos are not usually very engaging on a website and may not be relevant to your audience.