Thanks again for inquiring on this. I’ve provided some thoughts below.

Three things you absolutely must keep in mind

• Time together networking and enjoying cultural activities is important. Activities don’t have to be overly formal or expensive. Consider activities that might already be scheduled and/or would be accessible to guests (e.g., an athletic event, museums, concerts).
• Proximity of meeting or symposium activities to hotels, campus, and other important places. Leave plenty of time for travel between locations and provide directions or recommendations for reaching each location.
• Keep a detailed budget to account for registrations and expenses. Leave some room for cost overruns or unanticipated costs that may arise.

Three things you should definitely avoid

• Don’t create an overly programmed event or schedule meetings back-to-back with no time for transitions. Events could run long and/or people could be late to events. By allowing a well-paced schedule attendees can have ample time to transition between activities. Transitions and travel time can take longer than you think.
• Avoid incomplete and/or infrequent communications. It is better to over communicate than to under communicate. Anticipate participant questions (e.g., transportation, lodging, registration payment, deadlines).
• Trying to do it all by yourself. Make sure to form a planning committee early and assign tasks to others. Keep your committee informed and make sure to recruit lots of hosts to help, particularly at larger events that will involve all attendees.

I hope this helps to some degree. Happy to help further. Please let me know. Thanks.

 Ashley Tull, Ed.D.

Chair, Department of Educational Leadership and Higher Education

Professor of Professional Practice

College of Education

Texas Christian University

Hopefully this is the beginning of a serie posts about hosting an Eten event. See invitation here!

Mats Olsson/ the editor

Hello dear former organizers of ETEN events!

When the board asked me to gather experiences from hosting, I may have been a bit too ambitious. I initially planned to conduct in-depth interviews in Vlorë, hoping to reach a more personal level. That was, of course, entirely the wrong place and time—but hopefully we can revisit that idea later (see the link to the interview guide) https://etenjournal.com/2026/04/21/the-hosting-an-eten-meeting-project/.

My new plan is to collect practical advice on what really matters to keep in mind. There is already a checklist for logistical aspects, but I’m sure you have your own insights as well. I only have two questions, and I hope you’ll have time to answer them:

1. Three things you absolutely must keep in mind
2. Three things you should definitely avoid

I may reach out again later about that interview if you’d be interested!

All the best 

Retired senior lecturer 

Mats Olsson 

Tystatankar@gmail.com
+46705194201

Webmaster: http://etenjournal.com

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