Workshop Planning Guide
Here you’ll find everything you need to prepare for a successful, fun, and smooth HEART Global workshop at your school.
Everything in this guide is intended as a recommendation and are not hard-and-fast rules, but these pointers are what we have found to consistently lead to a great workshop experience for both the organizers and students.
If you have any concerns about anything in this Planning Guide, do not hesitate to reach out to us at europe@heartglobal.org and we will help you find a solution that works for you.
A HEART Global representative will also contact you a few weeks before the start of the workshop to discuss organizational details and make sure you have everything you need underway.
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In this guide, we'll cover
(click to navigate)
Spatial requirements
A successful workshop will need the following
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For the workshop time:
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A school gymnasium, indoor basketball court, auditorium, or a similar large room that can be used as an assembly area
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About 4 empty classrooms or comparable work areas.
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For the final concert/performance
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A large gymnasium, large auditorium, or concert hall.
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For the HEART Global team members (for the whole three days of workshop):
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A room to be used as a teacher’s lounge. It would be nice if this room could be locked as the personal things of the team members are also kept here.
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A room for lunch/eating - this can be the same room as the team member's lounge if needed.
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One lockable room for the Business Manager, this can be a small office or closet.
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It is most ideal to have the workshop and the final show take place in the same hall. The only prerequisite for doing this is that the hall is big enough for a final show. The final show will require audience seating, sometimes up to 1,000 spectators. If the hall is not big enough for both events and we need to do the 2 events in separate places, we’ll just need to move our equipment on day three of the workshop to a separate performance theater and rebuild the stage setup there.
Calculate your performance attendance and capacity
In our experience, the number of participants x 3.5 = number of visitors to the final performance. So be sure your performance venue has more than enough capacity for this number.
Stage Needs
HEART Global brings the complete stage set up for everything from the stage to lighting to sound equipment. So there is no stage equipment you need to provide.
The stage will be set up by HEART Global longitudinally in the middle of the hall. The audience will sit on the long side of the hall, normally on bleachers. If there isn’t enough bleacher seating, or no bleachers at all, we’ll need additional chairs to be placed in front of the bleachers. Please thank your janitor for the extra work of putting out extra seating!
Schedule
It has proven to be extremely helpful to give HEART Global the opportunity on the first day of the workshop to introduce ourselves to the entire student body with a small performance. This oftentimes results in dozens more students signing up for the workshop last minute.
If the workshop runs from Monday to Wednesday, the HEART Global team will typically arrive at the school Monday morning. If the workshop runs from Friday to Sunday, the HEART Global team will typically arrive at the school Thursday evening at 6:00 p.m.
The schedule is designed in such a way that, at schools that hold the workshop from Monday to Wednesday, regular classes are only canceled on one class day. At workshops from Friday to Sunday, normal teaching operations should not be affected at all.
The departure of the HEART Global team takes place the very next day following the last day of the workshop, usually in the early morning.
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Daily Schedule
The following schedule is to be understood as a model that can be adapted to the needs of the school.
The HEART Global representative will then confirm the exact times with you at least 2 weeks before the start of the workshop so that you and the host families can plan accordingly.
Day 1
Morning Orientation
6th hour presentation of HEART Global for all students (optional)
15:00 - 17:00 Rehearsals
17:00 - 17:15 Short Break
17:15 - 19:00/19:15 Rehearsals
19:00/19:15 Workshop Ends
Day 2
8:00 - 12:00 Rehearsals
12:00 - 13:00 Lunch & Discussions
13:00 - 18:00 Rehearsals
Day 3
Morning technical prep and set up for the final performance (HEART Global staff only)
15:30 - 17:30 Dress Rehearsal
17:30 - 19:00 Dress rehearsal (Heart Global staff only)
19:30 - 21:30 The show
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Alternate Day 3 schedule for Sunday show:
Morning technical prep and set up for the final performance (HEART Global staff only)
13:30 - 15:30 Dress Rehearsal
15:30 - 17:00 Dress rehearsal (HEART Global staff only)
17:30 - 19:30 The show
1-2 smaller coffee and snack breaks may be inserted if this makes sense from an educational point of view.
Please discuss details and any change requests with your HEART Global representative.
Registration
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We are excited to come to your town - no matter how many participants signed up: we love small and big workshops and they are all so much fun! We highly encourage you to inform all your students about our workshop, and make sure they take part in this life-changing experience. We aim for as many participants as possible because the more participants we have, the more dynamic and diverse the experience can be, and the more fun everyone will have!
We LOVE having all of the teachers on staff attend and participate in the workshop!! So please invite all of your teachers who are available to join us!
Whenever possible, please keep the registration deadline open for last-minute registrants until the start of the workshop. Please note that all participants will be required to complete a waiver for use of video and photos, which will be provided to you by your HEART Global rep.
If the number of participants is small, we are happy to give a short presentation, a "meet-and-greet show," in the morning of the first day of workshop. In the past, we have had schools in which up to a hundred students decided to take part in the workshop at very short notice as a result of the presentation.
At the final performance, HEART Global itself will charge the admission fee, so you don't need to worry about tickets, or the issue of free tickets for host families, etc.
Catering
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Because it can make or break your students’ workshop experience, we put a big emphasis on a quality catering plan for our team of HEART Global leaders.
Our leaders are going to be challenging your students to give everything they’ve got as they themselves are stretched and challenged both emotionally and physically during an unforgettable experience. Our high energy, all-in events mean the HEART Global leaders will need to eat well and stay hydrated throughout the event.
How you cater your event is 100% up to you, but we’ll include a few ideas below that we have found work best in the hundreds of past workshops we’ve done around Europe:
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Voucher packages at a nearby restaurant or fast food chain (e.g. McDonalds)
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Catering from large nearby kitchens such as a hospital or retirement home
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Always a big hit: Catering from the parents of participants! Some of the dishes we’ve seen especially in multicultural schools could fill up whole cookbooks! Trust us: Involve the parents on a large scale and you will be amazed.
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Please also think of a vegan alternative for all meals! A good ratio to aim for is 20% vegan meals.
Please have plenty of ways to hydrate easily available during the workshop. Cases of bottled water, easily accessible drinking fountains for filling up water bottles, and cold soft drinks are all great to have on hand when you are running around for 12 hours at a time. And keep in mind: The HEART Global cast prefer to drink still water, without carbon dioxide!
Accommodation & Hosting
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Host Families
When our HEART Global team member stays with a host family, international friendships are formed, authentic cultural experiences are exchanged, and a new global connection is made. It becomes an unforgettable and unique experience for both the host and the hosted.
Selecting safe and warm host families requires a great deal of care on your part. We want our guests to feel completely at home with us. So look for host families with whom there can be no doubt of the warmth and hospitality. They don’t need to have a fancy house or luxurious boarding arrangement; they just need to be trustworthy and dedicated to hospitality.
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Sleeping Arrangements
The members of the HEART Global team travel without sleeping bags or air mattresses. If there are no guest beds available, the host should prepare an air mattress or the like.
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Evenings, Meals, and Transport
Breakfast is usually taken with the host family.
The host family is in charge of transporting the HEART Global team member to and from home to ensure they get to the school either early or on time.
The host and guest can decide for themselves if they would like to make plans to spend time together in the evenings.
You will receive a homestay form which must be filled out and given to your HEART Global rep before the workshop starts. This form will collect important information about available hosts such as smokers/non-smokers, pets/no-pets, etc.
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FYI: the HEART Global team members prefer to be hosted in pairs, if possible.
Your HEART Global rep will discuss the details further with you.
Finances
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HEART Global has a Business Manager on the team who will work with you on all financial matters.
At the beginning of the workshop, please submit the list of your students' participation and a corresponding financial overview.
Please discuss the payment modalities directly with the Business Manager.
Please ensure that all financial issues have been resolved and all payments have been made BEFORE the HEART Global team has left after the workshop.
Please feel free to at least partially recoup your expenses for the workshop concert, e.g. by selling pretzels and drinks. We have had very good experiences here.
Recommendation for the Payment Procedure:
Collect the participant fees before the start of the workshop or set up a sub-account of your school account and make the registration for the workshop dependent on the submission of a corresponding payment. We find this saves a lot of endless back-and-forth.
The vast majority of registrations are usually completed weeks in advance, but we always get a handful of students who ask to register on day 1 of the workshop after they’ve seen the meet-and-greet show. It’s always a joy to see students who were once uninterested or even felt negative towards the workshops see the show and then immediately decide to jump right in. So be prepared to handle at least a few registrations on day 1 of the workshop.
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The participation fees are graded as follows:
Workshop participant fee € 50.-
Tickets to the final show:
Adults € 10.-
Children / adolescents € 5.-
Free for workshop participants
Host families receive two free tickets
HEART Global collects these payments without any commissions!
The Final Show
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In our experience, on a weekday, a good time for the big performance is 19:30. You can also opt for 19:00 or 20:00 - but please not earlier or later. On Sundays, the performance should take place between 17:00 and 18:00, ideally 17:30.
The performance is divided into two parts. In the first half of the program, HEART Global gives a thrilling performance to encourage the students to perform at their best, put them at ease, and get them in the right mindset.
After the break, the wait is over and all of our students (and teachers!) put on the joint show program.
The total duration of the performance, including any speeches, should be estimated at around 2 hours. Please keep any speeches very brief.
Please have plenty of extra water ready for the HEART Global team during the show.
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*** As the organizer, we will provide you with up to 10 free tickets for your VIP guests!
HEART Global T-Shirts
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Each participant will wear a special matching HEART Global t-shirt at the final show. We lend each shirt out for a security fee of 10€. Returned t-shirts receive a full refund of the security fee.
But it’s a lot more fun to keep the shirt as a souvenir! The HEART Global team likes to leave their autographs on the t-shirts and the students often keep them as a warm memento of their time in the program.
Marketing for Your HEART Global Event
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Getting the word out about your event is just as important for HEART Global as it is for your school.
Anyone who has ever experienced a workshop and the final concert knows what huge opportunities a school gains for its PR as a result. Secondary schools in particular are under increasing pressure of competition with regard to their PR. Your school can distinguish itself in a big way by hosting a HEART Global workshop.
To help you advertise for your event, we’ve put together a HEART Global Workshop promotional media kit that can be downloaded below. The kit contains a guide to using our brand and graphics, our logo, promotional photos, and an A4 size poster template to help you advertise your unique HEART Global workshop.
Television and media
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Invite local media and news outlets to cover the workshops and performance!
During the workshop and the final show, incredible photos are taken that show your students fully engaged and in action with pure, palpable enthusiasm showing on their faces.
Please coordinate all television interviews or press conferences carefully with the European Management and the Tour Manager so that the workshop processes are not hindered.
If you have special ideas regarding media work, e.g. the implementation of a documentary, a television production or similar, please contact our European Management.
Arrival & Departure
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Arrival and departure of the HEART Global team will be dependent on your specific tour dates and tour plan.
If the day before the start of the workshop is a travel day, we will usually arrive at 6 p.m. on the travel day to drop off each HEART Global team member with their host families.
Each host family is free to organize the evening.
If we can only get to you on the first day of the workshop, we will be at the school around 11:00 a.m. to start setting up or presenting. Drop off to the host families then takes place at the end of the day at 20:00.
Great Communication Will Save the day!
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Whether it’s an unforeseen complication, lost keys, sprained ankles, or lost watches, all problems can usually be solved with good communication and goodwill. In the event of an issue that requires assistance, please contact your HEART Global rep or Anni & Gwen. Anni & Gwen can be reached at europe@heartglobal.org | +49 160 2446030
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When in doubt, reach out. We believe that communication is key for a successful workshop, and we want you and all our younger friends to have the best experience possible.
