From designing your event and getting your community on board, through to promotion, submission and follow-up, Seaweek is here to support you every step of the way.
Step 1
Design your event
Step 2
Get your community on board
Step 3
Finalise details & submit
Step 4
Spread the news
Step 5
During & after your event
Design your event
Seaweek is the perfect occasion to get together with members of your community to share experiences. Events can include art, recreational activities, exploring, learning and more.
Key Considerations
- Where will the event take place and how many people can attend?
- Who is the event for?
- What days and times work for the people you are targeting to attend and for staff and/or volunteers?
- What will attendees need to bring to the event?
- What supplies or materials will you need to run the event?
- How much will the event cost to run?
- Does your event require any permits and permissions?
- What new skills, learning, or connections do you want participants to leave with?
Audience
Collectively, Seaweek activities engage people of all ages and cultures in fun and inspiring experiences helping to shape lifelong behaviours that positively impact the environment. Each event will have different characteristics depending on whether it’s designed for children, families, educators or other specific groups.
Access
What barriers to participation might exist? At Seaweek we believe experiencing the wonder of the ocean should be accessible to everyone. Please consider ways to ensure your event is physically, financially, and culturally inclusive and accessible to your community.
Message
What message would you like your participants to take home? At Seaweek we believe knowledge is power. Learning about our marine environment from different perspectives and in different ways leads to connection, informed decisions and behaviour change. Seaweek activities create awareness, connect learning and understanding to actions, inspire ongoing engagement with the ocean, and empower participants to make changes.
Sustainability
How can you reduce the carbon footprint of your event? We strongly encourage you to make your event low waste or zero waste if possible. Here are some ideas:
- Encourage public transport and provide details to help people use it.
- Reduce the amount of printed advertisements and materials. When printing, use sustainably sourced paper products made from recycled materials.
- Avoid single-use products. Please explore using reusable products.
- Divert waste from landfill by utilizing recycling and composting when possible. Be sure to stay up to date on recycling rules and help participants learn them as well.
- Avoid using/purchasing any unnecessary plastic items (including as prizes).
- Reduce energy use during the event whenever possible.
- Source food/drinks locally, consider vegan/vegetarian options when possible.
- Check this resource for other ideas on lowering the carbon footprint of your organisation. Create a climate action plan - SBN
Health & Safety
What health and safety issues could arise? Ensure you have a plan in place that is appropriate for your event and considers risk mitigation.
Cost
Our goal is for everyone to be able to participate in a free Seaweek event. We understand this can be challenging and are happy connect with you on ways to reduce costs or find local funding support. Depending on our funding levels we are able to offer modest amounts of financial support for events in certain regions. Contact us to find out more!
Get your community onboard
Share your plan with local groups, organisations and businesses to see if they can contribute to your event. We are also here to support you in connecting with your community.
Finalise details, promotional materials & submit to Seaweek!
Seaweek is here to help you every step of the way.
Promotional Materials
Eye-catching and engaging promotional material helps your event grab some attention. Our Seaweek digital assets are available here for you to download. You are welcome to use our template images as a background/frame or create your own images that include the Seaweek logo to promote your event.
Event Bookings
Consider using an online booking system even for free events. These allow you to get participant details ahead of time for communication and to keep track of who came. This will make it easier to follow up with participant surveys and other messages after your event. We often use Eventfinda and/or Humanitix.
Submit to Seaweek!
Submitting your event makes it possible for us to include it in our promotions and programmes of all events and searchable with those in your local area making it easier for people to find! We will also connect you with our network of resources and collaborators and keep you up to date on what’s happening with Seaweek.
Submit your event to us at seaweek@merc.org.nz. We will be in touch if we need to clarify any details before loading it onto our website. Once there, we will share it with our networks and encourage you to do the same!
Information you will need to submit includes:
- Event Name
- Date & Time
- Event Description
- Region
- Local area
- Street address
- Organisation(s) involved
- Image: (landscape) 1007px x 653px. Only accepts JPEG, PNG, BMP and GIF. Maximum file size should be 500KB
Spread the news!
Use simple, consistent promotion to help people discover your event and make it easy for them to take part.
Social Media
Social media remains the number one way our participants find out about Seaweek events! In addition to writing posts for facebook and/or Instagram, we recommend making a facebook event page for your event so it shows up on the events tab where it’s easily searchable. (Include Seaweek as co-host?) Please tag seaweek at @seaweek (Facebook) @nzseaweek (Instagram) in all of your posts so we can help share them! You can also use the hashtags #seaweek, #seaweek2026, #nzseaweek
Posters & Printouts
For sustainability purposes please consider limiting these and being very strategic in your use. When making posters and printouts, ensure they are used effectively with key information that’s easily readable in strategic locations and have a plan to reuse or recycle the materials.
During & After your event
Keep track of key details including the number of participants and contact information.
Photos
Be sure to capture some photos during the event and ask participants to sign a photo release. It may be helpful to engage a photographer or friend to help. Also think about how participants can share their experience with others such as sharing their photos with relevant hashtags on social media.
Suveys
We recommend that you put out a survey QR code during the event as well as send the link to participants after the event via email and/or social media. If you can, set aside a few minutes before the end of the event to encourage people to fill out the survey and let them know about the prize draw! QR codes can be found with our other digital assets.
Completion of both participant and organizer surveys are essential for us to get valuable feedback about each event. They also help us celebrate the incredible work that you do in putting on your events. Please share the participant surveys with everyone who attends your events and be sure to complete the organizer survey soon after your event has ended so the details are fresh in your mind. We would love to include your details, photos and participant quotes in our event wrap up summaries!
Continued Engagement
Consider ways to stay connected to your participants after the event, is there another event coming up? It’s great to send a follow up message with highlights from the event, additional thoughts and resources as well as the survey link. You are also welcome to share our mailing list details so they can stay engaged with Seaweek.
If you have questions as you are planning your event on any of these topics, please contact us and we will be happy to support you through the planning process.
09 473 0714 | seaweek@merc.org.nz