Lorna Mitchell has had some experience at setting up and hosting tech-related events in the past and she wants to share some of the tips she's learned along the way to help make things easier for others in the same situation. This post is the first in that series - a look at some things to do to prepare before the event even starts.

For people organising events for the first time there are definitely some pitfalls that might not be obvious until you actually, well, until you fall into them! I thought I'd capture my experiences into a series of blog posts, in case they can help any future organisers to avoid some of the traps. First up: what to do before your event starts.

She makes a few recommendations such as getting a website for the event out early and include all of the important details right up front and picking a hashtag for the event so that folks on the various social media sites have a way to start developing the community around the event.