Any alumni organization from each of the five Table Stakes programs (Major Market, Poynter, UNC, ASU and Gannett-McClatchy) is eligible to participate in this program. We will select up to 6 organizations — with teams of 3 to 5 members, including a member from advertising and/or marketing — for this cohort.

Here are a few more details to help you decide whether this program is right for your organization:

Who this program is for:

• Organizations interested in in-person events

• Organizations interested in newsroom-led events that increase brand awareness, build community, earn revenue and/or add value for subscribers/members

• Organizations that don’t have an established events playbook

• Organizations without an events staff

Who this program is not for:

• Organizations interested in only virtual events

• Organizations interested in only marketing-led events (awards, best of, 5K, golf tournament, etc.)

• Organizations with a lot of experience doing in-person events

• Organizations with an event staff

In January, you will begin sketching out your vision for your event series. You’ll meet your coach during a one-hour intro call, and you’ll get some initial feedback on your event series plans. Each team member can expect to spend about 6 hours this month on the program-related assignments, internal meetings and your intro call with your coach.

In February and the first week of March, weekly cohort sessions of about 2 hours will teach you the basics of planning, promoting and executing an event. Each week, you’ll learn best practices and considerations on a specific piece of the process (event design, sponsorships, marketing, etc.) and complete an accompanying assignment that helps you further develop your event plans. Throughout February, you will also have weekly calls with your coach. Each team member can expect to devote at least 4 hours a week in February, through a combination of cohort sessions, coaching calls, team meetings and assignments.

The likely dates for the cohort sessions, which will be conducted via Zoom beginning at 1 p.m. ET, are:

• Monday, Feb. 5

• Monday, Feb. 12

• Tuesday, Feb. 20

• Monday, Feb. 26

• Monday, March 4

In the remainder of March, and in April and May, teams will continue to plan their series and hold at least the first event in the series. You’ll continue to meet with your coach twice a month. Each team member can expect to spend 2 hours on coaching calls each of these months, plus additional time planning and executing the events, based on their role.

In June, we will reconvene for a final cohort session on Monday, June 10, to share lessons from our events and plans for the rest of our series. Each team member can expect to spend up to 5 hours on the final session, including assignment preparation and attending the session. Additional time will be required to continue planning and executing the event series.

Submit the form (below or at this link) by 8 p.m. ET Monday, Dec. 4. The application includes a series of questions asking you to describe your event series idea, so we suggest discussing your application with your potential team members before submitting. The application also requires a letter from a leader at the director level or above of your organization attesting to the commitment to actively participate in the program and plan, promote and hold a journalism-focused event series.

After the deadline, we’ll review applications and plan to notify accepted organizations by Wednesday, Dec. 13.

Please contact Emily Ristow via our API Table Stakes Team email address, tablestakes@pressinstitute.org, with questions.