First Public Event Guide

v0.1 — Drafted May 2026

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Purpose of This Document

This document walks a Seed Team through planning, promoting, and running their first public event. The first event is the chapter’s introduction to its local community. It is also the primary mechanism for surfacing the people who will become the chapter’s first members.

Read F1 (What Is a FREE Chapter?) and P1 (Seed Team Checklist) before this document.

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What the First Event Is For

The first event has one essential purpose: to draw together a room of people who are angry about something local and economic, give them language and a frame for that anger, and offer them a concrete way to keep meeting after the event ends.

A FREE event is also a moment of conviviality. People come to organize, and they come to be together. Much of modern economic life isolates us from one another, and part of what FREE does is help people relearn the joy of being in a room together: sharing food, talking, listening, laughing. The event should feel like a gathering, not a lecture. This is why food, music, and a warm atmosphere matter as much as the speakers. Providing food for free, rather than charging for it, signals that this is a space of generosity and shared life. Where a chapter can offer free childcare during the event, it should, because the people most affected by economic injustice are often the people least able to attend an evening event without it. Removing that barrier is itself part of the work.

Everything else about the event is secondary to those three things. The food matters, the speakers matter, the venue matters, but they matter in service of the room and the sign-up sheet.

A successful first event is not measured by how many people attended. It is measured by how many of those attendees come back to the first General Assembly. A room of 80 people that produces 5 returning members is a less successful event than a room of 30 people that produces 15. Scale at the founding moment is less important than conversion.

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Choosing the Topic

The topic of the first event should meet three criteria:

1. It names a local condition people are already angry about. Rent, wages, healthcare access, housing displacement, austerity in local services, environmental destruction by a specific local actor, or another concrete local issue. Abstract framings (capitalism, neoliberalism, the economy) belong in the speaker’s talk, not on the flyer.

2. It connects to the broader frame FREE works within. The talk should help attendees see their local condition as a structural outcome of the economic system, not a local accident or personal failure.

3. It is something the Seed Team can credibly speak to or host speakers about. If your catalyst is an economist, the topic can be ambitious. If your catalyst is a community organizer with a specific local issue, anchor the event there.

Examples that have worked or would work:

• “Rent in [city]: who decides what we can afford?”
• “Why does healthcare cost what it does?”
• “Austerity in our schools, and who profits”
• “Land, food, and who controls them in [region]”
• “The economics of [specific local industry]”

Generic titles like “An Introduction to FREE” or “Building Economic Democracy” tend to draw existing political audiences only. Topical titles draw the audience FREE most needs: people who are angry and have not yet found a political home.

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Choosing Speakers

The first event needs one to three speakers. More than three crowds the time available for conversation and the sign-up moment afterward.

The minimum is your catalyst, speaking on the chosen topic. The catalyst’s voice anchors the event and signals credibility.

Additional speakers can include:

• A second local voice: another credible academic, organizer, or community figure who brings a different angle on the topic
• A directly affected community member: someone whose life experience grounds the structural analysis in lived reality
• A visiting or remote speaker (optional): an outside expert via video link, if the topic warrants it and the technical setup supports it

FREE Foundation can sometimes help connect Seed Teams with potential speakers from the broader network. Request this early in planning, not the week of the event.

What to avoid: panels with five or more people, speakers whose politics significantly diverge from FREE’s frame, speakers who are likely to lecture for 60 minutes without leaving room for the audience.

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Venue, Logistics, and Budget

Venue

A first event needs space for 30 to 80 people, seated. Look for venues in this order of preference:

1. Free venues: community centers, faith spaces (churches, mosques, synagogues that share community space), public library meeting rooms, union halls, university rooms (when a Seed Team member has access), cooperative grocery community rooms
2. Low-cost venues: friendly art galleries, café back rooms, theater rehearsal spaces, neighborhood association halls
3. Paid venues: only when no free or low-cost option is available, and only when the chapter has secured funding to cover it

Confirm the venue two to three weeks before the event date. Verify capacity, AV equipment availability, accessibility, restrooms, and any rules about food, signage, or political content.

Basic Logistics

• Date and time: weekday evenings (6:30 or 7:00 PM start) or weekend afternoons typically draw the broadest audience. Avoid major holidays, local festivals, or election dates that compete for attention.
• Length: 90 minutes to two hours total. Speaker(s) for 30 to 45 minutes, Q&A for 20 to 30 minutes, informal mingling and sign-up for 20 to 30 minutes after.
• AV: a microphone for the speakers, a way to project slides if needed, simple lighting that allows attendees to see each other. Anything more elaborate is optional.
• Seating: chairs in a semicircle or rounds if possible, theater-style if necessary. The arrangement signals whether this is a lecture or a gathering.
• Signage: at minimum, one welcome sign at the entrance and a clearly visible sign-up sheet station.

Budget

A first event at sustainable scale costs €200 to €500 in most contexts. Breakdown for a typical first event:

• Venue: €0 to €100
• Food and drink: €100 to €250 (simple snacks, sandwiches or pizza, water, coffee, tea)
• Printing (flyers, sign-up sheets, name tags): €30 to €80
• Speaker honoraria or travel reimbursement: €0 to €150 (only if needed)
• Miscellaneous (basic AV cables, signage materials): €30 to €70

Larger events with professional production (stage build, paid AV crew, catered meals for 100+, paid speaker travel) cost €4,000 to €10,000 or more, as the Tulsa pilot has demonstrated. Most chapters will operate at the smaller scale for a year or longer before scaling up.

Food

Food matters more than most Seed Teams expect. A room with food is a room people stay in. A room without food empties quickly after the speaker finishes, which is exactly when you most need people to stay and sign up.

Simple food works. Pizza, sandwiches, samosas, hummus and bread, cookies and coffee, regional equivalents. A potluck format can reduce cost and increase community investment. Make sure there are vegetarian options at minimum; dietary needs vary by community.

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Promotion

Promotion for a first event should rely primarily on personal networks and physical presence in the community, not on paid digital advertising.

Personal Networks

The single most effective promotional act is each Seed Team member personally inviting 20 or more people from their local network. This is the foundation of attendance. Personal invitations have a conversion rate roughly ten times higher than passive promotion.

A personal invitation is a text, an email, or a conversation that says: “I’m helping start something locally. We’re doing a first event on [topic] on [date]. I’d really like you to come, and to bring a friend.” Use the person’s name. Reference something they care about. Make it specific.

Physical Promotion

Flyers in the right physical spaces draw the right audience:

• Cafés and bookstores that already host political conversations
• Community boards in cooperative groceries, libraries, community centers
• Posters at universities (with permission where required)
• Sympathetic local businesses (consult with the owner first)
• Neighborhood announcement boards in residential areas

The catalyst should be visibly putting up some of these flyers personally. This sets the tone for the chapter: the people convening it are doing the unglamorous work themselves.

Digital Promotion

• One post on whichever local platform people actually use (Instagram, local Facebook groups, regional Telegram channels, Mastodon servers, etc.)
• A simple event page (Luma, Eventbrite, or equivalent) with date, time, location, topic, and a free RSVP
• Cross-posting in aligned local groups (with their permission)

Avoid paid digital advertising at this stage. The return is poor for first events and the budget is better spent on food.

FREE Foundation Channels

Once the event is confirmed, share details with FREE Foundation. The Foundation can amplify the event through global channels (newsletter, social media, G+Local sessions), which helps surface attendees who are already FREE-aware but did not know about the local chapter.

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The Sign-Up Sheet

This is the single most important physical artifact of the night.

The sign-up sheet (or sign-up form on tablets, or sign-up cards collected in a box) captures who attended and who wants to keep meeting. Without a sign-up mechanism, the chapter cannot follow up, and the energy of the first event dissipates within a week.

What to Capture

At minimum:

• Name
• Email (and/or phone, depending on local norms)
• One short question: “What would you most want to organize around locally?” — open text, one or two lines

Optional additional fields:

• Neighborhood or part of town
• Whether they would like to help plan the next event
• Whether they have specific skills to contribute (organizing experience, writing, design, video, translation, etc.)

Keep the form short. Long forms reduce completion rates significantly. Anything not on the form can be asked at the first General Assembly.

How to Run the Sign-Up

• The sign-up table is visible and staffed throughout the event, with the most attention paid to it during the mingling period afterward
• A Seed Team member is at the table to answer questions, write down details for people who prefer to speak rather than write, and personally invite each signer to the first General Assembly
• The first General Assembly date should already be set and printed on a card or flyer that attendees take with them. Without a next date, the sign-up is incomplete.

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Running the Event

Before the Event

• Arrive at the venue at least one hour before the start time
• Set up signage, sign-up table, food and drink, seating, AV
• Brief the speakers on timing, the format, and the role of the sign-up moment afterward
• Designate one Seed Team member as the floor coordinator for the night, responsible for keeping the event moving and handling anything unexpected

During the Event

• Open with a brief welcome (3 to 5 minutes) from one Seed Team member: who is hosting, why this event, what comes next
• Introduce the speakers and the format
• Hold to time. Speakers go long; the Q&A and mingling time is where conversion happens
• During Q&A, take stack visibly (write down names of raised hands) to ensure a range of voices, not just the loudest

After the Speakers Finish

This is the most important moment of the night.

• A Seed Team member announces clearly: “We are starting a local FREE chapter. The first assembly meeting is on [date] at [location]. Please sign up at the table by the door so we can let you know more. There is food and conversation; please stay.”
• Seed Team members spread out across the room. Each one talks to as many attendees as possible, listens, invites them personally to the first General Assembly, and walks anyone who is interested to the sign-up table
• The sign-up table is staffed continuously until the last attendees leave

After the Event

• Collect the sign-up sheets. Do not lose them. Photograph them as backup.
• Within 48 hours, send a follow-up email to everyone who signed up: thank them for attending, confirm the date and location of the first General Assembly, share a short summary of the event and one or two photos (with consent)
• Within one week, the Seed Team holds an internal debrief: what worked, what did not, what to adjust for the first General Assembly
• Document the event for the FREE network: brief written summary, attendance count, sign-up count, photos if attendees consented, and any lessons worth sharing

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Common Failure Modes

The most common ways first events fail to launch a chapter:

1. No sign-up mechanism. The room was full, the speaker was great, no one collected contact information. The chapter has no way to continue.

2. The first General Assembly date was not announced. Attendees leave inspired with no concrete next step. Energy dissipates within a week.

3. The Seed Team spent the night managing logistics instead of talking to attendees. Conversion happens through personal contact during and after the event. If the Seed Team is hidden behind the food table or running the AV, the conversion does not happen.

4. The event was too big for the Seed Team to follow up on. 150 attendees with no follow-up capacity is worse than 30 attendees with full follow-up. Scale to what you can sustain.

5. The event was an inward-facing political seminar. Speakers talked to existing leftists in language only existing leftists understand. The room was full of allies, not new members.

6. The Seed Team did not personally invite their networks. They relied on flyers and social media. Attendance was lower than expected because most attendees came through personal invitations and the Seed Team did not generate those.

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Coordinating with FREE Foundation

For first event planning, FREE Foundation can offer:

• Review of the event flyer and promotional copy
• Suggestions for speakers, including remote speakers when appropriate
• Promotion of the event through global channels
• Connection to other chapters that have run similar events
• Post-event debrief, if the Seed Team wants outside reflection

Request Foundation support at least three weeks before the event date. Last-minute requests are harder to fulfill.

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What Comes Next

After the first event, the next document is P3: First General Assembly Meeting Guide, which covers convening the first GA, gathering voice, and beginning the process of founding the chapter formally.

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A Note on This Document

This is v0.1 of P2, drafted in May 2026. It will be updated as chapters run their first events and surface what is missing.

This is a living document. It will be reviewed and updated as the network grows.

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The FREE Chapter Starter Kit is published by FREE (Forum for Real Economic Emancipation). freefreeforum.org