Welcome to the definitive guide for creating and hosting a successful Office Hour. Creating an engaging and impactful Office Hour event is key to fostering growth and learning within your organization. This resource is designed to make your Office Hour not only impactful but also to ensure it draws a strong attendance.

Section 1: Understanding Office Hours

Office Hours helps leaders and experts to organize interactive sessions for employees. These sessions engage employees in open dialogue with leaders and experts, and facilitate conversations on mentoring, networking, skills development, and company strategy insights.

In each Office Hour session, participants and hosts work collaboratively to reach their goals. Participants are prompted upfront to submit questions to hosts when they RSVP. The host in turn uses these questions to create their agenda, prep their talking points and ensure the session stays conversational.

Section 2: Select a Quick Start template

1. Decide on the purpose and desired outcomes of the event.

To select the right template, decide: What is the goal of your Office Hour? Is it networking, knowledge sharing, problem-solving, or perhaps leadership accessibility?

Select a topic that is not only relevant to your objectives but also of interest to your audience. Consider current trends, frequently asked questions, and areas of professional development that resonate with your organization.

2. Next, find a template that matches your desired outcome. For example, if you want to support talent development in your organization, you could share your career journey by hosting a "Career 'Ask Me Anything' Chat".

1. • To find all the Office Hour event templates, login to your 10KC Hub.
   • Next, navigate to Office Hours > Click on “Create an Office Hour” or .
   • Select your desired template.

Section 3: Creating and publishing your event

Creating and publishing your event is easy. Below, we walk you through each step, and offer some quick tips.

Who's hosting?

1. Simply enter your name in the host section.
2. Add any collaborators or event editors to the “Event Editors” section.

What's the Office Hour about?

• Each Quick tart template has a session title, suggested event description and engaging prompts to ensure the event is impactful.
• Crafting a compelling title for your Office Hour event is crucial. It's the first point of contact with potential attendees and can significantly influence their decision to participate.
• You can modify the title or event description to your liking. Remember, the goal is to be clear about the value while also piquing curiosity. Experiment with different formulas until you find the perfect fit for your event.
• Here are some formulas and examples to help you create an attention-grabbing title:

1. [Key Benefit] + [Target Audience] + [Interactive Element]
   • "Mastering Negotiation: For Aspiring Leaders - A Live Q&A"
   • "Scale Your Coding Skills: Junior Developers Roundtable"
2. [Provocative Question] + [Topic/Area of Interest]
   • "What's Next in AI? Explore the Future with Industry Experts"
   • "Can Clean Energy Power Our Future? Join the Debate"
3. [Action Verb] + [Desired Outcome] + [Timeframe/Event Type]
   • "Boost Your Productivity: Strategies for the New Year - Workshop"
   • "Transform Your Career: 30-Minute Mentorship Sessions"

When is the Office Hour?

• Select a date, start time, and end time.
• To maximize sign-ups, consider the best practices below. Balancing these factors will help ensure a well-attended and successful Office Hour.
  • Advance Notice: Provide 1-2 weeks of notice to ensure your audience can plan to attend.
  • Optimal Timing: Morning events often see higher engagement. However, factor in your audience's routine—lunch hours or end-of-day can also be effective.
  • Time Zones: For a global audience, select a time that is convenient across different regions, or consider hosting multiple sessions.
  • Avoid Conflicts: Check for holidays, major events, or organizational deadlines that might impact attendance.

How can members register?

Selecting how members can register is key for managing and maximizing event attendance. Consider these approaches:

1. Registration Type:
   • First Come, First Served (recommended). Participants will be automatically accepted for your session when they register, up to your participant limit for the event. This approach can create a sense of urgency, encouraging prompt sign-ups.
   • Select from Registration List: Use this for a more curated experience, when you want to have control over attendee selection. You’ll be prompted to manually approve each participant.
2. Determine Available Spots: Align the number of spots with your event's format and desired level of interaction. Each Quick Start template comes with a recommended number of available spots.
3. Add a Registration Question (recommended). Encourage participants to submit questions in advance. This not only engages them early on. The host in turn uses these questions to create their agenda, prep their talking points and ensure the session stays conversational.

Where will people meet?

• Select the video meeting tool that you’d like to use, or provide the physical location you’d like to host the session.

Select your Target Audience

Tailor the event to the right audience is essential for engagement and attendance. Here’s how you can utilize the settings to select your target audience:

• Inviting Members by 10KC Profile Attributes: This feature enables you to invite members based on their roles, department, location, or other attributes defined in their 10KC profiles, ensuring a tailored audience that matches the event's content.
• Inviting Members by Email: Use this to send invitations to specific individuals by entering their email addresses, offering a personalized approach to event invitations.
• Private Events Toggle: This option allows you to restrict event visibility. By toggling on, only those you invite can see and register for your event, making it exclusive.
• Inviting All Members: Opt for this to extend an invitation to every member within your platform hub, fostering inclusivity and a broad exchange of ideas.

Section 4: Publishing Your Event

• Click on Publish Event to notify your target audience. They’ll receive email notifications to sign-up.
• Note: if you're not an admin, you'll need to request the event. Instead of "Publish Office Hour", you click on "Request Event". Your program admin will then review and publish your event.

Section 5: Preparing for the Session and Hosting

As a host, you'll receive a series of emails designed to help you effectively prepare for and execute your Office Hour:

1. Initial Confirmation: Once your Office Hour is published, you'll receive a confirmation email with the event's details, calendar file, and a link to the event page where you can track attendees and their submitted questions.
2. One-Week Prep Reminder: A week before the event, an email will prompt you to start finalizing your preparations. This is the time to review the agenda and prepare any discussion materials.
3. Conversation Guide: Roughly three days before the event, you'll receive a conversation guide. This includes the final logistics, a list of participants, their questions, and tips on hosting to ensure you're ready to lead a successful session.
4. Feedback: 3 days after the event, look out for an email requesting your feedback. This helps gauge the event's success and provides insights for improvement. We’ll also share a summary of participant feedback.

If you want to go deeper in creating an engaging and effective conversation, check out One-Page Conversation Guide for Office Hour Hosts.