TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR PROVISION OF EVENT PLANNING SERVICES FOR THE 1ST GLOBAL YOUTH CONVENTION

ABOUT FAIRTRADE AFRICA

Commerce Equitable Afrique trading as Fairtrade Africa (FTA), a member of the wider International Fairtrade movement is one of the three producer networks representing Fairtrade certified producers in Africa and the Middle East. We operate four regional networks: Eastern and Central Africa Network (FTA-ECAN) based in Nairobi, Kenya; West Africa Network (FTA-WAN) based in Accra, Ghana, Southern Africa Network (FTA-SAN) based in Cape Town, South Africa and the Middle East and North Africa Network.

Fairtrade Africa is owned by its members, who are African producer organizations certified against international Fairtrade Standards producing traditional export commodities such as coffee, cocoa, tea, cotton, bananas, mango and non-traditional commodities including shea butter and rooibos tea. Currently, the organization represents over 1,050,000 producers across 33 countries in Africa.

ABOUT THE GLOBAL YOUTH CONVENTION

The Global youth convention is the first youth convention organized by the three producer networks in the Fairtrade system: Fairtrade Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean (CLAC) and Network of Asia and the Pacific (NAPP). This flagship event is being organized under the European Commission Framework Partnership agreement (EC FPA) programme which is being run in the three producer networks to strengthen the governance structures of producer organizations by ensuring the inclusion of women and youth.

The global youth convention is a gathering of youth producers, youth advocates, partner organizations, the Fairtrade movement, government, policymakers, among other stakeholders. The main objective is to showcase next-generation solutions, provide a platform for youth to cross learn, engage and collaborate amongst themselves and with multi-stakeholders on youth engagement in the agriculture value chains in a bid to achieve sustainable farming systems in Africa, Latin America and Asia.

This 1^st global youth convention will be held virtually. The event will provide youth, producers and multi-stakeholders the platform to engage through intergenerational virtual couches, youth speak labs and innovation hubs linking producers across Africa, Asia and Latin America with each other and multi-stakeholders.

BACKGROUND FOR CONSULTANCY

Fairtrade Africa seeks to contract an Events consultant to support them in planning, coordinating a virtual global youth convention from 23^rd November to 25^th November. This event is an intergenerational gathering of youth and multi-stakeholders. During the week, several parallel virtual sessions, innovation hubs, youth speak labs, virtual cultural town session, talent night, a closing ceremony with an award ceremony will be held.

To execute this, Fairtrade Africa requires the services of an experienced virtual youth events consultant. The consultant or firm will be responsible for leading and executing all aspects of a professional virtual event, including planning, coordination, management, execution, and the delivery of the virtual components.

Reporting to the EU project manager and Youth Coordinator for Fairtrade Africa and working closely with other key members of the event steering committee, the event planner will co-design, plan, and ensure smooth execution of all the logistics for the event which include but are not limited to: live streaming and engineering of the different sessions, general session production, technical support for attendees, virtual delegates and talent alignment, speaker management, pre-recorded content creation (video/motion), translation, captions and seamless linkage to social media sites etc.

SCOPE OF WORK

Working closely with the Fairtrade Africa Steering Committee, the successful Events Consultant/Firm (Events Consultant) will:

1. Before the Event.

a. Audio-Visuals Pre-Recording — Work with the events communication committee and speakers to produce and edit the pre-recorded and package (with captions and translations if need be) audio/visual materials for airing/running during different segments of the event. These will be agreed upon with the planning team and will be uploaded onto the events platform. The events consultant will also develop a video pre-recording guide.

b. Venue Management — Work hand in hand with the Client Account Manager of the virtual event software to manage the virtual event space. Further, source and negotiate for a studio venue for managing the tech and flow of the event.

c. Engagement with service providers — Management of the logistics of all SP as per deliverables and budget signed with Fairtrade Africa. These include but are not limited to MCs, interpreters/translators’ services, sign language interpreters and DJ.

d. Master Plan/Run of Show — Iterative and final versions of a master plan detailing the virtual aspects for each session and including contingency plans for power cuts and internet outages. This will be a working document up until the show day that is continually updated as things change. It should include every single aspect of the event with specific timings and include information for the virtual events such as where different staff who are assisting on different aspects are their contacts.

e. Event Set-Up — Work with key Fairtrade Africa, CLAC and NAPP staff to create and upload the event content and session links on the virtual event software including virtual networking booths. Ensure that the event build-out schedule is developed and adhered to. Further, set up automated update messages for registered delegates and speakers.

f. Social media kit — Create a comprehensive social media kit and content calendar that details the social media platforms and plans for each (pre-scheduled tweets, sponsored posts, list of hashtag words and phrases, pre-scheduled posts for the Fairtrade Africa accounts).

g. Dry run — Conduct rehearsals and dry runs with speakers to confirm the timing of presentations and that presentations can be loaded and viewed on-screen, in addition to working with the IT team to conduct technology tests. Further, conduct training with delegates, speakers and staff to orient them on the use and navigation of the virtual events platform.

h. Speaker Management- Work with Fairtrade Africa, CLAC and NAPP staff to manage the speakers for the event.

2. During the Event.

a. Pre-run — The event should go live on 22^nd November and with a series of pre-recorded and live events. Coordinate for virtual registration to continue to happen even during the event. Check the virtual event set up to ensure consistency with envisioned floor plan and branding.

b. Program management for the event — Coordinate with Fairtrade Africa, CLAC and NAPP staff, speakers, service providers and delegates on the flow of events for the week as per the programme and different time zones. Further, send automated updates on the programme to the participants.

c. Real-time videos snippets and photo journals — Work with events communication committee to produce real-time branded short video snippets and photo journals for airing on social media throughout the week.

d. Live Streaming — Ensure that various event sessions can be live-streamed from the virtual events software and embedded on fairtradeafrica.net and the key social media channels for Fairtrade Africa (YouTube and Facebook Live).

e. Social media management and documentation — Conduct social media listening to track all the hashtags in use for the event and report live, and also after the event on the key metrics for this.

f. Orator reporting- Conduct note-taking during each session to capture the key takeaways and highlights.

g. IT support- Work with the events tech committee to coordinate the IT logistics for the event.

h. Audience analysis- Conduct daily audience analysis to capture the reach and impact of the different sessions of the event.

3. After the Event.

a. Teardown — Work with the Clients Account Manager for the virtual events software to ensure that all data and content for the global youth convention is taken down from the software databases after the event**.**

b. Follow up with suppliers – Ensure that initial down payments are done and follow up payments concluded, events invoice collected and submitted to Fairtrade Africa**.**

c. Video documentation — A short documentary of the global youth convention and an e-photo journal that can be shared with key stakeholders.

d. After event reporting– A user-friendly report with infographics, key metrics and analytics highlighting main achievements, and outputs from the event that can be shared as a complement to the video. The report should also capture analytics from the virtual events platform and the social media listening tool.

CONSULTANCY PERIOD

The consultancy period will be 2 months.

QUALIFICATIONS

The consultant must:

· Demonstrate specialized knowledge and experience in virtual events production, organization, planning and management of virtual events.

· Possess a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, Public Relations, Marketing, Events Management or any related field.

· Provide a list of professionals that will constitute the event management team;

· Ability to work as part of an international team across different time zones.

· Youth consultants/youth-led consultancy firms are strongly encouraged to apply.

COMPETENCIES

The consultant must possess the following key competencies:

· Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

· Excellent problem-solving skills.

· Excellent coordination skills.

· Attention to detail.

· Knowledge of youth trends.

THE PROPOSAL

The proposal must include a breakdown of how the Event Consultant intends to implement this assignment, with a breakdown of planned activities, relevant services required and including a schedule, HR Plan and a financial proposal for the provision of the aforementioned services. The Event Consultant must also provide:

· At least two (2) signed letters of recommendation by previous clients from similar events on their letterhead.

· Pictorial and other evidence of previous related assignments

Please note: This TOR is intended to convey information essential to understanding the scope of the job and the general nature and level of work performed by job holders within this job. However, the TOR is not intended to be an exhaustive list of qualifications, skills, efforts, duties, responsibilities or working conditions associated with the position.