For the Love of Logistics, Put the Location on the Flyer
I have a pet peeve.
Actually, I have several, but today we are discussing one that should be remarkably easy to fix:
If you are creating a flyer or social media post for an event, please tell people where the damn event is.
We live in a connected world. Your Facebook post does not stop at the city limits. Someone can share your flyer from Texas to Tennessee to Virginia in seconds.
So when your beautiful graphic says:
JOIN US!
October 17
6:00 PM
Veterans Welcome!
Wonderful.
WHERE?
Texas? Tennessee? Washington, D.C.? The VFW hall three streets over from whoever originally posted it?
Am I supposed to recognize the skyline and solve this like a geography-themed escape room?
Give Me the Basic Logistics
People travel for conferences, advocacy, training, networking, fundraisers, reunions, and military events.
Before deciding whether to attend, we need some basic information.
Every event announcement should clearly answer:
WHO: Who is hosting? Do not assume everyone recognizes your logo or acronym.
WHAT: Is this a conference, fundraiser, training, dinner, town hall, resource fair, or social event?
WHERE: Include the venue and, for the love of logistics, the city and state.
WHEN: Give the date, start time, and preferably the end time. For virtual or nationally advertised events, include the time zone.
HOW MUCH: If it is free, say so. If registration costs $25, say $25. Do not make people complete six registration screens before discovering the price.
And please mention parking if it costs money or requires special instructions.
A $20 parking fee is part of the cost of attending your event.
Accessibility and transportation information should also be easy to find.
QR Code? Great. Give Me a URL Too.
I like QR codes.
Keep them.
But please include a readable URL too.
QR codes get compressed. They become blurry. Phones occasionally refuse to cooperate.
And sometimes there is one especially obvious problem:
I am looking at the flyer on the same phone I am supposed to use to scan the QR code.
Yes, there are ways around that.
No, attending your event should not require a technology tutorial.
Give people both.
QR code + readable URL = everybody wins.
Your Flyer Should Not Require an Investigation
If I have to Google the organization, locate the event, figure out which state the venue is in, hunt for the ticket price, investigate parking, and extract a registration link from a QR code...
your flyer has failed at its one job.
Pretty graphics and branding are wonderful.
But a flyer is supposed to communicate information.
At minimum:
WHO. WHAT. WHERE. WHEN. HOW MUCH.
Then give people a usable way to register.
The Internet Does Not Know What “Here” Means
“Join us here in town!”
Where?
“Come see us next Saturday!”
That post may still be circulating three weeks from now.
“Meet us at the usual location!”
Congratulations. You have successfully advertised to people who already know about the event.
Once a post leaves your immediate network, all that assumed knowledge disappears.
One Simple Test
Before publishing your flyer, show it to someone who knows nothing about the event.
Can they tell who is hosting, what is happening, the city and state, date and time, cost, parking information, and how to register?
If not, you are not finished.
Your potential attendees should not need a map, decoder ring, three Google searches, QR-code extraction tutorial, and the investigative instincts of a congressional staffer just to figure out whether they can attend your luncheon.
Tell us where it is. Tell us when it is. Tell us what it costs. Give us a link we can actually use.
Then we can decide whether to show up.
