#Getting Started
After launching CodeDay in several cities, we learned quite a bit about what makes a CodeDay successful. And to be honest, launching a CodeDay is hard. You'll need to manage a team of volunteers, sell sponsors and a venue on the event, organize workshops and judges, coordinate the delivery of food, and much more.
To make this easier and more manageable for you, the organizer, we've simplified some of the less necessary portions of the event, and turned organizing CodeDay into an optimization problem. At any specific time while organizing, you have only one goal -- and if you don't reach it, you know that you're not doing well. Conversely, narrowing your focus allows you to explore and creatively find solutions to the most difficult of problems.
As an new organizer, marketing CodeDay to students will consume the bulk of your time. You'll need 50-100 students who can dedicate 24+ hours of their time to a new event. You'll need to make sure that you sharpen your wits and prepare for battle!
##Get Approval from StudentRND
If you haven't already, talk to StudentRND first. You'll set a date for the event, and then can continue with this guide.
##Timeline
You'll be working on three main phases of the event:
###(T-3 months) Getting a Venue & Sponsors
Three months before the date, you should be focused on getting several volunteers, a venue and one sponsor committed to the event.
###(T-2 months) Confirming Event Details
This month, you'll spend most of your time setting and confirming details about the CodeDay. You'll be confirming the keynote presenter, workshops, and additional sponsors. Finally, you'll start to prepare for the marketing effort for the next month.
###(T-1 month) Marketing CodeDay!
This will be the most time consuming month. Thankfully, you only need to think about one thing: marketing CodeDay, and getting students to hear about the next event. Ask influential people to broadcast CodeDay, speak at local schools, post on Facebook & email lists, and more! Do everything you can to make students attend, and the event will be a success!